Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chococro

This is another posting on a Japanese coffee shop. You might think me to be weird 'cause whenever I go out I have canned coffees or a glass of iced coffee at a shop. But like other countries, coffee is very popular among people in Japan.


This coffee shop opened in a city called Moriya 3 years ago. I had heard from my friend that he had a coffee at a Chococro shop in Tokyo, and since then I had wanted to try it. This Chococro's official name is Saint Marc Cafe, but people call it Chococro, which is one of the specialties this shop serves. 

And these bread in the orange holders are called "Chochocro". A piece of Chococro costs 160 yen or 1.75 us dollars. You can see other bread beyond, and this shop can be called a bakery because of several kinds of bread it sells.

 
What do you think of its shape? Those who know Lucky Star might associate it with the Choco Korone that Konata was having in the episode 1. It doesn't really differ from Korone, but this tastes much better in that it has a piece of chocolate that is warm, soft, and sweet. 

 
 As an iced coffee maniac, I'd like to say this coffee is very bitter. Probably much bitterer than any other coffee I've ever tasted. But the reason for this bitterness is because it goes well with this very sweet Chococro. I didn't put any syrup in this and had it black.

 
 This is the logo of this Saint Marc Cafe. I wonder why almost all the cafes in Japan have similar logos to the Starbucks'. Why does it have to be round-shaped? I don't know, but people would easily recognize this cafe wherever they are. 

What is the most popular drink in your countries? I think Japanese people have green tea when they're at home, but somehow there are just a few green tea shops in my city. But when we go to Japanese-styled restaurants that serve things like sushi, they always put a cup of green tea on the table.