Parlour Ekoda

It isn’t easy to find, but this tiny European-style bakery and café is well worth looking for. The excellent bread is reason enough to stop by, with up to a dozen kinds, including raisin bread, whole wheat toast and quiche, on offer every day, and customers coming in from far and wide to get relief from standard Japanese 'bread'. If you’d like to try before you buy, sit down and order the toast set: five varieties of toast are served with salad and a choice of drink for ¥780, making for a fun tasting experience. Their espresso-based coffees are also formidable, but the main attraction has to be the superb sandwich menu. Around ¥1,000 will get you a panini set, with bread varieties and toppings freely customisable – perfect for a lazy lunch on the backstreets of Ekoda.