Information for Cafe and Bar Kingyo-tei (Kingyo Tei | Kingyotei | 金魚亭) in old Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture.
Kingyo-tei
Kingyotei is located on the grounds of Matsumoto Shoyu. It opened in March 2022, replacing the once popular Cafe Kura which closed permanently in 2020. Retro cafes are all the rage at the moment, so it has proved very popular. Particularly as it is ‘Insta-bae’. Insta-bae is the contraction of ‘Instagram’ and ‘baeru’. Baeru means to look good and / or attractive. The meaning is thus similar to ‘Instagenic’.
Kingyo is the Japanese for goldfish and tei for store. And Kingyo-tei is all about the goldfish! the café is decorated with hanging goldfish. There is also a goldfish tank in the porch. Moreover, the cafe sells kingyo-yaki! Like tai-yaki (the sweet fish shaped street food) only a goldfish rather than a fish and pink in color! In addition, the signature drink of the cafe, a modern cream soda, has goldfish jellies in it. The featured photo at the top of the post is of the ramune soda. Ramune is a Japanese carbonated soft drink.
Menu
We’ve tried a few different things at the cafe, so far the sweet potato specialty is my favorite. Kawagoe is famous for sweet potato. They have a strawberry drink topped with fresh cream that is very good too. My kids liked the kakigori (shaved ice / snow cone), which isn’t cheap at 1200 yen. However, its large enough for two kids to share. The drinks come with an ‘omikuji’ fortune paper. If you are not happy with your fortune, you can tie it on the tree outside. A practice which is believed to change your fortune. They have alcoholic options too, such as ‘Smirnoff Lemonade’.
Ambiance
You can get take-away or sit in. The building has a bit of a romantic feel and seems to most popular with young couples or pairs of friends. The café (and the whole complex) are off the main tourist strip so its quieter and more ambient than other areas in the Kawagoe tourist district. There is a small outdoor area too, but there are only two tables for two. The cafe has a hanachozu aka floating flower display, as in the photo below. They have one unisex toilet on the premises.
Information
Cafe: Cafe and Bar Kingyotei (Kingyo Tei | Kingyo-tei | 金魚亭)
Season: all year round (particularly popular / busy during the summer months)
Hours: 11 am to 6 pm Thursdays to Tuesdays, closed some Wednesdays. They also plan to open until 11 pm in the future, but night time hours are temporarily unavailable due to the pandemic.
Cost: from 327 yen for a kingyo-yaki, from 600 yen for a cream soda, from 1200 yen for kakigori.
Venue: Cafe and Bar Kingyo-tei, 10-15 Nakacho, Kawagoe, Saitama 〒350-0065. View on Google Maps.
Access
Cafe and Bar Kingyo-tei is located on the premises of Matsumoto Shoyu (Soy Sauce). There is a small coin parking lot on the grounds of the soy factory, right by the cafe. There is also another coin parking lot next door. Please note that the street is one-way for cars and you need to enter from the opposite end of Kashiya Yokocho.
The cafe is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from both Kawagoeshi and Hon-Kawagoe Stations. It is about a 25 minute walk from JR and Tobu Tojo Kawagoe station. Nakacho bus stop is only about a 2 minute walk from the cafe. Any bus that goes through Kurazukuri no Machinami (Ichibangai) / Little Edo Warehouse District stops at Nakacho.
Official website for Kingyo Tei cafe.
Editor’s note: I temporarily changed the Cafe Kura information to Kingyo-tei on the post about Matsumoto Soy Sauce in 2022 after Kingyo tei opened. On May 5th 2023, I removed the information about Kingyo-tei from the soy sauce factory post and gave it this post of its own.
This food is so delicious 😋 thanks Anita
Little bites of heaven ☺️😋