there is this small hole in the wall. It’s located on an alley and you might find a line foamed out the door into the side street with a sign that reads “outrageous coffee” in English. First time I dropped in, there was such a line and after waiting for awhile I gave up as I had an appointment to get to. 
This time, no line. Off-hours.
Turret Coffee is a really tiny space with just one single Barista serving one of the best coffees I’ve ever had – and I have been to Blue Bottle, Starbucks, Petes, sipped Blue Mountain, etc. – kind of reminds me of java in Tahoe/Truckee sipped in high altitude that gives you a sigh of gradual wakefulness, like a brain-fog clearing, not a jolt. The place seems to cater to the foreign visitors and expat crowd as customers were mostly non-Japanese. Foreigners in Tokyo walks in, practically staggering in, for that real espresso they probably miss so badly. Their facial expression tells all.
While Starbucks Tokyo is better than Starbucks SF (sorry Bay Area – Starbucks Tokyo is better in taste and the seasonal bakery offerings), this place is so real. Latte is so real. Delicious. Latte is even superior to Starbuck’s located just around the corner from here … the Barista knows it. Otherwise you wouldn’t last running a place like this essentially serving the same thing as Starbucks – as literally Starbucks is a one minute walk from here.
小っちゃな幸せ！ (happiness comes in small dozes:)
A side note – Starbuck Tokyo’s Matcha Latte is wonderful – matcha taste is more intense leafy – deeper, greener) I gladly got the Matcha Latte instead, when I was in a hurry and could not afford the LONG wait at Turret. After all, Japan is a refined TEA country with centuries of tea culture. We take tea seriously here in Japan:)
