We usually start our day in Japan with simple breakfast like bread and coffee. There are countless chain cafe in major cities and it is so easy to find one of them along any street. We do not have special preference and will normally just hop into the nearest one.

Here are 5 of our favourite coffee shops in Japan.

1) Chococro St Marc Cafe

 Chococro – or Chocolate Croissant is the signature item of Saint Marc cafe. There are plenty of sweets and pastries to choose from, and the coffee are really good too. With over 300 shops over Japan, St Marc cafe is a good choice for some quick snacks when you need it.

Here we had eggs toast and cappuccino for breakfast. The price is slightly higher than the rest though.

St Marc cafe recently expanded overseas and we are seeing new branches in Singapore too. When that happens, we will usually avoid them when we go Japan.

 

2. Excelsior Cafe

Excelsior Cafe is another popular choice for us. Love their tuna and ham sandwiches.

Although run under the same company as Doutor, Excelsior has different menu. Pasta and other food items are also available at Excelsior, and other desserts like cakes and puffs.

Commonly found at major shopping centres, this is a must try if you are looking for some great coffee.

 

3. Doutor

If you had been to Japan, chances are you had seen this logo somewhere. Doutor is a popular cafe chain in Japan that caters to the busy working force. Most seating arrangement in a Doutor coffee shop are single and equipped with power outlet for anyone to use.

Doutor is one of our most patronized coffee shop. Our usual breakfast choice is sandwich with cappuccino.

4. Tully’s coffee

At Tully’s Coffee, you can get some of the best coffee a chain restaurant can offer. We love their coffee and green tea matcha. The pancakes are good too.

Most of our Japanese friends love Tully’s Coffee for their specialty handmade coffee and relaxing environment.

Highly recommend to try if you are in Japan, although you may have some difficulty trying to find one, since they are not as common as the rest.

 

5. Cafe de CRIE

Cafe de CRIE is a hidden find for us as we only discovered it recently. This cafe did not have many outlet and are only operating in a few prefectures.

Cafe de CRIE offers simple breakfast such as donuts and toasts, with coffee and milk tea.

For cheap breakfast and avoid the heavy morning crownd, this coffee shop is a good choice.