What happens if you blend the scent of freshly baked vegan treats, cozy vibes and fortune telling? At CAFÉ Tarot near Asakusabashi, this enchanting fusion comes to life, offering more than just a meal—it’s an experience that invites you to slow down, connect, and perhaps even glimpse into your future.
About CAFÉ Tarot
According to the website, CAFÉ Tarot serves as a space for meaningful connections, inspired by the themes of the Tokyo Tarot Museum just five minutes by foot from the café. While the museum focuses on introspection, the café emphasizes dialogue with others, fostering mutual respect, self-discovery, and the weaving of soul stories that transcend time—symbolized by the mosaic of the Tarot card Wheel of Fortune.
Upon entering CAFÉ Tarot, you are greeted by an enchanting and relaxing atmosphere. The counter is filled with irresistible muffins, and on the right side you can see the inside of the kitchen.
Wooden stairs lined with shelves that are decorated with tarot and magic related items lead to the seating area on the second floor, adding to the otherworldly mood.
Before going upstairs, my friends and I ordered our for food and drinks. Since all the lunch plates and drinks sounded mouthwatering, it was difficult to choose! Once the order is processed, you receive a buzzer which indicates when your food is ready to be picked up downstairs.
Second floor vibes
The upstairs seating area looks quite stylish, with relatively large, dark grey tables, plants and beautiful lamps.
There is also a shelf with stunning sets of tarot cards, both in Japanese and in English.
After sitting down and getting comfortable, we noticed that together with the buzzer the staff gave each of us a random original coater as well as a paper with explanations of what each coaster means.
I think that idea is brilliant! It makes the café unique and comparing our cards to each other and thinking about how they relate to our current situations was quite engaging and super fun. Especially when going with people you don’t know well yet, it is a good ice breaker and conversation starter. Even if you go alone, I imagine it being an effective way to do some introspection. According to the website, there are 22 types of coasters which are based on the motif of carrot patterns called Major Arcana and if you collect all of them, you can use them as tarot cars.
Once our buzzers beeped one by one, each of us got downstairs to get their food which was placed on easy to carry wooden trays. It still as a bit of a challenge to carry it up the stairs.
After eating our lunch, we decided to pick out one of the tarot decks and try out fortune-telling ourselves! We chose an animal one because it looked cute and included the most detailed instructions, which was helpful as it was our first time doing tarot. It took us a while to get the hang of it and we probably made many mistakes, especially interpreting the cards, but at least in my case it triggered a lot of introspection and I believe the experience brought us all a bit closer.
Foods I tried
At CAFÉ Tarot, everybody needs to order at least one drink even when you are eating. For lunch, it is possible to choose a set drink which is coffee, tea or herbal tea for just 300¥. But you can get any other drink of your choice if you don’t mind not getting a discount.
They had four different lunches: burger plate, open sandwich plate, falafel plate and soup plate. The muffins, falafel plate and soup plate are gluten-free.
Burger Plate
The burger plate came with a burger, salad, pickles, and some root veggies.
The burger itself was relatively large and super delicious! I especially loved the crisp bread and the flavorful, soft patty. Salad and onions added some additional crisp to the texture and the yummy tomato and tartar sauce some juiciness. I absolutely loved it! The fresh salad included some kale and was marinated in a delicious dressing. The sour pickles and steamed veggies on the side added additional textures and flavors which made the dish very satisfying and filling.
Caramel latte
The creamy latte had a strong caramel flavor and is perfect when you crave something sweet!
Double chocolate muffin
Since I was quite full from the lunch plate and we were planning on eating dessert at a different place, I got one of their muffins for take-out and ate it the next day.
The double chocolate muffin was super fluffy and had chocolate pieces on the top. I believe they added bitter chocolate to the mix, as the sweetness was well balanced. I really enjoyed this dessert!
Details
Price span
550¥-2500¥
Hours
Monday-Saturday: 07:30-18:30
Sundays: 10:00-17:00
Address
1 Chome-27-3 Asakusabashi, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0053, Japan
Homepage
What is Veganism?
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.“
- The Vegan Society
Reasons to choose vegan alternatives:
Protect animals from suffering horrendously and getting killed
A whole-food plant-based vegan diet has the least environmental impact
A whole-food plant-based vegan diet is extremely healthy and can help reversing various diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart diseases.
For people, as a vegan diet requires only one third of the land needed to support a meat and dairy diet.
PLANT-BASED: A Guide to a more Sustainable Lifestyle
Check out my Kyoto Sightseeing x Vegan Food Guides
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