Last month, the wife and I had planned a trip up to Hitachi to have ourselves a little beach day. We were planning to go to Kawarago beach to enjoy a day of swimming and then check out the onsen near the beach. By the way, if you haven't gone to Yuranosato onsen near Kawarago beach, please check it out. There is a spectacular view of the ocean while you relax in a hot spring. Anyway, the wife and I first had to grab some lunch before we headed to the beach. She mentioned that we were near Omika station and that there was a café that served a delicious looking pulled pork sandwich. Once she said pulled pork, it was a done deal. We made a beeline to Cameo Coffee Company.
Cameo Coffee Factory
When we arrived at Cameo, the first thing I thought about was parking. Cameo does have parking in a small rocky parking lot a few meters away from the café. You can always walk there from the station if you come by train. As I mentioned before, Cameo is very close to Omika station. The café isn't a big place but it is quite cute and I liked it. The inside was really nice but a bit of a tight squeeze.
Inside
So, this is the tight squeeze I was talking about. There is a long counter area for customers to sit at and two tables. I think this place can fit up to eight people max. The inside was really nice though. I liked the coffee café atmosphere it had going on and the place felt very relaxing. The other thing I really liked about the place was the staff. They were super friendly to the wife and myself and helped us out with our coffee selection.
Coffee Selection
There is a lot of coffee to choose from at Cameo. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the whole coffee menu. But I can tell you that Cameo offers a bunch of different coffee. There is even soy and oat lattes on the menu. I wanted to try Cameo's iced coffee, so when I ordered that, the staff asked me to pick a country's beans. The above picture shows all the countries you can choose from. I was told about the top row countries. On the right, the Guatemala and Ethopia beans are stronger. While on the left, the Indonesia and Ethopia blends have a more fruity taste. I went with the iced fruity Indonesia blend. The wife on the other hand picked a really interesting coffee, the Lavender Latte.
The Menu
Great news my fellow English speakers! Cameo's menu is in English and Japanese! This section of the menu has the food selection and smoothies selection. I am really interested in the espresso smoothies and will try it another time. As for the food, the wife ordered the ham and cheese sandwich. I, of course, ordered the pulled pork sandwich with more meat. We also decided to give the coffee jelly a try for dessert.
Lavender Latte
"It really tastes like lavender!" The wife said after her first sip. She was really impressed with her coffee. I gave it a sip and had to agree. It was a cool and refreshing coffee with a taste of lavender. I really liked the wife's coffee and was thinking of ordering it myself the next time I came to visit.
Iced Indonesia Blend
My Indonesia Blend was a great iced coffee. I enjoyed ever sip I took. I honestly thought it would have had a lighter and fruity taste, that is not to say that it didn't, but it was quite strong. I enjoyed that the light flavor was followed by a strong taste of coffee afterwards. That makes me wonder how strong their other strong coffees are.
Ham and Cheese Sandwich
The Ham and Cheese Sandwich was fantastic. I am a big fan of melted delicious cheese and this sandwich had a lot of that. When I bit into the sandwich, I got some ham, cheese and, what's that, honey mustard!? Oh Cameo, you know what I like. I love honey mustard and it went really well with this sandwich. I will warn you though, the ham is quite thick. So if you take a bite out of the sandwich and hit the ham, be prepared to have the whole piece come with you. The bread was nice and toasted, panini style. The wife really loved her sandwich and I enjoyed it as well.
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Can I describe this pulled pork sandwich? This sandwich that stopped all of time and space when I bit into it. This sandwich which took my breath away when it first arrived at my table. This sandwich that I still dream about till this very day. I am not sure if I can describe this meaty perfection, but I will try. The pulled pork sandwich comes with amazing melted cheddar cheese and what I think was a little bit of coleslaw. The bread was a bit hard but nice and soft on the inside. This worked out really well because it kept the sandwich intact the whole time I was eating it. The pulled pork was a little bit thicker than I am used to but man, it was amazing. There was a little hint of sweet BBQ sauce and a little hint of some spicy sauce in there. They both mixed well together and made this some of the best pulled pork I have had in Ibaraki. The pulled pork was soft and meaty with all that melted cheese to back it up. This truly is a work of art by the staff at Cameo.
Coffee Jelly
Finally, we come to the dessert portion of our meal, the coffee jelly. Or should I say Tiramisu coffee jelly. That is what it looked like and tasted like. Cameo's coffee jelly was unlike any coffee jelly I have had up to this point. You had your cubes of coffee jelly (or jello) on the bottom of the glass, and delicious cream with coffee powder on top. Mixing the coffee jelly with the above cream was absolute heaven. The wife couldn't get enough of it and almost ate it all by herself. It was a great dessert to finish our meal.
Yoshida
After we finished our meal, we walked around the café and checked out the art on the walls. The staff explained that it was a special exhibit between Cameo and a local artist named Yoshida happening during the month of August. I really enjoyed the art style and noticed that a lot of it depicted Kawargo beach. The wife and I ended up buying the piece of art that is pictured above. We also met the artist who came by for a cup of coffee. She told us she does a lot of local art and does manga as well. Unfortunately, at the time of this post the exhibit is over. If you want to check out Yoshida's art, she does have a twitter account.
I really loved the Cameo Coffee Company. If I lived in Hitachi, there would be no doubt that I would become a regular at Cameo. But alas, it is quite a drive from Tsuchiura, so my visits will be limited. I do plan on going back soon and trying out some of the other coffees on the menu and quite possibly the French toast. It will be a struggle not to order the pulled pork sandwich though.
So if you are looking for a great cup of coffee and a magnificent pulled pork sandwich, look no further than the Cameo Coffee Company in Hitachi. I highly recommend trying this place out. Who knows, you might see me there, trying hard to order another food item but caving and ordering the pulled pork sandwich.
Enjoy!
For more information on Cameo Coffee Factory, check out their website:
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