The food mainly served here is a traditional Japanese food called "Dango". "Dango" is the general name for one kind of rice cake with a style that small round shape rice cakes are stuck by a bamboo stick. It's actually not always a sweet. As you can see in the photos in the slideshow, this cafe bar has two kinds of flavor for Dango and the one is soy sauce and the other is sweetened mushed red beans. Therefore some people enjoy the Dango with tea, but some other people enjoy it with Sake or beer.
The old wooden board in front of the cafe tells the origin as follows.
"During the Tokugawa Shogunate era (the Samurai time), this area was a nice suburb by the Arakawa-River. In 1819 the first owner Shogoro opened a small cafe bar here and named it "Fujinoki Cafe Bar". He cooked Dango and served it to those who traveled through this street. The texture of the Dango was extremely smooth and it became very popular. People started describing the rice cakes as smooth as one kind of silk fabric called "Habutae", then years later "Habutae Dango" became the name of the rice cakes and also the cafe bar.
Inside of the door, there are a space for selling the Dango to go. Since the rice cakes became famous many people just stop by here to buy "Habutae Dango" as souvenir. Beside the shop area, there are a spaces for antique items used in daily life. They keep them from old times and display them like inside of a museum. Also an old drawing which shows the old days of the cafe bar is hung.
At the cafe area, out side of the window is a nice Japanese style garden as you can see in the photos. People can enjoy the view while they enjoy the rice cakes and drinks. The block this cafe bar is located is actually packed with buildings, but the garden is well made shutting off the outside view, thus the customers can relax.
It would be nice to go to a traditional Japanese cafe like this one. You can enjoy Japanese history and traditional culture in addition to some traditional food.
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