A Survey of Japanese Chain Coffee
Has Japanese mastery filtered down to their chain coffee shops?
After my disappointing survey of Japanese convenience store coffee, I reluctantly branched out to their ubiquitous chain stores. It’s inevitable that you’ll be drawn into one at some point if you’re visiting for a length of time. They’re absolutely everywhere, every major street, department store and subway station. Even as a place to rest, given the absolute lack of public seating in Japan, they are a necessary “third place” for most people. They obviously fill a large need in countless ways and thus keep on going. But, for my concerns, it’s about finding a good reliable cup of coffee when there isn’t a top independent shop at hand. Let’s jump in…
DOUTOR
Doutor seems to have about 1/3 of the coffee market judging by the number of stores I come across. They seem popular and are always offering seasonal promotions to entice people to come in. The food options are relatively low quality and definitely err on the processed side with too much sugar and preservatives. Display cases showing plastic packaged foods are a giveaway to the industrial nature of the operation. Over the years I’ve tried a large variety of drinks there and some are ok, such as their matcha latte. I like their chocolate mousse ok too. Neither are a reason to run out to visit a Doutor though.
The latte is what is the focus of this article and my broader coffee hunt in Japan. In one word, it is horrific. I suppose after the convenience store coffees I was hoping for a modest increase in quality, but this drink was so offensive that it had me longing for 7-Eleven. Utter artificiality with a chemical taste to the milk that was so strong I thought it might be paint. I don’t understand how a store can legally sell this. 2/10.
CHOCO CRO - ST. MARC CAFE
Choco Cro St. Marc Cafe is a smaller chain with perhaps 5% of the market. Their food is probably the best of the bunch and it is extremely cheap. The breakfast meal below was under $10USD and when I’m lazy or there’s nothing convenient nearby, I’ll happily make the choco choice.
I had a London fog at Choco Cro and thought it was pleasantly innoffensive so I had high hopes for the coffee. The latte was sadly, horrible. I noticed that it comes from a giant automated machine and likely uses the same chemical milk-substitute that is so prevalent at the other places I mention. There was almost no coffee taste. Just bitter acrid artificiality. I managed to drink half of it. Thankfully the pastry was enough to erase most of the taste, and actually the pastries are by far the best of any of the chains. The almond croissants, while not being authentic, are very tasty, have a good texture and don’t taste artificial. The atmosphere at Choco Cro also tends to be calm and civilized with 60s jazz and warm lighting. It’s a decent place to relax. 4/10.
MCDONALD’S
McDonald’s has invested hugely in marketing its coffee in Canada as a true alternative to specialty shops like Starbucks and the quality, while not amazing, has massively increased over the past few years. Their coffee tastes like coffee, is well balanced and inoffensive and complements their breakfast foods fine.
I had high hopes for the same effect from the Japanese subsidiary, but clearly the company is not using the same formula here yet. Those two tell-tale dots of coffee on top of the milk should have been my first giveaway that this is yet another machine approximation of what a coffee is. Really, shouldn’t the coffee go in the cup first?? Or, to use my tired refrain - how about using real milk? While not as bad as Doutor or Chococro, I couldn’t finish this drink and was happy eat the rather tasty hashbrown and McMuffin instead and then rush across the street for a Blue Bottle chaser. 3/10.
TULLY’S
Tully’s reminds me a little of the Starbucks menu and their coffee quality however is still inferior. The latte was reasonably coffee-like with no immediate chemical taste. The milk was nearly tasteless but it did identify as milk, and at the same price as the other chains, it is definitely better value. The food at Tully’s is lower than Choco cro however so perhaps a good coffee-only choice but not a winner if you want both. The atmosphere is the worst of all the chains in my opinion. It has a certain cafeteria coldness which makes it easy to not care about sitting for hours to work, but there is zero charm or atmosphere. 3/10.
CAFFÉ VELOCE
Caffé Veloce is almost an identical competitor to Choco pro. The coffee is slightly better, the food is slightly worse. Everything from the interior to the plate wear is incredibly similar, as is the price. You can easily get a combo with coffee, sandwich and dessert for under $10USD. It’s frankly amazing how they can do all this and pay for the rent, staff and dishwashing. Even buying prepackaged food the convenience store costs as much. The atmosphere is pleasant and service always good. The coffee is typical industrial taste. Not good. 4/10
HOSHINO
Hoshino is a deceptively old-seeming coffee chain. It looks like it has been around since 1960, but it actually is completely retro design. Started in 2011 there are now over 280 shops across Japan, nearly as numerous as the others on this list. While they are 25% more expensive than the alternatives, in absolute terms it’s still affordable by any standard and the food and coffee is definitely more than 25% better.
Hoshino actually uses words like “single origin” and “Blue Mountain”, however after tasting various cups, I think most of their marketing stretches the truth liberally. Nevertheless, they make a decent cup of black coffee. It’s smooth, palatable, not overly acidic and has some nuance of flavour. If you wanted to drink two or three cups over an afternoon, you could do it. Also, their food is a much higher standard than any other chain. Ingredients resemble their natural shapes and tastes and overall the menu, like the decor and service, are firmly “classic”.
It’s quite remarkable how perfectly they have embodied an old aesthetic into a new company. By western standards this would appear dated and tired, but clearly it is in demand in Japan. Luckily there are no chinks in the armour to kill the illusion of it being an old place. This is truly nostalgia-embodied. The leather chairs and dark wood tones everywhere practically conjure the smoke filled eras of decades past. In popular locations there is often a lineup so it can pay to look at the map for one just slightly further away from a train station if you want to sit for a longer period. The experience and coffee quality is slightly better than Starbucks, albeit with a totally different vibe. 6/10
UESHIMA COFFEE LOUNGE
There are about 20 of these shops around Tokyo so it’s likely you’ll be able to find one in any popular area. The decor is very nice and decidedly less high-wear commercial than the other chains above. The design style is Scandinavian with bent-wood chairs and paper lights, good flow and ambiance and the requisite 60s cafe jazz on the stereo. The coffee here is not made manually on an espresso machine—it’s still an automated machine, but it does taste better than the competitors. Although definitely not the authentic taste of drip or espresso, it has a somewhat natural taste.
The standout feature of Ueshima is the food, and in particular certain sandwiches that use real Western style whole wheat bread. There’s a wholesomeness and general attempt at nutrition here that is much appreciated. It’s for this reason that I will always choose an Ueshima when needing a quick breakfast or lunch along with my coffee. 7/10
CONCLUSION
After nearly poisoning myself on convenience store coffee, I shouldn’t have expected much more from the chains, but I have to say that there is a reason why there are so many and so prevalently located. There are a lot of people in Japan that for one reason or another have nowhere to work or study during the day and these coffee chains provide a convenient and ubiquitous place to hang out for very little money. Furthermore, they all have clean bathrooms and seating areas. When it’s 40 degrees outside or torrential rain, these coffee chains are a godsend to duck into for an hour and just sit.
I’m not sure how any of them make money at the rock-bottom prices of the food and coffee, but if you study the menu closely there are decent items at a very low price. For actual coffee, there are so many good independent stores within 5 minutes walk of any of these chains that I don't see a particular reason for us coffee fanatics to go on purpose. Of them, clearly Ueshima is the best all round choice, however Hoshino has perhaps slightly better coffee and a nostalgic interior.
PRICE
Various
AVAILABILITY
Every street corner in Japan.
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