Santos Coffee, Shiinamachi: Go for the Shakerato

A food-loving friend recommended a café in Shiinamachi, a neighborhood near Ikebukuro,

so I went to Santos Coffee (SANTOS COFFEE)!

I'd heard that Santos Coffee is so particular about how it brews coffee that it has even been featured in Ryori Tsushin, a food magazine...

I headed over, super excited.

There's a park with playground equipment across from the shop, so it's also a lovely spot for a stroll with kids.

Santos Coffee near Shiinamachi

It was full, so I waited about five minutes. I went on a weekday around snack time, and the café stayed full the entire time I was there!
Lots of regulars came in too.

There are about 10 seats. The walls are green and hung with a few paintings, which makes for a calming atmosphere.

It's lively with families and people relaxing on their own.

The Famous Shakerato at Santos Coffee

What I came for: the shakerato.

It's almost all foam! A mound of light, fine-textured foam, like mousse.

It's a cold drink made by shaking espresso with ice. It was my first time trying one, and I was amazed!

I thought it might be sweet like a dessert, but it's still espresso, so it has a crisp aftertaste. Delicious!

I also got to taste the regular iced coffee, and it had a deep roast and aged flavor from the beans. Really good.

The cup is vacuum-insulated, so it keeps its temperature perfectly. You can feel the care they put into details like this.

The roll cake had a nice fruity tartness.

Along with espresso and the shakerato, the affogato is one of the most popular items.

Affogato means "drowned" in Italian. It's an Italian dessert where a drink is poured over vanilla-flavored ice cream or gelato.

The classic is vanilla ice cream with espresso or coffee poured over it. What's unusual about Santos Coffee is that you bring the ice cream yourself!

They even have a small freezer set up to store the ice cream, lol

That's right, the shop doesn't sell ice cream.

So each customer brings whatever ice cream they like and enjoys their own combination, lol

A customer in the shop told me that Super Cup vanilla (a popular convenience-store ice cream) paired really well, lol. It almost comes down to the ice cream...
That day they were trying a matcha flavor, lol

They pour the coffee generously over the ice cream like this.

With so many unusual menu items, it was a memorable and lovely café. Next time I'd like to try the affogato myself.

Maybe Häagen-Dazs... or maybe something a bit lighter would be better...

It's a really lovely place, so if you're anywhere near Shiinamachi, please stop by!

Santos Coffee (SANTOS COFFEE), Shiinamachi Park Front Store
1-24-4 Minami-Nagasaki, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0052
10:00-19:00, closed Mondays
080-3215-7788