Packed with all the things its owner loves, Future Hyaku Cafe is a small neighborhood cafe beloved by locals.
Its unique name comes from the promise, “We’ll keep going for 100 years”!
Along with curry generously made with black sesame, there’s a great selection of charming desserts and food.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a place like this in your everyday life? I couldn’t help but feel its unusual sense of comfort.
Come for a chat, or enjoy some time on your own. Here’s a lovely cafe you’ll want to become a regular at.
The information presented was current when this article was published in August 2019. Please note that it may differ from current information.
A wonderfully comfortable atmosphere: Future Hyaku Cafe
Future Hyaku Cafe sits quietly on a street corner in Kurashiki.
It opens at 7 a.m., making it a popular breakfast spot with locals and tourists alike.
When you enter, the owner, Watanabe, greets you from behind the counter as she works.
She handles everything herself, from cooking to serving. She looks busy, but somehow seems to be enjoying herself.
A cozy interior surrounded by books and knickknacks.
“I gathered only the things I love, and this is the kind of place it became,” she says. Somehow, it’s a place where you can relax and feel at ease.
Tables line the windows. A steady stream of customers keeps coming and going.
If you’d like to enjoy a chat, take a seat at the counter here.
Watanabe is a wonderful listener and conversationalist. Before I knew it, we were chatting about music, cooking, photography… and I’d forgotten all about the interview, simply enjoying the moment.
There’s also a sofa area. It looks like a relaxing place to unwind, just like at home.
All the many books in the cafe belong to Watanabe. There are picture books too, so families with children are sure to appreciate them.
Everyday favorites, from breakfast to dessert
She says the menu is “as much as I can manage on my own,” but there’s quite a lot to choose from.
The breakfast plate, available until 10 a.m., costs 500 yen and includes a drink and a half-portion of croque monsieur. It’s popular with regulars and tourists alike.
There’s also a “Breakfast Set with Carefully Selected Rice Cooked by a Rice Sommelier,” made in collaboration with a Kurashiki farmer (reservations accepted). It’s a dish I’d love to try during the new-rice season.
The popular “Black Sesame Curry with Pork, Eggplant, and Lotus Root” is also available as a set. You can choose coffee or tea.
The “So-da! 10” soda menu. The menu design is cute too. There are also seasonal desserts and festival menus.
Amazingly delicious! Special black sesame curry and retro jelly
I ordered the “Black Sesame Curry with Pork, Eggplant, and Lotus Root Set” for 880 yen (tax included). I chose iced tea for my drink.
The curry contains black sesame paste. You can really see the black sesame in its appearance!
The distinctive sweet aroma of black sesame mingles with the curry’s stimulating spices, whetting the appetite of any curry lover.
The curry is served with ten-grain rice stir-fried with turmeric and marinated carrots. The fluffy, separate grains go wonderfully with the curry sauce.
It’s delicious mixed with the marinated carrots, too! The sweetness of the onion chips is a perfect match for the curry.
The tangy curry is rich and fragrant with black sesame, while the lotus root is crisp and the eggplant juicy.
I never knew curry and black sesame went so well together!
Each bite brought a different texture and flavor, and before I knew it, I’d finished the whole plate.
Though it was my first time trying this curry, it also had a nostalgic quality. It’s a dish I highly recommend.
The iced tea has a beautiful color. The cafe usually uses tea from Teage, based in Denenchofu, Tokyo.
On the day of my visit, she happened to have some English Breakfast tea from Harrods in England, so she brewed that for me.
It has a clean aroma, is easy to drink, and makes a delicious iced tea that goes well with the black sesame curry.
Watanabe worked at a specialty tea shop for over ten years, but apparently she herself is a coffee person. That made me laugh.
She prepared the “Hawaiian Jelly” for 450 yen (tax included), saying she wanted something that would look good in photos.
What an adorable jelly! The little cherry on top gives it a stylish retro look.
Hawaiian jelly has a pleasantly firm texture. Its sweet-and-sour flavor and jiggly texture make for a refreshing dessert.
A commitment to making it a place where I feel comfortable
Why is Future Hyaku Cafe such a comfortable place to be?
I was nervous about the interview, but before I knew it, I found myself chatting with the owner and enjoying the space.
“I only put out things I like. I wanted to make this a place where I feel comfortable.”
From knickknacks and accessories to tableware and books, the cafe is filled with things owner Watanabe loves.
You might spot something you like in the cafe and feel at home, chat, or simply sit and daydream.
That free-spirited, relaxed atmosphere may be what makes Future Hyaku Cafe so appealing.
Future Hyaku Cafe, blending into the town, its people, and everyday life
Enjoying delicious food and spending time surrounded by things you love—that would be wonderful if it could be part of every day.
Future Hyaku Cafe is the kind of place that brings that feeling to life.
After the interview, I found myself flipping through my planner, wondering, “When should I come back?”
It’s nice to have a place that makes every day a little more fun just by knowing about it, and makes you happy just thinking, “I’d like to go there.”
I hope to keep visiting Future Hyaku Cafe as it works toward its 100-year goal.
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