Koffee Mameya

Koffee Mameya is less a conventional café than a specialist coffee bean shop, created by Eiichi Kunitomo, who previously ran the much-loved Omotesando Koffee stand. The idea is simple but unusual: rather than roasting its own beans, the shop curates a rotating menu of beans from a group of roasters in Japan and abroad, and its baristas act as guides, helping each customer find coffee that suits their taste and their brewing set-up at home. The brand has since opened a branch in Hong Kong and a sister shop in Tokyo, Koffee Mameya Kakeru.

You stand at the counter while a barista explains the current menu, which is arranged by roast level from light to dark, and asks how you like your coffee. You can taste a cup brewed as a pour-over or as an espresso-based drink before deciding which beans to buy. The space is pared back and precise, with a focus entirely on the beans and the conversation.

There is little or no seating, so think of it as a tasting stop and a place to buy beans rather than somewhere to settle in with a laptop. Ask for brewing advice for your own equipment: the staff are happy to recommend grind size, water temperature and recipes, and the beans come with a printed recipe card. Visits are usually short, around ten to twenty minutes, though queues can form at weekends, when it is worth arriving soon after opening. Beans make a light, easily packed souvenir for coffee-loving friends at home.

Koffee Mameya suits serious coffee drinkers, people looking for an unusual gift and anyone curious to learn more about brewing. For a longer, seated experience, the sister shop Koffee Mameya Kakeru offers coffee courses by reservation through TableCheck, linked from the official website. Contact the shop by email through the address on its website.

The shop sits on a quiet side street in the Omotesando and Jingumae area, a few minutes' walk from Omotesando Station on the Ginza, Chiyoda and Hanzomon lines. It is an easy detour from the shopping streets of Omotesando and Aoyama, and Tonkatsu Maisen and the backstreets of Ura-Harajuku are close by.