It's stylish, eclectic, traditional and international all into one.
It has flair yet brings the village to the city.
My favourites are the Mont-Blanc dessert and the Hoji Milk Tea sprinkled with black pepper. (Yes Black pepper but ever so subtle.)
If you lucky enough to get the tatami seat you can browse through some of Stephane's (the owner) French cartoon collection.
Though casual in fashion, the service is impeccably traditional in its respect to customers.
Merci Stephane!!
http://www.ocharaka.net/en/index.html
MAP
Hi! I was looking for a place to buy pottery near Tokyo and came across your blog. What did you think of the pottery selection there? I also really enjoy tea so it sounds lovely. One more question: do the employees there speak any english? I hate to ask but I don't speak much Japanese and I'd really like to visit when I go to Japan in July. Going to read more of your adventures - thanks for posting this :)
ReplyDelete~ Ashley
Hi Ashley- K dude's wife here :) Ocharaka sells pottery made by a potter from Ibaraki prefecture- Kasama town I think. It is good stuff, but if you have time, a visit to either Kasama or Mashiko- the two pottery towns closest to Tokyo, would be my recommendation. Mashiko alone has over 200 kilns in operation- so the variety is pretty amazing. Another favorite place to check out pottery is Gallery Shun in Hiroo. They unfortunately don't have a website, but you can check stuff out on their sister gallery site, gallery Gen in NY http://www.gallerygen.com/ I could go on and on (I'm a bit of a pottery buff) but I hope this gives you something to start with!
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your question about Ocharaka- yes, Stephane speaks English, although he is not there every day.The Japanese employees probably speak some English too. The teas are great and make great gifts too.
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