Nozy Coffee, Tokyo

Coffee is a friendly face or two.

Sangenjaya is not a touristy destination so visitors to Tokyo generally don’t think of coming to this quiet neighbourhood. So it was a surprise when, a day before leaving Tokyo, we take our Japanese friend Satomi to this place—for coffee naturally.

Satomi tells us that she has worked for many years in Tokyo but she has never been to Sangenjaya. Perhaps this is a good reason to have visitors to your country: we certainly haven’t been to everywhere in Malaysia; being a guide is as good a reason as any.

We soak up the ambiance of two cafés in this neighbourhood—Café Obscura and Nozy Coffee. Let’s talk about the latter first. Just a block away from the verdant Setagaya Park, this café has its coffee bar in the basement with a roaster in the adjacent room. It’s not a large place but brightly lit.

A few tables and chairs, the sound and aroma of coffee being brewed and beans being roasted: a simple décor and atmosphere for an extraordinary café.

Why extraordinary? In our minds, Japanese baristas are very professional (still true here) and hence may come off as a tad serious and sombre. Add the language barrier and we rarely have any opportunity to chat with them the way we do in other countries.

However, the baristas at Nozy Coffee completely have completely changed our impression. They welcome us warmly, discuss their favourite coffees and ours, and for the brief time that we are here, we feel like we are in a coffee bar at home.

Approachable, gracious, friendly, sunlit and joyous: this is how all café experiences ought to be.

世田谷不是旅遊區，加上名不經傳，一般上遊客都不會想到這來。
不過在離開東京的前一天，我們卻約了一位日本朋友去那泡咖啡館。
友人跟我們說，在東京工作了那麼多年，
托我們的福，這還是她第一次到世田谷區呢。
我們在這區共泡了兩家咖啡館，分別是Nozy Coffee 和 Café Obscura。
Nozy Coffee 雖佔地兩層樓，但地方其實并不大，
一樓入口處那僅擺了幾張桌椅，而底樓則是烘焙室和沖泡咖啡的地方。
佈置與裝潢異常簡單，是一家非常普通的咖啡館。

在我印象中，日本咖啡師都是一副嚴肅的樣子，
而且由於語言不通，我們甚少有機會可以和咖啡師聊天。
不過Nozy Café的兩位咖啡師卻顛覆了我對日本咖啡師的原有印象。
清湯掛麵的她們，親切的為我們介紹了店裡的咖啡，
還非常健談的和我們聊起了她們喜歡的咖啡口感和豆子，
加上店裡瀰漫着的咖啡香；給人一種非常輕鬆輕鬆愜意的氛圍。
在我們到訪過的東京咖啡館中，
Nozy Café也許不是最美的，咖啡也許也不是最讓我驚喜的，
但這的咖啡師卻是最親切和平易近人的。