I love a good picnic outside during the summer. The fresh air, the smell of fresh-cut grass, the flowers. The only real problem is bugs, wind, a sudden chill, rain, stabbings, and more rain. Unfortunately, living in the UK means you have a collective four weeks a year to eat outside.
Japan doesn’t have the same problems. In fact, the weather can get too nice! Rain is super accurately predicted, and Japanese people take gardening very seriously! Never have I ever walked past a Japanese garden, park, or even just an open space with grass in it and thought “ooh, that looks a bit crap”. Seriously I think gardening and herbalism are part of the curriculum here.
Aoyama Flower Market Tokyo is the agoraphobic’s picnic paradise. The floor, the walls, the tables. Everywhere you look are floral masterpieces, as if each grouping of flowers were handpicked and painstakingly curated. The flowers are rotated seasonally. Rotating the flowers seasonally is a treat for the senses of regular patrons and the cafe smells exactly as you would expect a room full of beautiful flowers to smell.
The food is delicious! Honestly, I never expected a garden salad to be so flavorful! The restaurant isn’t vegetarian but most of the dishes can be made vegetarian, The team knows what vegan and vegetarian means and are more than happy to make alterations for you.
The range of flowery drinks is astounding! Ginger Ale’s, Lemonade’s, Mojio’s, the list goes on. If it can be made with plants they’ve got it. I highly recommend the herbal teas, the list is extensive! Not only that, they continue adding more to the menu and some change seasonally.
One downside for me though, they can run out of ingredients on busy days. So get there early to make sure you get what you came for. However, this did not bother me on the day of my visit as what I ended up with was spot on! In fact, I could have had another one straight after! It was delish!
It was an amazing meal and an amazing experience. It’s definitely something I will be doing again no matter what the weather is like. So If it’s rainy, sunny, or snowy. If the parks are too busy, or you would simply just like to get punched in the face by a room of allergens, come down to Aoyama Flower Market Tokyo 青山フラワーマーケット. I promise you won’t regret it!…
Unless you have allergies.
Lets Visit Tokyo 