Happy Supply Cafe Spica ～ A Café Run by a Registered Dietitian, Bringing Happiness to Everyone Who Visits

When you look up somewhere to eat, you’re met with a long list of restaurant information.

There are countless restaurants, from cozy places with only counter seating to restaurants that can accommodate large groups.

With so many restaurants around, how many can you think of where a registered dietitian does the cooking? Probably fewer than you might expect.

That’s because most registered dietitians work at hospitals and welfare facilities, and few work at cafes.

We visited Happy supply cafe spica, run by someone who studied nutrition and earned the national registered dietitian license.

A cafe unified in vitamin-color orange

spica is about a 10-minute walk from Kojima Station.
The cafe has a parking lot, making it convenient to reach by either train or car.

The interior, in white and vitamin-color orange, has a bright, healthy feel.

Everything is orange, from the chairs to the water pitchers and cooking utensils. Color has a mysterious power, doesn’t it? Maybe it was the power of the vitamin color, but it made me want to dig in.

spica’s menu

You can visit spica for either lunch or a cafe break.

Let’s take a look at both the lunch and cafe menus.

Lunch made by a registered dietitian that you’ll want to eat every day

The lunch menu has two simple options: “Happy Lunch” and “spica bowl.”

Happy Lunch is a daily special, while spica bowl is a weekly rice bowl special.
Order the “W Lunch” to enjoy the Happy Lunch main dish and spica bowl together at a great price!

You might expect the main dish and rice bowl in the W Lunch to be mini-sized, but they’re full-sized. What a nice deal!

You can add a drink or dessert for an extra charge. There’s also a kids’ menu, which is great for families with children.

The lunch menu for each week is posted all at once on spica’s official website blog.

A great selection of sweets and drinks

There’s also a great selection of sweets and drinks for cafe visits. Choose a cake from the display case.

All cakes are ¥480.

▼Clockwise from the top: white peach almond cake, black tea chiffon cake, and cocoa cookie cheese tart.

There are lots of drinks to choose from, including tea and coffee, as well as juices such as orange juice and cocoa. The selection covers a wide range of categories.

Apparently, the selection grew as they wanted everyone to be happy drinking whatever they like.

Gentle flavors you’ll want to enjoy every day

Now, let’s start with the lunch menu you’re probably curious about.

The Happy Lunch on the day of our visit was “Pork with Tomato Sweet-and-Sour Sauce.”
It comes with two small side dishes, soup, and white rice. In the back of the photo are a drink and dessert, which can be added for an extra charge.

You can add a drink for ¥200 and dessert for ¥200.

The spica bowl was an “Asian Tuna and Egg Rice Bowl.”

The side dishes and soup are the same as those served with the Happy Lunch.

Which should I choose: the pork dish or the Asian tuna and egg rice bowl?

Oh, if you can’t decide, the W Lunch solves the problem by letting you have both.

Let’s start with a bite of the pork with tomato sweet-and-sour sauce.
The sweetness of the sauteed tomatoes and the tang of the sweet-and-sour sauce make it refreshing.

It’s a dish that looks like it would give you energy on a hot summer day. It’s invigorating.

The Asian tuna and egg rice bowl is served over white rice.

There’s no meat, but it has plenty of tuna, and the sweet chili sauce makes it satisfying.

The sweet chili sauce gives this rice bowl an Asian flavor.

The small side dish is packed with vegetables—shimeji mushrooms, bean sprouts, and green peppers. It’s apparently a dish called salted japchae. It had a gentle, lightly salty flavor.

Not just the side dishes, but everything at spica is lightly seasoned. The flavors make the most of the ingredients and aren’t overpowering.

It’s a gentle flavor that makes you want to eat it again tomorrow.

The other small side dish is a potato and carrot salad.
The carrot is refreshingly tangy from the vinegar, and I could taste basil too.

A great selection of sweets

I’d had a hearty lunch, but there’s always room for dessert, so I had some of that too.

The cake selection changes, but cakes are available year-round. Choose one from the display case.

A limited-time parfait is also available in summer.

More ways to enjoy the cafe than dining in

spica offers a variety of services in addition to dine-in meals.

Takeout

The lunch menu is also available for takeout, which is convenient.

Happy Lunch, spica bowl, and W Lunch are all available to go.

▼In the photo, the Happy Lunch is in front and the spica bowl is in the back.

Small Goods for Sale

There is a small-goods sales booth right beside the entrance.

The accessories made using tatami edging, a specialty of Kojima, are something you can find only locally.

Gallery

The space can also be used as a gallery.
There are hooks on the wall behind the sofa seating, where photos and paintings can be hung.

Anyone, professional or amateur, can usually use the space for 2,500 yen for two weeks.

Tea and Cake Classes

Tea and cake classes are held in the shop.

Classes can be arranged individually if enough people gather, so if you’re interested, why not get in touch?

Next, we spoke with spica owner Eriko Kawanishi about what inspired her to start the shop and her thoughts behind it.

Happy supply cafe spica Information

Name	Happy supply cafe spica
Address	1-70 Kojima Ekimae, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, Marugen Building, 1st floor
Contact	086-697-5886
Parking	Available 3 spaces
Hours	10:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m. (last order at 6:00 p.m.)
Closed	Thursday Also closed on the third Wednesday of the month
Payment methods	Cash
Reservations	Accepted
Seating	20 seats total ・Counter: 5 seats ・5 tables: 15 seats
Smoking	Entirely non-smoking
Restroom	Western-style toilet
Families with children	・Strollers allowed, but there is a step ・Children’s tableware available ・Children’s chairs available ・Kids’ menu available
Website	Happy supply cafe spica

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