A couple of weeks ago, I was in Kyoto, looking for breakfast before meeting some friends in Gion. I found a great little independent shop called Nōen, about halfway between Gion-Shijo Station and Yasaka Jinja, on the south side of the street (the official address is 571 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0074). It looked busy, but I decided to go inside and see if they had a seat available.
Fortunately, they were just clearing a place as I walked in. There were tourists at a couple of the tables, but the customers were about 80% Japanese, and most of them seemed to be locals. An excellent sign.
The shop offers a morning set, but a little stand on the table recommended the honey cheese toast–which made that decision easy. I’d planned to get regular coffee, but when I opened the menu (which was entirely in Japanese), I noticed something called “pineapple coffee”–which the text described as “fresh pineapple juice with espresso.”
I’ll admit, my first reaction was what fresh hell is this? – but even as I had the thought, I knew I had to order it. So I did–along with a regular cup of coffee, just in case.
A few minutes later, this showed up:
Although the pineapple juice and espresso stayed fairly separate on the way to the table, I decided to give it a stir before tasting it, since I didn’t want to drink the components separately. It’s not at all carbonated, but a stir did increase the amount of foam on the top.
It tastes exactly the way I imagined espresso and pineapple juice would taste. Simultaneously sweet and bitter, with the strong, tangy flavor of pineapple and the bite of dark espresso. It’s not sweetened (although they did bring sugar and gum syrup, in case I wanted to add them). Frankly, it doesn’t need to be. The pineapple juice had so much pulp and tasted so fresh, I suspect they’re making it in-house.
I didn’t expect to like this–and it took me a couple of minutes, and several sips, to decide exactly how I felt about it. The verdict: it’s startlingly good, and I’d order it again. I won’t be making it at home, but I’ll probably go back to Nōen to have it again, the next time I’m in Kyoto.
So, what’s your verdict? Would you try it, or does this one get a pass?