Calm Cafe

If you ever find yourself on the western side of the Izu, near the junction of Rt. 17 and 134, then I highly recommend you stop for lunch and a few road beers at this fine cafe. Outdoor seating isn't really very big in rural Japan, so you can imagine how excited we were to find that this outdoor veranda had a breath-taking Suruga bayfront view of the fisherman, sailboats, and scuba divers. Since there is a diving school to the right, we could see many seal-like people crawling from the surface of the water.


Here, a happy Stephanie poses in front of the cafe after we spent about an hour and a half, eating a delicious lunch, ordering beer and wine, and moving over to the grassy knoll in order to enjoy the scenery a little better.


When we saw the sign boast "Pasta and Curry", we were like...uh, whaaaat? However, the restaurant did prove to have excellent food. Steph and Nicole are two of the food-snobbiest people I know (said in a very loving and respectful tone), so the fact they agreed that it was great that we took a chance on this place was golden.

Here's the map of the area. I drew a red circle where i thought it was, but actually it is a little higher up on the map, on that same road.

The Basil bruschetta was so fabulous, we had to order it again after we devoured the first plate.

Nicole ordered the salmon and avocado pasta. It was delicious.

It was nice to have a real Ceasar's salad for once. It was served in a huge, chilled bowl. Very classy.

Stephanie's curry dish looked very beautiful, as the vegetables radiated their natural colors. It was very fresh, and I had a little taste. It was divine.

Here's a little picture showing the beautiful view from our table. The staff was also very friendly and beautiful, and the prices were very reasonable. I am reluctant to share my little slice of cafe paradise with the world, but I want to be able to find it again, so I thought I ought to write about it.