Best Cafes in Arashiyama: Coffee and Sweets Near the Bamboo Grove

Arashiyama is the kind of place that makes you want to sit down and stare at something for a while — and thankfully, the cafes here are good enough to justify doing exactly that. This list is ranked on a simple basis: quality of what's in the cup or on the plate, how well the spot earns its Arashiyama setting, and whether you'll actually feel better after stopping there than you did before. No tourist traps, no mediocre matcha soft-serve from a window stall. Just the places worth your time.

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1. % Arabica Arashiyama

% Arabica Arashiyama is the best coffee stop in Arashiyama, full stop — and it earned that spot by being genuinely good rather than just Instagrammable (though it is absolutely that too).

The latte here is the move. Smooth, rich, with foam art that looks like it took a year to learn. The beans are either an original blend or single-origin, and the baristas actually know what they're doing with them — this isn't a coffee shop that happens to have a nice view, it's a coffee shop that also happens to have a nice view.

The location sits close to Arashiyama Station, which makes it the perfect first stop before you hit the bamboo grove. Get there by 8:00 a.m. on a weekday and you'll have the place nearly to yourself. Show up at 10:30 on a Saturday and you'll be queuing past the point of dignity.

• Hours: 8:00–18:00 daily
• Order: Cafe latte (hot or iced), Americano with single-origin beans
• Tip: Take-out and walk toward the grove — the cup fits the moment perfectly

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2. eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama

eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama earns its spot because it does something almost no other cafe in the area bothers to do: it gives you an experience, not just a dessert.

The headline here is the roast-your-own-dango concept. Dango are soft rice dumplings on a skewer — think mochi's chewier cousin — and you toast them yourself over a small charcoal brazier at your table until they puff and blister, then dip them in a sweet soy glaze. It takes about three minutes and it is deeply satisfying in a way that is hard to explain to someone who hasn't done it.

The setting leans hard into traditional Kyoto aesthetics: dark wood, lantern light, the kind of interior that makes you feel like you've wandered into a Meiji-era merchant house. It's a bit theatrical, but Arashiyama is a theatrical kind of place, so it fits.

• Hours: 9:00–18:00 daily
• Order: Roast-your-own dango set, matcha drinks
• Tip: Go right when it opens at 9:00 — it fills up fast and the wait mid-morning can stretch longer than the bamboo grove itself

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3. Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden

Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden is the cafe you go to when you want something that tastes like it was thought about carefully — and it was.

The thing to order is the matcha tiramisu. Italian technique, Kyoto ingredients: mascarpone cream layered over soft sponge cake with a generous dusting of Uji matcha over the top. Uji is the region just south of Kyoto that produces some of Japan's finest tea, and you can taste the difference — this isn't the powdered stuff from a supermarket, it's properly grassy and slightly bitter and it cuts right through the richness of the cream.

The cafe itself is genuinely adorable in a way that doesn't feel calculated. It's the kind of place where you'll take one photo of your dessert, put your phone down, and actually eat it.

• Order: Matcha tiramisu, espresso drinks
• Tip: Good option if % Arabica has a queue — the coffee here holds up and the sweets are the stronger argument anyway

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4. Okochi Sanso Villa Tearoom

Okochi Sanso is not technically a cafe. It's a villa and garden that was built by a silent film actor in the early 20th century, and the tearoom inside is one of the most quietly special places to drink matcha in all of Arashiyama — possibly in all of Kyoto.

Here's how it works: you pay the garden admission (around ¥1,000), walk the full route through one of the most beautiful private gardens in the city, and your ticket includes a cup of matcha and a traditional sweet at the end. It's like an omakase where the chef is a hundred-year-old garden and the dessert course is earned rather than ordered.

The gravel path through the garden is so quiet you can hear your own footsteps. The tearoom sits at the end of the route with views over the Arashiyama mountains and the river below. You'll sit on tatami, someone will bring you a bowl of thick green matcha and a small sweet, and you will feel extremely calm and slightly smug about your life choices.

• Admission: ~¥1,000 (includes matcha and sweet)
• Hours: 9:00–17:00 daily
• Tip: This is the natural endpoint of the bamboo grove walk — exit Tenryu-ji's north gate, walk uphill through the bamboo, and the villa entrance is right at the top

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5. Musubi Cafe

Musubi Cafe is the one for when you've been walking for two hours, your feet hurt, and you want somewhere that won't charge you a premium for the privilege of sitting down.

It's a neighborhood cafe in the quieter western part of Arashiyama — the part tourists don't tend to drift toward, which is exactly the point. The pace is slower here. The crowd is mostly locals. Nobody is taking a photo of their drink.

The coffee is solid without being showy, which is sometimes exactly what you need after a morning of temples and bamboo and the particular exhaustion of being impressed by things.

• Hours: 10:30–18:00
• Order: Coffee, whatever looks good on the daily menu
• Tip: Best on a weekday afternoon when the main sights are at peak chaos and you need an exit ramp

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6. Yoshimura Arashiyama

Yoshimura Arashiyama earns a spot here because sometimes what you need after the bamboo grove isn't a coffee — it's nishin soba and a window seat over the river.

Nishin soba is a Kyoto specialty: buckwheat noodles in a light dashi broth topped with sweet-simmered dried herring. The herring is stewed in soy sauce, mirin, and ginger until it's tender and deeply savory, and it sits on top of the delicate noodles like it's been there all along. It's the kind of dish that makes you understand why Kyoto has its own food culture.

The restaurant sits right by Togetsukyo Bridge, and if you get a riverside table, the view does a lot of work. This is more of a proper lunch stop than a cafe break, but it belongs on this list because the experience — food, setting, moment — is worth planning around.

• Hours: Not confirmed; check locally.
• Order: Nishin soba, zaru soba if you want something lighter
• Tip: Go early — tables with river views go fast and there's no reservation system

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The Practical Bit

When to go: Before 9:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. Midday in Arashiyama is more crowded than Kiyomizu-dera on a national holiday, and that's not a number you want to test.

Getting there: About 15 minutes from Kyoto Station by JR Sagano Line to Saga-Arashiyama Station. The bamboo grove is a 10-minute walk from the station.

The order that makes sense: % Arabica first (coffee, early, before the queue), bamboo grove and Tenryu-ji next, Okochi Sanso tearoom at the top of the bamboo path, then Yoshimura for lunch on the way back to the station. Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden or eX cafe fills any gap in between.

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One Tip You Can Actually Use

If you're doing the bamboo grove walk, exit Tenryu-ji Temple through the north gate rather than approaching the grove from the main street. You skip the worst of the crowds, walk uphill through the best section of bamboo, and arrive directly at Okochi Sanso at the top — where someone will hand you matcha and a sweet and you can sit down and feel like you've earned it. Which you have.

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FAQ

What is the best cafe in Arashiyama for coffee? % Arabica Arashiyama is the strongest pick for straight-up coffee quality. The latte is excellent, the location near the station is convenient, and it opens at 8:00 a.m. — early enough to beat the crowds if you plan ahead.

Where can I get matcha sweets near the bamboo grove? Okochi Sanso Villa includes matcha and a traditional sweet with garden admission (around ¥1,000), which makes it the best value. For a dedicated dessert stop, eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama's roast-your-own dango is the most memorable option, and Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden does an excellent matcha tiramisu.

Are the cafes in Arashiyama very crowded? Yes — more crowded than most places in Kyoto, and Kyoto is not a quiet city. % Arabica and eX cafe in particular fill up quickly after 10:00 a.m. on weekends. Arriving before 9:00 a.m. on a weekday is the single most effective thing you can do to have a good experience in the area.

Is there a cafe inside or near the bamboo grove itself? Not inside the grove — it's a free, open path with no facilities. The Okochi Sanso tearoom is the closest thing to a cafe within the grove walk, sitting at the top of the bamboo path inside the villa garden. For everything else, you're a 5–15 minute walk from the grove's main entrance.

What should I eat for lunch in Arashiyama? Yoshimura Arashiyama for nishin soba — buckwheat noodles with sweet-simmered herring — is the most distinctly Kyoto option near the main sights. Get a riverside table if you can.

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Place Addresses

• % Arabica Arashiyama — 3-47 Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama — 35-3 Sagatenryuji Tsukurimichicho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden — Arashiyama, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Okochi Sanso Villa — 8 Tabushiyama-cho, Saga Ogurayama, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Musubi Cafe — 1-8 Arashiyama Nishiichikawacho, Nishikyo Ward, Kyoto
• Yoshimura Arashiyama — 3 Susukinobabacho, Saga-Tenryuji, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto
• Togetsukyo Bridge — Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Tenryu-ji Temple — 68 Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Saga-Arashiyama Station — Sagaarashiyama Station area, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
• Kiyomizu-dera — 1-294 Kiyomizu, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto