Hoshino Coffee is a Japanese sit down coffee shop chain with locations all over Japan and in several other markets around Asia. While the aesthetics evoke early 20th century cafes, Hoshino is actually not all that old: the first one opened in 2011 in Warabi. But the environment is half the experience and they know the value of transporting customers to a different time, when people had time to sit down for coffee, breakfast, indulge in leisurely consumption.

Hoshino is first and foremost, a coffee brand. They pride themselves in their coffee blends that are served hand dripped, and a special blend just for iced coffee served in a copper cup to maintain the integrity of the balanced flavor. But they also have a pretty hearty food menu. The headline is souffle pancakes, but it’s not quite as delicately fluffy as other pancake specialty restaurants. The fun part is the omu section of the menu, with fluffy souffle eggs baked golden on top but creamy and light within that melts perfectly into whatever it’s placed atop (from spaghetti to rice and curry). Anyways, the game is to sit down, order something that will probably put you to sleep, but then balance it off with some strong coffee.