Friday, May 10, 2013

モーニングサービス at local cafes

There is a unique service at cafes in our area, Aichi.  It is called “モーニングサービス” or “morning service” but it means breakfast special.  We often call it Morning.  You can have the service usually at kissaten, cafes with waiters/waitresses, not at self-service cafes.  We don’t have the custom of tipping in Japan, so you don’t have to worry about it.  The breakfast special is that if you order a cup of drink burring the certain hours in the morning, it comes with snacks or light meal such as a piece of toasted bread and a boiled egg.  You can have a light breakfast just with the price of one drink.  Isn’t it a great deal?!  
 
It seems café culture is well developed in our area.  The rate of café among the entire eating and drinking establishments is quite high.  (National average: 24%,  Tokyo: 18%,  Our prefecture, Aichi: 42%!! –Wikipedia)  This type of breakfast special got popular and it has been so common here that until recently I’ve never thought that this is a unique culture of our region.   Now the breakfast special seems getting popular nationwide and evolving its services.  It used to be simple, like a cup of coffee with toast and egg.  But now, some café offer a better meal, some offer for a longer hours and some even offer it in buffet style.  The more popular it become the better the services we get.
 
 
 
This is the Morning Service I had the other day.  They have a regular breakfast special (drink+bread+egg), but also you can add mini-salad, yogurt and a piece of bacon as an option if you pay additional 120yen.  A regular breakfast special is not totally satisfying as a breakfast for me.  I quite like this option system. 
 
You may not see many cafes that offer this type of breakfast special in Tokyo.  If you have a chance to come to Aichi, go to a kissaten and save your money and enjoy your morning!!

6 comments:

  1. I must say that I am glad to be able to find a western-like breakfast when I am in Japan (often in train stations). Hot cocoa with "croissants" typically...

    But I have noticed that some customers do look me oddly when I dip my croissant in my cocoa. I figure it is not the way it is done in Japan, even though it is so good ! ;-)

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    1. I’ve never thought of dipping my croissant into hot cocoa. But, why not! That sounds good. I’m going to try it next time! Does it work with other bread, too? Or is croissant simply the best?

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  2. Yes, it works with everything. The most traditional french breakfast I can think of is slices of bread (baguette) with butter (or jam) dipped into hot cocoa, or hot milk (with sugar), or coffee with milk, or black tea. But we dip all kinds of biscuits and cakes too.

    English people have a way of dipping biscuits into their afternoon tea too.

    Croissant dipped into hot milk (with a bit of honey) is my personal favourite. Please try with cocoa. ;-)

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    1. I rarely have croissant or cocoa at home but today I’m going to go buying them to try the French tradition! I’m really looking forward to it!!

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  3. I would love to experience coffee culture in Japan. Maybe someday! Just wondering: what is the warm liquid in the glass teapot?

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