Thursday 23 December 2010

Hattifnatt, Kichijōji, Tokyo


menyū 

iced coffee 

Tallulah having a stretch 

brown rice and plenty-of-mushroom doria 

avocado taco rice


Yesterday we headed off to the Ghibli Museum, known for Japanese animation films like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away - cute! Keep an eye out on our Renosslah blog for some pics soon. The museum is located in an area called Kichijōji, which is one cute area! Our favourite Tokyo Guide, Hello Sandwich, helped us find us a spot to fill up before hitting the museum, with that spot being Hattifnatt!

The best way to describe the Kichijōji Hattifnatt is a children's cubbyhouse. The entry is through a tiny door, and the ceiling is so low it is impossible for us tall gaijin to stand up straight! There are elements of traditional Japan in there too, such as taking our shoes off and sitting on cushions with low tables. The walls and ceiling of the main eating area was completely painted in a mural full of animals (and children with guitars), and it was a child's dream! A kid's birthday party was under way when we arrived, and children were running about, finding types of animals as a game, ringing the bell for service and generally having a great time! Tallulah definitely fit in here.

Another benefit of sitting on the floor was that Tallulah could have some time out of the sling (knowing she couldn't fall anywhere), and she spent the whole time checking out the colourful room.

With Tallulah successfully distracted, we scoured the pictures in the menu. I found avocado taco rice and asked for that and Renee thought that the picture of the 'brown rice and plenty-of-mushroom doria' looked good. The doria came with a mini-salad. We chose iced coffees as the accompanying drinks.

The avocado taco rice was delicious! It was avocado, salsa and egg on top of lettuce on top of mince and rice, and it was delicious! The avocado was superb on this dish. Renee quickly found out that under the layer of white sauce (she had a craving for cheese) was her arch-nemesis, the mushroom; plentiful in quantity. No amount of pushing food around could get rid of that mushroom taste! The mini-salad, however, had no mushroom (yay!) and had a tasty dressing.

The ice coffee, once creamy milk and sugar syrup had been added, quenched our thirst.

Being time to head off to the museum, we put our shoes back on (which involved me putting my shoes on first, then taking Tallulah from Renee so that she could put her shoes on - babies make thing harder!) and headed back into the world where ceilings and door frames are at least 2m high. Note: this does not include our apartment where door frames are low; I have a few lumps on my head!

The Verdict
Coffee 3/5
Eggs (the meal!) 3/5
Service 3.5/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Total = 14.5/20

Tallulah's score = 4/5 (Tallulah loved this child-like café)

Would we go again? Yes, and they have another one in nearby Kōenji that we want to check out!

Website You must check out Hattifnatt's website, it is sooo good! It is located here.
Kichijōji station is located on the Chūō line, Sobu line, Tozai subway line and Inokashira line.

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