In Oimatsu, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, there is Kurashiki Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa, which opened in February 2017.
It is not located along a major road, and is also somewhat far from the station, yet it has won support, especially among families with young children. When it first opened, it was so popular that reservations were impossible to get.
Why did they choose this location? We asked about the story leading up to the opening of the cafe and what ultimately made the decision, and found it truly convincing.
The story of Cafe Niwa, a cafe run alongside a garden, with a connection that felt as if the garden had called them.
We’ll also introduce Cafe Niwa’s delicious lunches and beautiful desserts.
It reopened on October 1, 2022, under the name “Niwa to Bungaku.”
The information presented was accurate when this article was published in September 2019. Please note that it may differ from current information.
A relaxing interior with tatami rooms and private rooms
“Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa” is in a residential neighborhood.
It looks like an ordinary house at first glance, but you’ll be surprised by how spacious it is inside.
To park, pass the shop on your right and head to the Namba parking lot ahead.
The seven spaces marked by yellow poles are reserved for Cafe Niwa.
Take off your shoes and enter, and a beautiful garden will greet you right away.
There’s a lovely story about how the cafe came about through its encounter with this garden, but we’ll save that for later.
Table seating in a semi-private-room setting.
It looks like a handy spot for small gatherings, such as get-togethers for moms or women friends.
There are also many tatami rooms.
Since the house was originally used for tea ceremony lessons, it has many tatami rooms.
A small tatami seating area reminiscent of the former tea ceremony classroom.
You can also reserve a private room.
A varied menu with a wide selection of homemade desserts
The lunch set meals.
Every menu item comes with soup, a drink, and salad, making it a great-value set.
Prices as of September 2019
There are 17 choices for the set drink and the dessert, which costs an additional 200 yen (tax included)! You’ll want to try them one after another.
The fruit sandwiches made with homemade bread are especially popular, even when ordered on their own.
They also offer convenient takeout bento boxes and sweets, as well as decorated cakes.
The wide selection of sweets is a specialty of owner Nakahara, a former pastry chef.
Here are some of the cafe menu items, too.
The pancakes stacked in layers look wonderful! I’d love to go try them someday.
There are pasta dishes in the evening, too.
The evening cafe menu, including loco moco bowls, omurice, and green curry, is also recommended.
A hearty harami steak bowl packed with meat
I had the lunch “harami steak bowl” for 1,080 yen (tax included).
It’s a great-value lunch set that comes with salad, soup, and a drink.
I wondered if the portion might be small since it’s cafe food, but there’s plenty of meat and a generous mound of rice! It’s a hearty, satisfying meal.
The harami steak is cooked medium-rare and served generously with a rich soy-based sauce.
The powdered cheese adds a nice accent.
The more I chewed the steak, the more I could taste the savory flavor of the meat.
The sauce goes well with the rice, and the rice with the meat, so I couldn’t stop eating.
I finished it in no time.
The lunch set’s miso soup, salad, and drink (ginger ale).
The ginger ale, with its sharp ginger kick, goes very well with the harami steak.
I want to try every kind! Cafe Niwa’s dessert set
This is the owner’s homemade “Dessert Plate,” ¥500 on its own or ¥700 with a drink (tax included).
We were served this charming set featuring Cafe Niwa’s homemade pudding topped with seasonal fruit.
The regular lunch dessert is pudding only, for an additional ¥200 (tax included), but you can also order the dessert plate.
This pudding is one of Cafe Niwa’s signature items.
There are always seven or eight flavors. From left to right, they are:
- Matcha tiramisu
- Chocolate pudding
- Matcha pudding
- Berry pudding
- Mango pudding
- Hojicha pudding
- Tiramisu
The smooth pudding is topped with plenty of berry sauce! It’s a delicious, wonderfully indulgent treat.
It would be fun to order several flavors and compare them as a group.
They’re also great as souvenirs.
The garden that sealed the deal, and the story of Cafe Niwa
The garden at Cafe Niwa added beautiful color to the dishes. As it turns out, the owner chose this location precisely because it had a garden.
The owner had always dreamed of opening a shop somewhere with a garden, and then came across this property.
The residence had originally been a tea ceremony school.
It had reportedly stood empty for about ten years before Cafe Niwa opened.
Every so often, someone would come along wanting to rent it, but the landlord’s condition was that the tenant “take good care of the garden,” so it remained without a tenant for quite some time.
There was also the condition that it be rented as a residence, so the owner thought it would be impossible.
Even so, the owner still wanted to open a cafe in a place with this beautiful garden.
With that wish in mind, and encouraged by his wife, he made an inquiry even though he thought it was a long shot. He was given permission to rent it as a shop, on the condition that he “protect and take good care of the garden.”
The landlord wanted to protect the garden, and the owner was drawn to it and wanted to nurture it. Their wishes came together.
Cafe Niwa’s garden is laid out as a story, with mountains, a flowing river, and finally the sea.
It feels as if a little world exists there.
“When I’m working in the garden, I feel as though I’m traveling somewhere far away.”
The owner looked so happy talking about the garden, and his love for it came through so clearly.
A welcoming place called by its garden: Kurashiki Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa
Why does seeing greenery make us feel so calm and uplifted?
A garden doesn’t simply happen on its own, as nature does.
I realized that a place becomes a “garden” only when someone tends to it and takes care of it.
“I sometimes think, ‘I hope that one day people will come here just for this garden.’”
Perhaps it’s because the owner feels this way that Cafe Niwa is a place where adults and children alike can relax and feel warmly welcomed.
Be sure to visit Kurashiki Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa to enjoy the garden and its delicious food and desserts.
Kurashiki Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa Information
| Name | Kurashiki Oimatsu Sanchome Cafe Niwa |
|---|---|
| Address | 3-14-45 Oimatsu-cho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 080-7459-0572 |
| Parking | Available Park in the seven spaces marked by yellow poles at Namba Parking (※Images showing the route are available) |
| Hours | 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. (Lunch: 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; cafe: 2:30–5:00 p.m.; dinner: 5:00–9:00 p.m.) |
| Closed | Sunday |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Accepted Private rooms can be reserved |
| Seating | 36 seats Number of tatami rooms: 5 Number of tables: 6 |
| Smoking | Entirely non-smoking |
| Restroom | Western-style toilet |
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