Annoying Google Maps lost another draft review, including a better picture. Trying to restore it from the top... So it's an old high atmosphere place that I've noticed on several walks in the neighborhood. Obviously a nice location. About 20 seats and a staff of oldtimers. Current BGM is "Okaeri Nasai" attributed to White Studio. Interesting bookshelf, but all Japanese. Tobacco friendly, but no problem while I was enjoying my unusually flavorful coffee. No Wi-Fi, and a local Wi-Fi signal that seemed open was more hassle than it was worth. As I was leaving I noticed there's another large room in the back with 14 more seats.

Interesting correction of books!

A coffee shop next to 二代目つじ田 on Prince-dori. A small shop with 3 counter seats and about 10 small tables. Or so I thought—there's also a small room in the back with bookshelves. Every table has an ashtray; it's a gathering place for smokers. The furnishings are well-worn, and the wallpaper and ceiling covering were apparently once white, but thanks to cigarette smoke and maybe rain leaks? they've turned a color like something simmered in soy sauce. Aging in a good way. The BGM is nostalgic instrumentals with violin, piano, etc. (like Bette Midler's The Rose). Besides the 1,000 yen curry with coffee or tea set, the menu also has sandwiches, toast, and so on. Almost everyone was ordering the curry. The food arrives about 5 minutes after ordering. Curry rice: an oval white plate. The rice is molded in a cup-like form into a tall, pudding-like shape, sitting slightly to the left of the plate. To its left is fukujinzuke, and the whole plate is covered in curry with a Vermont Curry-like color. A little grated cheese and parsley in the center. No vegetables like potatoes or carrots to be seen in the curry, just a few small pieces of pork(?). The flavor is gentle with little spiciness. Yet it doesn't have the odd sweetness of retort curry either. The rice firmness is just right. The portion is a bit small, maybe. Coffee (hot): served in a thick white cup and saucer. Fairly acidic but gentle in flavor. Proper coffee. Overall: blend coffee alone is 600 yen, so by the math the curry is 400 yen. Nothing to call it but a bargain. A shop smokers will be grateful for.

I stopped by for lunch before a client visit. It looks like a haven for smokers. A place where you can smoke—probably rare these days. The color of the wallpaper and ceiling inside seems to tell the story of the shop's history. The lunch menu seems to be only a curry rice and coffee set, plus morning items like toast. I had the curry; its very basic flavor, spiciness included, went well with the set coffee and fully delivered the small pleasure we salespeople look for. The Southern European BGM was pleasant, and the many books on the shelves—is it the character of Kojimachi, or the owner's reading history... Either way, it's a precious place, a quality "kissaten" that I hope keeps going for a long time without losing out to the chains.

A long-running coffee shop that's a blessing only for smokers. There's a lunch menu too. The interior has an overly well-worn atmosphere. The entire wall is nicotine brown, proof that smoking is allowed here. Ordered the Italian coffee. They brew it carefully. A precious coffee shop—I hope it stays in business for a long time.