Coffee is a dying tradition. Or is it?
The second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo, Asahikawa is more known for its rustic style of ramen and the Asahiyama Zoo. Look closer and you will find that the old-school kissaten (or “tea drinking shop”) scene is well and thriving.
Though a kissaten is formally a tearoom that serves sweets, most shops are known for their coffee. These are deep, dark brews, often made with dark roast blends or the perennial Japanese favourite of Jamaica Blue Mountain. The trick is finding the right kissaten, one that’s more than simply convenience.
A brisk five-minute walk from the JR Asahikawa Station will bring you to a pre-war building that is almost 80 years old housing just that sort of kissaten. It’s rare to find structures still surviving from the Showa Era, which is part of the appeal of Café Tirol.
When you enter, you are immediately transported to another time. One that is warmer and cosier than the typical exposed concrete affairs contemporary coffee shops are these days. Jazz is playing and there is lovingly curated menu of beans, all roasted in house. Each brew is a drop of history seems to be the promise here.
Regulars come by before work for the moningusetto (breakfast set) that includes toast, a hard-boiled egg and devil-black coffee. Those in less of a rush – and why would you rush? – will appreciate their “Teppanyaki Fluffy Ricotta Pancake”, which is made to order.
Topped with fresh banana, honey nut butter, freshly whipped cream and maple syrup, these pancakes are a trip back to a century before Instagram. This is meant to be savoured by your taste buds, not your social media accounts.
Café Tirol (its name evoking visions of Alpine ski resorts, strangely apt given Asahikawa’s renown for some of the best snow in Japan) prides itself on using Hokkaido-made ingredients from the flour and eggs to the dairy such as milk and cheese. You taste the land. You taste a culture, the lives of a people.
一個飄著雪的早晨，我們從旭川車站步行來到珈琲亭ちろる，
一家有著八十年曆史的喫茶店。
這家喫茶店是日本著名作家三浦綾子筆下冰點小說的場景，
也曾出現於小說改編的電影中；
所以除了當地居民，還吸引了不少外地遊客前來朝聖。
掃了掃身上的積雪，我們推開咖啡館的大門，
走進了這家古老喫茶店。
也許是時間還早，也許是因為外頭的大雪，店裡的人客不多，
昏黃的燈光，深木色的裝潢，赤裸裸的磚墻，
除了誘人的咖啡香，空氣裡還瀰漫著歲月的味道。
菜單上全是日文，憑著與服務生的交談和菜單上的漢字，
我們點了這裡自家烘焙的單品黑咖啡和兩份早點。
一份是吐司，另一份是鬆餅。
微焦吐司，一粒水煮蛋，配上果醬牛油，簡單利落又營養的一餐。
而鬆軟的起司鬆餅淋上楓糖，搭配香濃的咖啡，
賣相也許一般，卻是讓人停不了口的好味道。
享用完早點，我們再次推開大門，外頭的風雪變得更大了，
帶著滿足的心情和暖和的身子，我們踩著厚厚的白雪，
繼續走向今天的目的地，舉行雪祭的廣場。
| Café Tirol 8-Hidari-7, 3-jo-dori, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan cafe-tirol.com |
