Boro

In Jimbocho, a neighbourhood known for its second-hand bookshops, a lane leads to a cafe where amber-toned wooden furniture and art create a quiet welcome. Step through the door of 喫茶トお酒 襤褸 and you enter a vintage-feeling space with an unhurried atmosphere. The Boro Blend is a soothing place to start: its aroma is deep and gently sweet, with a mild bitterness. For a more playful cafe-style treat, the Skull Cream Soda comes with a small skull-shaped cookie perched on top of the ice cream. The skull cookie itself is baked to a simple flavour and restrained sweetness, and pairs well with black coffee, too.

The cafe's savoury offerings are substantial enough to make a satisfying meal. The generously filled egg sandwich, たっぷりタマゴサンド, packs plenty between the slices of bread; its generous thickness and portion make it a signature dish that can fill you up on its own. For pasta, there is the original Boro Japanese-Style Egg-on-Egg Spaghetti, with egg in a rich, soy-sauce-forward sauce, as well as meat-sauce spaghetti slowly simmered with coffee. There are also snacks built around the aroma of a golden-brown finish, including pizza toast topped with fragrant browned cheese and Boro-style toasted chiffon cake filled with ham and cheese.

Sweet options include baked chiffon cake with rum raisins, a house-made mango yoghurt parfait and a distinctive peanut-and-raisin butter sandwich. True to the 「お酒」, or “alcohol,” in its name, the cafe also offers a wide selection of drinks, including Akaboshi and Heartland beers, a Daisen highball finished in a red-wine cask, wine and sours. On Fridays and Saturdays, it stays open until 11 pm, making it a welcoming spot both for an afternoon cafe break and for a quiet drink in the evening.