Have you ever traveled around Kamisu? If you drive to the beach area, you will see a bunch of wind turbines lining up the coast. It is quite a site to see. The Ibaraki Eats Duo checked that out on a Tuesday morning last year in July. We then decided to chill out and grab some coffee at a place I had heard about. That place is the Shiro Kuma Factory Coffee.
Shiro Kuma Factory Coffee
Shiro Kuma, or White Bear in English, is a small café in the Shitte area of Kamisu. The café is basically in the middle of nowhere on a big street away from civilization. You won't see much while driving there. After a while, you will catch the café on the side of the road. I highly recommend driving here since I saw no bus stops or train stations. There is plenty of parking so no worries about that.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo parked our car and got ready to relax with a nice cup of coffee. We also greeted the miniature white bear that is by the entrance.
Inside
Walking inside this café was kind of a treat. There is a lot to check out in the White Bear Factory Coffee. There are book shelves full of manga, a bunch of interesting things on the walls, and an old record player at the back of the café. Most of the tables at the café are booths which suits me just fine. The café had a really nice relaxing atmosphere to it. I felt like I could chill there all day, reading a book and enjoying some coffee.
The Menu
Before sitting down, my wife and I checked out the menu on the chalkboard by the entrance. The menu has a lot of coffee on it. The right side of menu is hot coffees and special blends. The left side is all cold blends, espressos, and some sweets. Sorry, all the menu items are in Japanese, no English. To the side of the chalkboard there are pictures of some of the sweets the café has to offer. We first ordered by the cashier window, paid, and then took our booth.
Coffee Float
This was my wife's order. An ice coffee with vanilla ice cream on top. So simple, so delicious. Mixing that ice cream with the coffee made it an amazing drink. The coffee wasn't that strong but it went really well with the ice cream. The light coffee with vanilla was a nice treat for a hot day.
Shiro Kuma Factory Blend
This is the main roast from this café. The white bear blend. How was it? Honestly, a bit disappointing. It was a strong coffee which I liked but that was it. Nothing much really happening with this blend. The taste was 50% hot water and 50% regular strong coffee. I added some sugar and cream in there but it didn't really help. I do want to give the other blends on the menu a try but that would have to wait for next time.
Cheesecake
Now we get to the desserts we ordered. First up, was regular old plain cheesecake which I believe is made at the café. The cheesecake wasn't bad. It was creamy and had that well known cheesecake flavor everyone knows and loves. It was a nice little dessert to go with our coffees.
Pudding
Next up was the pudding or what I call flan. Where I'm from this is called flan, but in Japan it is called pudding. I am very critical of flan because I'm from Miami where people take flan seriously and it is made with love and care. So how was Shiro Kuma's flan? Pretty damn good. It was completely covered in caramel with some nice cream on top. It was soft, creamy, and extremely delicious. I liked it more than the cheesecake. Is it better than flan I have had back in Miami? No. Not even close. But it is still a fantastic flan. I wouldn't mind ordering this again the next time I visit, and my wife would agree.
My wife and I had a good and relaxing time at Shiro Kuma Factory Coffee. Sure, my coffee was a bit of a let down, but the flan was great and I really do want to give their other blends a chance. Even though Kamisu is pretty far from me, I am sure I will visit again. When I do, I am definitely taking a break at this café. I also hope I can catch Mobile Kitchen Kogo there sometime. Kogo makes excellent Cuban sandwiches, and they sometimes set up their food car there.
So if you are in Kamisu and are in the mood for some coffee and excellent flan, why not give Shiro Kuma Factory Coffee a try. Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying a dessert while trying out a new blend,
Enjoy!
For more information on Shiro Kuma Factory Coffee, check out their Instagram page:
Event Announcement!
Tsukuba Bread Festival
This weekend, May 27th and 28th is the Tsukuba Bread Festival at Tsukuba Center! The festival is running from 11:00am-4:00pm. There will be a lot of different bakeries from around Tsukuba presenting their delicious bread and pastries at the festival. Plus, different food trucks will also be there in case you can't get your hands on any bread. I highly recommend checking out one food truck called Happy Tortilla Arthur for a Japanese/Mexican hybrid tortilla experience.
For more information on the Tsukuba Bread Festival, check out their website:
Comments