Kuraobihachi in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, is a cafe located inside a beautiful and historic traditional wooden storehouse. In 2008, a local university student started the Kura Project to preserve traditional wooden storehouses in the city and use them in new ways. As the students’ first project, Kura Obihachi was created. Due to his/her diligence and emotion, a cafe owner was located, and the storehouse became a cafe, bar, and live house. (Translated from the Kura Obihachi website)
From the get-go, I could see that the building was beautifully preserved. It isn’t a huge space, but it is a really nice place, offering interesting tea and coffee brews and healthy, Japanese-style food. I came with the intention of trying their Dandelion Cafe au Lait (yes, you hard me right – dandelion, as in the flower!)
I ordered the coffee, a piece of cake, and scones to go. Everything was served in beautiful tableware, including the water!
Dandelion Cafe au Lait: What a strange drink. I don’t know if I liked it or not! It tasted exactly like a creamy bowl of vanilla oatmeal! It wasn’t bad – just strange!
Ginger and Sesame Cake: I LOVE spiced cakes, so this was an absolute must for me. The ginger was the star of the dish. It permeated almost every bite. And though the cake looked as if it would be dry, the texture was extremely moist and creamy! I wasn’t expecting it to be as delicious as it was!
Scones: Small, but really good. I almost wished I had ordered another pair! They’re not traditional scones, not are they American scones, but they still tasted great. Keeping up with the traditional theme, the scones came with very Japanese type sauces, like kuromitsu. Subtly sweet.
Travels + Eats 