One of the quirks of Japanese business hours that many travelers will discover, is that many shops don’t open before 10am and many restaurants don’t open before 11. Breakfast is a meal typically eaten at home in Japan, which can make it difficult to find early morning eats, even in a sizeable city like Hiroshima. Difficult but not impossible, here are seven breakfast and brunch spots to check out in Hiroshima.
Ruhe Burajiru (Brazil)
Bakery, Cafe, Brazilian, Coffee, $$$
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Ruhe Burajiru is known as the first café in Japan to offer ‘morning service’ – a breakfast set featuring toast, egg, salad, and coffee – back in 1955 when it was still unheard of to have breakfast outside of home. Thanks in part to this claim to fame, as many as 500-600 customers a day come to the little bakery and café in Hiroshima.
This riverside café on the first floor of Hotel FLEX is known for it’s original ‘pangaretto’ (pain-galette) style pancakes made with savory aromatic butter. Flavors include butter brown sugar, maple, honey butter, caramel nut, banana chocolate, and baked apple cinnamon. The café has outdoor terrace seating with an excellent view of the Kyobashigawa River. Breakfast offered 7-10am each day.
Café Fusha has been making ‘hot cakes’, thick Japanese-style pancakes, since 1965 before they became a household food in Japan. Today the café is still making their specialty hot cakes over a teppan stove, which gives them a crispy exterior and moist center.
Boulangerie Cafe ALOFT is a bakery offering fresh bread made with high quality ingredients. They have several locations around Hiroshima offering a freshly baked bread and soup bar with bacon, egg, salad, and coffee. Breakfast is served from 8-10:45am each day.
Located in a historic building that survived the atomic bombing, the bakery café Andersen is an excellent choice for a centrally located breakfast or brunch in Hiroshima. Their bread bar features an excellent spread of sweet and savory breads as well as jams, jellies, and condiments. Breakfast is served daily 7:30-10am, while brunch is served weekends 9-11am.
Bäckerei Bäck is a German bakery and café in Hiroshima with an extensive menu of breads, pastries, and sausages for takeaway. Their ‘German Breakfast Set’ includes items like a pretzel sandwich, sausage, assorted German breads with cream cheese, soup and salad, boiled egg, and a cup of coffee.
As most people in Japan eat breakfast at home, it’s not common to have a Japanese-style breakfast away from the home, the exception being the hotel breakfast. If you’re looking to try an authentic Japanese breakfast, then ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel’s Japanese restaurant Unkai is an excellent option. Breakfast served daily 6:30-10:30am.
