Cafe Ellington - CLOSED 2015

Cafe Ellington outside.jpg
Asagaya 3-37
Nishishinjuku 2 Chome 8-1 Shinjuku-ku Tōkyō-to JP

Note: Closed in early 2015. I guess he couldn’t get many customers after all…

Cafe Ellington was opened in June 2012 by the warm and chatty Onodera-san, a retired apparel merchant. It’s a small, non-smoking cafe open from 3pm-10pm, with a simple drinks menu of coffee, tea, beer, whiskey and sherry. The shape is a bit odd with some rather too-large tables making it a but cluttered, but the coffee is good and the speakers excellent.

Onodera-san doesn’t keep a huge collection of vinyl in the place, only about 300 at a time. He rotates the play list bringing from his collection at home, mostly standard jazz with nothing too “heavy”. He was playing a wonderful Roland Hanna/George Mraz duo album when I visited recently. Onodera-san hasn’t put up a website or used any social media to promote the place so the cafe is not well known, even among some Asagaya residents. It’s a relaxing spot for an afternoon coffee or early drink so I hope he builds the customer base up.

Size
11-20
Directions

Station: JR Asagaya – Chuo, Sobu Lines

Exit: South Exit

Distance from station: 2 minutes

Easy to find after coming out the South Exit.

Date published
12/17/2012 Updated May 2015
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