HanaCafe Kikyou – Gorgeous Flower Themed Cafe Serving Shingen Mochi Treats at Lake Kawaguchi, Japan

During our Lake Kawaguchi day trip, the wife and I visited HanaCafe Kikyou, a stunningly beautiful cafe at Fuji Oishi Hana Terrace. This was one of the most Instagrammable cafes we had ever visited!

HanaCafe Kikyou

Fuji Oishi Hana Terrace

HanaCafe Kikyou is a gorgeous flower-themed cafe that specialises in “Shingen mochi”, a popular Yamanashi rice cake snack.

It is located inside Fuji Oishi Hana Terrace, a lush garden complex along Lake Kawaguchi that is home to several quaint Japanese cafes and artisan shops. It also offers wonderful views of Mount Fuji.

Menu (Click to enlarge)

Shingen Mochi treats

The cafe menu offers a variety of Shingen Mochi themed food items such as puddings, soft serves and parfaits.

For drinks, there is an interesting variety of latte flavours such as Kinako Latte, Kuromitsu Latte, and Matcha Latte.

“Kinako” is roasted soybean flour, the type usually eaten with mochi. “Kuromitsu” is a type of Japanese brown sugar syrup.

We also saw many Shingen mochi treats in pretty packagings on sale. However, we are not really fans of Japanese rice cakes so we didn’t buy any.

Gorgeous Flower Themed Cafe

The wife was in love with the gorgeous decor of HanaCafe Kikyou.

The cafe is decorated with a plethora of flowers from Japanese florist Dolce vita, and therefore it is filled with a subtle sweet scent of flowers.

I really liked the elegant designs of the quaint wooden furniture in the cafe, which seemed to be a fusion of vintage Japanese and Danish design styles.

The various beautiful ornaments on the wooden cabinets and tables add to the charm of the cozy space.

Such was the beauty of the cafe that I was inspired enough to take photos of almost every corner, and even encouraged the wife to let me take more photos of her.

Naturally I won many Instagram-husband points here.

Kikyou Shingen Mochi Matcha Soft Serve

The menu was a little confusing because it was mostly in Japanese, and the English translations were vague and not very helpful.

After contemplating for a while, we decided to order what was probably the Kikyou Shingen Mochi Matcha Soft Serve (¥500).

This pretty matcha soft serve came with a few pieces of Shingen mochis and was dusted off with roasted soybean flour.

The soft serve had a lovely velvety texture and a fragrant green tea flavour, along with a moderate sweetness. The mochis were sweet and chewy, and went surprisingly well with the soft serve.

The roasted soybean flour lent a subtle toasted and nutty aroma to the dessert. I enjoyed eating this sweet treat very much.

Conclusion

I’m very happy to have discovered HanaCafe Kikyou during our Lake Kawaguchi day trip. This is a hidden gem that definitely deserves more recognition. I was very impressed by the cafe’s attention to detail and interior design, and the Matcha Soft Serve was really delicious too. I hope this lovely joint will still be around the next time I visit Japan.

HanaCafe Kikyou
Address: Ridge H, Fuji Oishi Hana Terrace, 1477-1 Oishi, Fujikawaguchiko town, Minamitsuru gun, Yamanashi, 401-0305
Opening Hours: Daily 9am to 5pm
Website: www.fujioishihanaterasu.com/en/shop/p98
Phone: +81 5 5528 5228