Wonder Cafe

I love this cafe! Cosy, quirky, full of charm, delicious food, great value lunch sets, priceless experience.

Seafood curry set was excellent.
The choux pastry is incredible! Must try!

Yamamoto-San is the owner, and she cooks and serves with care. I am very grateful to get for creating such a caring space since 1989.

A lover of The Beatles, she speaks some English, cooks delicious food, and the cafe offers cosy comfortable nooks and spaces to rest and read and heal. Soul food that heals in a retro space.

Thank you, Yamamoto-San for sharing your talent and passion for fresh choux pastry, delicious food, and letting us experience joyful retro nostalgia. The inner child is healed. I hope to come back again. 🥰

I actually never had food in this place, since I always went there only for a coffee and to spend some time there because I love the place. As for the prices, I believe they are fair for what you get and in comparison to other cafes I would say average… in other words, expect a coffee from around 400 yen…
But for me I always thought of it as an “entrance ticket” + you can probably stay as long as you want (at least I never got kicked out even after 2 hours 😅), since the place is almost like a mini museum of retro culture, I don’t think pictures can give it enough justice and one has to visit with their own eyes.
There are hundreds of books and retro mangas, if you have a decent level of Japanese, you might spend a whole day just sitting there and reading. Bunch of books about Kyoto and traditions of Kyoto too. There are also numerous figures and toys, billboards, pictures, gadgets from Heisei and Showa period, so if you’re interested in Japanese Retro culture, you will love this place.
As for the location, it’s located right next to the Myoshinji temples complex, which is maybe 3-5 minutes by walk. Not so far away from Ninnaji and Ryoanji, so if you’re staying in the area, I recommend giving this cafe a try.
The owners are very friendly, I remember when I was there, the owner always tried (doesn’t force you though) to have a small conversation and would give us tips around the place (although only in Japanese), he’s happy when you check the place around and even offers you to do so, if it’s not crowded I guess. I believe the owners don’t speak English though, but there is an English menu.
There is also a retro massage chair, which you can use (at least I did multiple times 😀) free of charge, there is a small “one chair cinema”, where you can watch some retro movies he has there, but I believe a reservation might be necessary for that and I’m not sure if there is a fee for that…
The toilet is also magnificent, that’s literally walking back into the past century, a radio starts playing when you walk in, there is this small old style tv, which will play something and you could just spend hours looking around the toilet, because there is just so many things to see there.

As I said, I think of this place rather as a small retro museum than a cafe and as such I give it 5 stars, because I loved the place (been there multiple times) and the owners are also very friendly.

Wonder cafe is really wonderful. Super cute, cosy and private seating like you are in a house. We had the spaghetti set menu and the best part was that they can cater to make it vegan. They even cater to suit any allergies. The location is fantastic as it is right beside the temples. And do check the toilet. It is out of this world :) Definitely must visit.