Kamiya Cafe

The pasta was cold, the prawns alongside it warm: one diner remembers the contrast in temperatures from a chilled pasta dish at Kamiya Cafe. Chilled options include tomato and mozzarella, mushroom and mentaiko, octopus and rocket, and sea urchin with tomato, alongside a variety of seafood and vegetable combinations. For a light lunch on a hot day, tomato or ume plum flavours may appeal; for something different, consider mushroom with mentaiko or octopus with natto.

The hot pasta dishes also offer a range of sauces and toppings. The menu includes carbonara with a cream-based sauce, aubergine Bolognese with meat sauce, and pescatore with tomato sauce. Choosing between a rich cream sauce and tomato is part of the pleasure. One diner recalled that the fine pasta was cooked al dente and coated the sauce well; another ordered creamy pasta with prawns and enjoyed the moderately rich sauce and firm, springy prawns. For a cream-based dish, sea urchin cream pasta and carbonara are other options. Comparing the sauces makes it easier to settle on whatever suits your appetite that day.

At lunchtime, A Lunch pairs pasta with salad, lemon-flavoured potato salad, homemade bread and consommé soup. B Lunch adds Japanese wagyu beef braised in red wine. A diner who ordered the A set reported that the colourful salad, bread and soup arrived first, and that ginger gave a seasonal spring-vegetable and sea bream soup pasta a distinctive note. The set makes for a more substantial lunch, while the pasta remains the centrepiece.

Some diners have mentioned being able to watch the cooking from the counter, and that freshly prepared dishes may take a little time to arrive. The cafe serves lunch and dinner, with wine and beer also available. One visitor noted that drinks were not included in the lunch set, so allow for ordering one separately if you would like something to drink after your meal.