after reading about this amazing cafe on kyotofoodie where he said is his favourite cafe, I told myself that I HAVE to come here one day despite how expensive it looks. Jouvencelle, which I believe means young (girl) is a cafe located at Gion, it isn’t located at the brightest place but because it is next to Yakasa Jinja, it makes it a little bit more easier to find.

Directions : basically, just get into Yasaka Jinja (or Yasaka Shrine) and head right and look for an exit on the right side. upon exit, walk straight and you’ll see Jouvencelle.

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Jouvencelle is located on the second floor to this pottery/porcelain shop. see that green cloth? that’s the entrance to Jouvencelle.

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I was pretty surprised by how small the cafe was. it was very clean-cut and hotel-like. and it became full in a bit! I went there on a weekday!

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oh hello. =D. we ordered the famous Gion greentea fondue which is kind of the only one of its kind. there was a summer set which was served with jelly-looking mochi’s and chewy jelly noodles but it was more expensive T_T. we wanted quantity since we hadn’t ate anything and it was 3pm. so we ordered another bowl of green tea shaved ice to cool us down from the heat of the summer.

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the Gion green tea fondue set and Matcha shaved ice.1,300yen (1,404yen with tax!). there was a hot guy beside me whom had this (but the summer edition) ALL BY HIMSELF. he came alone. Japanese people seemed like people whom are not afraid of loneliness/being seen dining alone. very different from people in Korea.

PS: there’s also another version sold on the Sakura season where the dip is Sakura fondue! dying to try it but Sakura season = exams for me T_T.

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the green tea fondue was much more concentrated than expected and all the fondue dips were amazing. I especially liked the see-through mochi which I believe is warabi mochi while my friend preferred the dango dip. but one thing though, even eating this amongst 2 people, we find this a little sickening at the last few bites because of how concentrated the dip was. it was yummy nevertheless, it was just that we had to keep downing cups of water.

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Uji Matcha shaved ice, 840yen.

the matcha shaved ice on the other hand, was the best shaved ice I’ve ever had. I said it, it’s literally the best. and my friend agrees. the green tea chocolate(? or just pure green tea and milk. I don’t know.) melts in your mouth like fine Belgian chocolate and the shaved ice was so yummy though the ice wasn’t super fine. there’s something about the combination which drove us crazy over it.

there was green pea paste in the middle of it too! pretty funky.

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we didn’t want to leave the cafe. it was surprising how comfortable and delectable everything in that cafe was. the view of old Gion was great and the friendly staffs made everyone feel comfortable.

and if you are going to visit, remember to check out their gold toilet. almost everything in that toilet was gold. I shall call it the Kinkaku-ji toilet. you know why. =D.

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came here with my Malaysian friend, Jia Yii whom had always haunted cheap food with me but we also share the same soft-spot for everything green tea. we splurged around a hundred ringgit just on green tea products that day ahhahaha.

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itadakimasu! Imma devour you all!!!

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my failed shot but do you see how thick those green tea fondue are?!

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at the end of your meal dessert, they will bring you hot milk for you to mix with your left over fondue for you to create green-tea latte. I think we ate too much of the fondue leaving the milk to be pretty.. bland. or just milky. it was nice though!

all in all, I’d give it 5 stars for service, taste and appearance!

the cafe sells a variety of cakes and other desserts which looked really amazing so if you come in a group, then you can try more! well I can’t wait for my next visit so I can try different desserts! but I will order that shaved ice again if it’s available!

here’s the shop’s website : http://www.jouvencelle.jp
operating hours : 10am – 6pm

I came here TWICE and it was closed pfft. once because it was a public holiday and once because I came here at 630pm. so come here early! Japanese shops close early if they are sold out too. which sucks T_T. I took almost an hour to go to some famous soba shop. it was 30minutes before it was going to close but because they were sold out they closed 30minutes earlier. bummer. ALWAYS GO EARLY!

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Jasmine
Jasmine
9 years ago

Hey Jamie, i have a question regarding Peach airlines from osaka to seoul, usually do u make reservations online ahead of the date, or it is alright to just purchase air tix on the spot?

thanks 🙂