Break Café nonno

Early bird catches the worm, or in this case, a very good breakfast at Break Café nonno. This no-frills spot, located right next to Shirarahama Beach, is our recommended place to enjoy a Western or Japanese-style breakfast.

What’s Break Café nonno?

Open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., this café serves up four different types of breakfast. Notably, they specialize in fermented food, and you can enjoy different types of koji (fermented rice malt).

For a more Western-style breakfast, there is a toast set and hot sandwich set. The toast set comes with a salted koji egg and fruit. The hot sandwich has egg and vegetables. They cost between ¥990 and ¥1,100, ¥110 or so more, if you want to add a drink.

The other options are more Japanese-style and include two types of teishoku (set meals), one with salmon and the other with saba (mackerel). With our salmon teishoku, we were able to try two different koji side dishes as well as a brown soy-sauce koji, which we put on our rice. You can choose between a raw or boiled egg and both sets come with miso soup. They cost ¥1,200 and you can pay extra to upgrade the rice size.

If you drop by a little later, at 10:30 a.m., they do offer a special lunch for ¥2,500. There’s also a kids’ plate for ¥800.

Or simply go for a coffee. It’s one of those places that locals go to read the newspaper, chat with the owners, and just get the day started.

What to know before you visit Break Café nonno

Do you need reservations for Break Café nonno?

No, you can just walk in. Just note that this café is only open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Plus, they only accept cash or PayPay.

by Jane Pipkin