Café
Koffee Mameya
An Omotesando coffee bean shop where baristas guide customers through a curated menu of beans from roasters in Japan and abroad.
Glitch Coffee & Roasters
A Jimbocho roastery-café serving light-roasted, single-origin specialty coffee designed to bring out the character of each origin.
At a glance
- Type
- Specialty coffee roaster
- Area
- Jimbocho, Tokyo, Japan
- Price
- $$ · Mid-range
- Opening
- Open daily
- Official site
- glitchcoffee.com
Good to know
- In-house roasting
- Beans to take home
- Open daily
Why we recommend it
Glitch Coffee & Roasters is a specialty roaster in Jimbocho, the old book-shop district of Kanda, and it has become a regular stop for coffee enthusiasts visiting Tokyo. The company was founded in 2015, and the Kanda-Nishikicho shop, with its roaster on site, is its original home. It has since added branches in Nihonbashi-Honcho and Ginza in Tokyo, as well as in Osaka and Nagoya, but Jimbocho is still the one most visitors seek out.
The approach is light roasting of single-origin beans, with the aim of letting each farm, variety and processing method taste distinct. Recent offerings have included competition-winning lots from Colombia and Geisha-variety coffees with floral, fruity flavour notes. Staff will talk you through the beans currently available, often letting you smell them first, and suggest whether to try them as a pour-over or as espresso-based drinks. Expect bright, fruit-forward cups rather than dark, bitter coffee; if you prefer a heavier style, say so and the baristas will steer you to a suitable bean.
The café is open from 8:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 19:00 at weekends, with no regular closing days. Bags of beans are sold to take home, and the online shop delivers within Japan. The room is small, with a handful of seats, so mid-morning and lunchtime can be busy; early morning is the calmest time to talk to the baristas. Some of the rarer coffees are priced well above an ordinary cup, reflecting the cost of the beans.
Glitch suits coffee lovers, solo travellers and anyone wanting a short, focused stop rather than a long sit. It is not really a place for laptops or large groups. If you are buying beans as gifts, ask staff for advice on how long they will stay at their best.
The shop is on the ground floor of the Komura Building at 3-16 Kanda-Nishikicho in Chiyoda-ku, within a few minutes' walk of Jimbocho Station on the Hanzomon, Toei Mita and Toei Shinjuku lines and Takebashi Station on the Tozai Line. It pairs well with an afternoon browsing Jimbocho's second-hand book shops, and the Imperial Palace East Gardens are a short walk south.
Glitch Coffee & Roasters FAQs
What are the opening hours?
8:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and 9:00 to 19:00 at weekends, with no regular days off.
What style of coffee do they serve?
Light-roasted, single-origin specialty coffee roasted in-house.
Do they sell beans?
Yes, bags of beans are sold in the shop and through the online store.
Are there other branches?
Yes, in Nihonbashi-Honcho and Ginza in Tokyo, and in Osaka and Nagoya.
Is there much seating?
No, the café is small, so it suits a short stop.
When was Glitch founded?
In 2015.
When is it least busy?
Early in the morning, before the mid-morning rush.
How do I get there?
A few minutes' walk from Jimbocho or Takebashi stations.