And yes, of course you can get an ice cream chaser.

When ordering coffee, we’ve pretty much become conditioned to expect the barista to ask us if we’d like it in a paper cup or a ceramic mug. So when we stopped by a cafe in the Tokyo neighborhood of Koenji we initially thought we’d misheard the clerk when he asked another customer “Would you like that in a cup or cone?”

Koenji’s dual atmosphere is one of retro charm and artistic creativity, so at first we thought the cafe, called Coffee Cone Tokyo, might simply have some unique conical cups. But then we searched our memory banks, and remembered the tales we’d heard about this particular cafe. Coffee Cone’s cones are waffle cones, just like the ones usually used for ice cream, with a chocolate coating near the rim and a hot beverage inside. And it’s not just coffee they serve in cones, as you can also get a mattcha green tea latte or hojicha roasted green tea latte served in a cone.

▼ Naturally, decorative latte art is also part of the deal.

Tempting as the Japanese tea versions sounded, since the marquee menu item is the coffee cone, we opted for the Sweet Caffe Latte, priced at 650 yen (US$5.80).

▼ The sprinkles really sealed the deal.

Cute and tasty-looking as it was, though, we couldn’t help but be a little worried. Would the cone melt or crack from the hot coffee inside, leaving us with scalding liquid dribbling down onto our lap?

We weren’t sure, and so we followed SoraNews24’s standard operating procedure for potentially dangerous/crazy duty by having our reporter Mr. Sato perform the taste test.


But our fears turned out to be unfounded. As long as you don’t start munching on the cone while there’s still coffee inside, it works just fine as a beverage container. What’s more, the cone and chocolate add a delicate sweetness to the coffee as it flows over them, making for a uniquely delicious flavor.

The time to start eating is after you’ve drained your cone…unless you want to unlock the full potential of Coffee Cone Tokyo’s menu. Once you’ve finished your coffee, you can refill your cone with a full swirl of soft-serve ice cream for 220 yen.

▼ Technically the available flavors for this are supposed to be vanilla and chocolate mint, but because we asked extra-politely, they let us have chocolate ice cream.

Coffee Cone Tokyo is located just three minutes on foot from the Tokyo Metro’s Koenji Station on the Marunouchi subway line, and now that we know about its innovative dessert beverages, we can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the lineup.

Cafe information
Coffee Cone Tokyo / コーヒーコーントウキョウ
Address: Tokyo-to, Suginami-ku, Koenji Minami 3-20-15
東京都杉並区高円寺南3-20-15
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Photos ©SoraNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s trying to decide between which of the three matcha latte mixes he has in his kitchen to use today.