Clamp Coffee Sarasa, Kyoto

Coffee is about discovering hidden treasures.

Unlike the Japanese capital, Kyoto isn’t exactly known as a bastion for specialty coffee. Well-preserved machiya (traditional townhouses)? Check. World heritage sites, from Buddhist temples to Shinto shrines? Check. Single origin pour-overs? Well, that’s more of a rarity here.

So it is a pleasant surprise to discover a gem of a café, not in the bustling city centre but further north near the grand Nijo Castle, hidden away in an alley-way. Clamp Coffee Sarasa was founded by barista-roaster Tomonori Kanbara after he was invited to join Kyoto-based F&B chain Sarasa (its other outlets include a bakery and a café inside a refurbished sento (bath house).

The unobtrusive entrance to Clamp Coffee Sarasa is almost hidden by a wall of vines (bone-dry or leafy green, depending on the season). Inside the café has a weathered ambience with plenty of re-purposed wood doubling as furniture and furnishing. Dried flowers and fresh plants flourish in vessels that are really odds-and-ends. Vintage items abound such as the clamp that gives the shop its name.

A mounted deer head watches over the coffee roasting area in one corner. Snatches of conversation – soft whispers, naturally – mingle around the communal table. To go with the coffee, there is a minimalist menu of toasts – buttered lightly and topped with the freshest ingredients. The décor may feel mismatched but everything feels just right. Drop by for a cuppa and you’ll know what we mean.

說起來這是我們第三次造訪京都了。
感覺上古都依然沒什麼改變，
名勝古跡處的遊人還是那麼多，而錦市場那則永遠那麼熱鬧。
然而，愛咖啡的我們卻在這趟行程中發現了一件有趣的事，
那就是古都的精品咖啡館多了不少，
其中Clamp Coffee Sarasa 便是一家我們很喜歡的咖啡館。
隱藏于著名景點二條城不遠的一條小巷里，
外頭擺滿了各類植物，如果是夏天到訪，
窗沿外還會爬滿了常春藤，一片綠油油的，讓人心情開朗。

踏入店裡，洋灰和木製家具是這裝潢的兩大元素，
其實以這兩種元素為主的咖啡館不少，
但這裡卻搭配的非常有味道，加上鮮、乾花的點綴，
給人一種溫暖舒適的感覺。
當然，除了有質感的裝潢與佈置外，這裡的食物和咖啡也絕不馬虎。
自家烘焙的豆子，加上咖啡師細心地沖泡，
大清早能喝到這樣一杯咖啡總是讓人心情愉快的，
再配上一份美味的法式吐司或三明治，那就更讓人滿足了。