Cafe Beulmans

I’ve known Yoshioka-san, owner and sole staff at Cafe Beulmans for several years now, since before he took over the cafe in mid-2012. He’s a sincere, heavy jazz fan who listens to an incredibly wide range of styles. Even being objective however, I can sincerely recommend Beulmans as one of the finer jazz cafes now operating in Tokyo.

Located in Seijo-Gakuen, a leafy, affluent area of western Tokyo with a ‘certain’ kind of afternoon tea clientele, Beulmans certainly takes care of the wealthy ladies with the freshly made cakes and gourmet coffee behind the counter. In its previous incarnation Beulmans was a tea & cake salon with baroque classical music on the speakers, but that’s slowly been phased out in favor of jazz during both the day and evening hours.

For the jazz cafe fan, Yoshioka-san’s large collection of vinyl and experimental tastes will be the main attraction. Though he keeps it fairly light in the day, during bar time at night be prepared for anything from Woody Shaw to Stan Getz to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Think about that for a second the next time someone says the ‘Jazz’ at Starbucks is nice!

There are now live sessions too at Beulmans, check the schedule online. お疲れ様、吉岡さん！