Friday, August 1, 2014

Sakuragaoka Has Goats

If you've ever taken a walk in Shibuya around mid-afternoon, you might've come across a pair of young ladies walking goats up and down the busy streets. Regular people don't really own that kind of pet in Tokyo, so you can just about guess that, yes, indeed, some restaurant/bar/cafe out there is home to those two goats. The place in question is Sakuragaoka, south of Shibuya station. I went in with Ken for a closer look.
 The goats, named Chocolat and Sakura respectively, casually chill outside of the cafe in a small, cozy looking enclosure, and you can actually smell them from a little bit away. It's not that they smell terrible or anything, but goats smell like goats. Y'know, that barnyard smell. I tried to stick my hand in and pet Chocolat, but he headbutt my hand. The damage was more emotional than anything else though. How rude. Chocolat's a bit of an asshole.


  Heading in, though, the cafe's got a pleasant, soft-bosanova, chill atmosphere, which I guess isn't unexpected of a cafe. It's spacy and the lights are dim, and it has a bit of a vintage look to it.
 I had stumbled upon reviews for Sakuragaoka at an earlier point and was surprised to see how highly regarded the food was. I can at least vouch that their lunchtime menu pork chop made for a pleasant lunch, and Ken was quite happy with their choice of salad dressing.
:>
  Sakuragaoka isn't a cafe with a theme, I realized quick enough, and I should probably stress that. The goats, I have no fucking idea what they're actually there for, as it's clear that they're part of the backdrop and don't really serve any other purpose - not even that of being eaten. Maybe they simply belong to the owner and he or she decided to just annex their pen to the cafe, which doesn't really do anything to highlight their presence at all. Point being, Sakuragaoka is a cafe with goats, not a goat-cafe, however much I was hoping it would be.

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