HAJIMEMASHITE, NIHON: Una Rana Cafe (Osaka)

  

One afternoon in Osaka was spent doing some shopping in the Umeda district. And we came upon this old Volkswagen van right smack dab on the street (on a mini-island). 

Nice pale green color, eh? :D The van had been remodeled / refurbished to become a cafe, and quite a cute one at that:

 

 

Here's how it looks from the front:
 

 
And from slightly off-side:

The menu was quite limited, consisting of the standard coffees (Americano, latte, cappuccino, etc.) and some sandwiches. And all in Nihongo, too! Fortunately, the affable, rather goofy-looking guy running the place was very helpful, despite his limited English. All we understood was '350 Yen'!
 

The coffee came in plain paperboard cups (no logos here!), and proved to be pretty good. Coupled with the cool, breezy weather, and the cheesecake we had bought from Pablo, we all had a relaxing time.

 Here's the affable guy i was telling you about.

Here's the board with their cute frog mascot and website (alas, it's all in Nihongo).

Verdict: Must-try if you're in the area. Definitely a different experience from Starbucks (which, incidentally, has a branch just two blocks away)