Lili Marleen >>MAP 2-8-2 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku TEL: 03-3724-0319 東京都目黒区自由が丘 2-8-2 A quirky but ultimately winsome new café in Jiyugaoka’s dated “Little Venice.” The owner is a charming woman with some connection to Germany (I didn’t ask). The menu is full of sausages and pretzels and she has two beers on tap (one from Germany I failed to recognize and the other brewed in German style by a microbrewer here in Japan ). The espresso beans are imported courtesy of LaVazza and the quality suffers as a result. Click here for my rant on the senselessness of importing roasted beans. However, I get the feeling that the owner is getting to know her espresso machine, a gorgeous Carimali Kicco 1, and there are worse shots being pulled in Tokyo . My advice: skip the espresso for now and have a beer on the patio by the “canal.”
A gaijin's (dated!) guide to espresso in Tokyo!