If you’ve spent any amount of time in Tokyo, you probably know Almond Cafe in Roppongi, even if you’ve never actually been inside. With its unmistakable pink facade right by Roppongi Crossing, it’s one of those places everyone uses as a reference point. Meet you by Almond. Turn left at Almond. I’ve done that more times than I can count.
Almond first opened in 1964 and for decades it’s been part of the neighborhood. It closed for renovation in 2009 and reopened in a new building in 2011, still pink and still impossible to miss. When I was in Tokyo in May, I finally decided it was time to stop walking past and actually go in.
It was late evening and raining heavily, the kind of rain that turns the streets glossy and reflective. Almond stays open late, so I walked over from our hotel with no real plan beyond tea and something sweet.
Inside, the café matched the exterior. Pink walls, pink details, and a long glass counter filled with cakes and pastries. There were a lot of choices, and none of them were bad ones. I stood there for a while before picking two pastries that looked especially good.
I took them upstairs and found a table by the window. A few minutes later, a very polite waiter arrived with my order, served on matching pink plates. The cakes were rich with cream, marzipan, and chocolate, and exactly what I had hoped for.
From my table, I could look down at the traffic and neon outside. Inside felt soft, quiet, and almost unreal by comparison, like sitting inside a dollhouse while Roppongi carried on below. Elegant, cozy, and completely disconnected from the nightlife just outside the door.
Almond isn’t a hidden gem or a new discovery. It’s a classic. And sometimes that’s exactly what you want, especially on a rainy night in Tokyo.
Almond Roppongi, 6 Chome-1-26 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo
