Day 4 cont'd: Affogato at Sugiyama Cafe and the Cheese Factory

Welcome to Sugiyama Cafe - Furano

As I was preparing photos for this post, I am quite aghast at how many food we consumed that particular day. To recap from the previous post, so far on the same day we have had: lavender ice cream, lavender calpis jelly, lavender cream puff, various soba and grilled mochi. This post picks up where we left off... after lunch, we had some time to kill before our bus to the wine and cheese factories (yes more food I know!!). So we walked back to the station when we came across this cute cafe. The signs were all in Japanese, but if you walk in, you will be rewarded with great coffee and super cute cafe.

Check out the tablecloth's pattern: coffee cups!!

The menu - Affogato for JPY 400! (+/- US$4.00)

I was so excited to find such a cute, cozy cafe and at the same time felt sad because I only had that time to enjoy it. As soon as we stepped in, we could smell roasted coffee beans wafting in the air. The furniture were so retro but at the same time very cozy as there were lots of wooden furniture and chocolatey color that made the atmosphere felt so warm. The AC was full blast, such a cool refuge from the midday heat outside! I absolutely adored the tablecloth, it has coffee cup pattern! I really wish I can transport this whole cafe here to Sydney, or wherever I happen to live.

Check out the retro chairs and the fan... too cute!

The special blend of coffee drip

Waiting for our order and taking a break from the heat

Affogato - perfect cure from the hit and to ensure that we stay after a morning of eating, eating, oh and eating!

There were two baristas and they were very friendly even though we don't speak the same language. This is what I call hospitality service! Well, my broken Japanese don't really count... Anyway, the lady barista spoke English as she lived in New Zealand before. She has the cutest accent! It was so unusual for me to hear Japanese speaking in a non American accent. Anyhow, she explained to us that they have a special brew see picture below - where it takes about 7-8 hours to drip the coffee and yields only 15 cups of coffee per day. Of course we had to try it! We decided to have the affogato. I am also sure that Ginko chan was happy I got the same as her, this way she didn't have to wait for me to take pictures of her orders! I think she got used to it though ;)

Closer to the bus departure time we head back to the station and waited for it to come. First and stop: cheese factory. We planned on going to the wine factory afterwards but it rained so hard that we decided to head back and enjoy our cozy hostel. Bibaushi and Furano area were so tranquil and peaceful, we felt so sad to leave the next day. But hey, it's always better to leave when you still want to stay than being stuck when you just can't wait to leave. I've been on both places and this is way better.

Furano Cheese: you could tell which one is the one with cuttlefish ink, couldn't you?

Unfortunately the cheese factory was closed on the weekend. However, we still get to taste the their specialty cheese which is black cheese made with cuttle fish ink. It wasn't fishy at all but you could taste the squid ink very subtly, the slight pungent taste cuts through the creaminess that would be too much for me. Ginko chan though, preferred the normal cheese. So really, it all comes down to your taste buds and preference.

The emblem, which is kinda funky as it fused Italian and Japanese elements, how they make the pizza and an angel pizza!

The end product and my Hokkaido Milk Ice cream...

This little guy kept us company while we were having ice cream outside, isn't butterfly a sign of good luck?

Remember to get your tickets here first, then give it to the people on the counter.

Then as if we hadn't had enough to eat for the day I had the Hokkaido milk ice cream and Ginko ordered a slice of pizza. Are we crazy? Yeah, I think we were... But then again, we WERE at a cheese factory so how can we not try the dairy products there?! They were really yummy, definitely worth our stomach getting angry at us. Will I do it again? I'd probably try to space all the eating out on a couple of days!

Sugiyama Coffee

〒076-0025 富良野市日の出町12-1
+81 167 23 5277

Opens 10am ~ 7pm

Click here for map

Sunday Lunch at Casa Verde

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is to catch up with friends over brunch. When P gave me several options for brunch, I decided to go with Cafe Verde because of it's location at the Botanic Garden. I have to admit that in the two years that I have been here, I have thought that this garden is called the "Botanical" Garden instead of Botanic. So when I arrived at the visitors' center I discovered when I read the plaque that it is actually called the Botanic Garden. Oopsie...

My ice water and order number

It was raining when I got there and I was hoping that this cafe would be close to the Visitors' Center as P texted me. The last time I was dining at the Botanical Garden, my Spanish connection and I took the wrong entrance which gotten us lost and we had to walked quite a bit to reach our destination. Thanks to the detailed text P sent me, I was only 10 steps away from Cafe Verde. It is located on the left hand side after entering the Botanic garden, with the cafe standing up next to the trees... how very fitting to name it green house.

Place your order here

I thought the pear shaped light decoration was cute...

On my way to find my friend, I saw the cashier and ordering lines and I was confused to find that you have to order on the cashier instead of the waiter coming to your table. I suppose it made sense as the cafe was open spaced and with the Botanic Garden just steps away they probably don't want people to order and just walk out without paying. Not sure what to order with my stomach not feeling too hungry, I looked through the menu and decided to go with pizza. Then they told me that their specialty pizza was wrapped spring roll style. I decided to try it: ham, mushroom and mozarella that came with a bowl of red sauce. P ordered beef taglioni and a basket of fries.

Sfilatino Casa Verde (House Specialty) spring roll style pizza

served with red sauce

Sfilatino Casa Verde: Mozarella, Ham & Mushrooms

The pizza was thin crusted with generous amount of ham, mushroom and mozarella. The red sauce was nice, but it could do with a bit more of herbs. The portion was just nice, well, actually for that day it was too much for me. I had to doggy bag two pieces and had it the next morning for breakfast. It was good, but I don't think it was worth 20 bucks... Or maybe they included the view price on that pizza... The fries were thick cuts, but they were crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It tasted good with my red sauce. I didn't try P's taglioni, so I can't really comment on it.

Basket of Fries

Tagliatelle Bolognese

Overall, I would say that the food quality here is standard, perhaps a little on the pricier side considering the location. However, it is a nice place just to relax and hang out with friends on the weekends. Then after you stuff your face, you can just walk around the garden and work that calories as well as guilt out of your system. I really liked the Botanic Garden cause I can experiment with my camera and check out the cute dogs that walk around with their owners. I know some people check out the owner, but I check out the pups. I really wish I have my dogs here with me, I bet a million bucks they would love the Botanic Garden.

Casa Verde
1 Cluny Road
Botanical Gardens (Visitor Center)
Singapore
+65 6467 7326

Click here for website