Cafe Waraku Kyoto

Calming cafe on Kyoto's hectic Shijo-Dori

If you're looking for an easy, refreshing break from the noise and traffic (human and vehicular) of Kyoto's Shijo-Dori then Cafe Waraku might serve you well. You'll find the cafe / coffee shop on the eastern end of Shijo-Dori in the same building as the Japan Kanji Museum and Library. Cafe Waraku has a high-ceilinged atmosphere that almost feels a bit colonial. The interior is all beige and brown woods and the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the street light the place up nicely. While not a particularly large space the cafe feels spacious and at the time of visiting (a Friday afternoon in summer) there were plenty of seats available (maybe most people are distracted by other attractions in this part of Kyoto). Counter style seating looks out onto the street while table and chair seating is comfortable and unfussy. Coffees at Cafe Waraku are around the 300 - 500 yen mark depending on size. The cafe also has a limited selection of soft serve ice creams. At the time of visiting the flavors had a suitably Kyoto vibe about them: vanilla, matcha, Japanese pepper, roasted tea, and nikki. Japanese teas, soups and smoothies round out the menu. Service at Cafe Waraku was prompt and polite and we had the slight sense that English might be spoken here. The cafe has a great location for those exploring the Gion and Maruyama Park areas of Kyoto. At the time of writing we couldn't find a homepage for the cafe but it looks very new and was perhaps opened in conjunction with the above mentioned Japan Kanji Museum and Library (the address of which we've used as the address for Cafe Waraku). The nearest station for Cafe Waraku is Gion-Shijo from which the cafe is about a 5-min walk (depending on human traffic on the Shijo-Dori sidewalks).