With Added Bounce
Red Rubber Ball Café

The Red Rubber Ball Café may be a mouthful to say, but you won't need to. Your mouth will be more than occupied with the food and drink here.

This Kyoto restaurant is a little over 18 months old and store manager Taka Ue relishes the claim that RRBC is a ”new, spacey and relaxing” environment. And he's not wrong. Contemporary is written all over this place with décor consisting of wooden tables and chairs, glass dividers and steel-finished walls. Its airy ambience brings a distinctly European atmosphere.

Background tranquil music is as original as the café itself, adding to the whole experience. For those warmer days, take a seat outside and take in the sights of Sanjo-dori. The glass walls, which face onto the popular shopping street, create a green-house atmosphere making your lunch or dinner experience a little more al fresco. The outside section of the restaurant also enables you to bring dogs to the café.

So what drinks are available at this modern establishment? Whether you're after coffees, teas or fruit juices, you've come to the right place. The café area is mixed together with the beverage preparation section so you can order a drink and watch as your waiter makes it. Coffees are made fresh from an impressive selection of apparatus in a matter of minutes. Ask for a frothy cappuccino, a milky latte or just a plain coffee to get your caffeine fix the way you like it.

For tea lovers, although there's not a huge selection, there's enough to satisfy your thirst. Choose from iced tea, green tea and a few herbal favourites to warm you up or cool you down.
For a lighter refreshment, try one of the fruit juices which Taka describes as ”very, very fresh”. Made from fresh fruits, blended in front of your very eyes, a variety of kiwi, banana, mixed fruit or seasonal fruit drinks will set you back between ¥550 and ¥800.
Food is divided into four menus throughout the day. Enjoy an early breakfast between 7-11am before the lunch menu kicks in between 12-3pm. Lunchtime choices include the curry plate lunch
and sandwich lunch set. However, the firm favourite remains to be the o-bento, billed on the menu as 'a traditional taste in a Japanese lunch box'. All sets come with coffee or tea and are priced at a bargain of ¥800 and you can even get a mini dessert thrown in for an extra ¥100.

Dinner happens between 6-11pm. The café prides itself on its spaghetti, offering a choice of seven different varieties every day. Choose from seafood, beef or chicken to name a few to get your favorite pasta dish. Sticking to Italian, and pizza is also on the menu with traditional marguerita, carbonara and vegetarian delights given a Japanese taste twist of local vegetables or flavours.
RRBC also has a great mousse selection so if you fancy some unusual combinations like blood orange, mango coconut or soufflé citron, get your spoons at the ready!

If food and drink are not the only things on your mind, head upstairs to check out the clothes shop. Red Rubber Ball has carved a name for itself as Taka boasts about the popularity the café and clothing brand have established around Kyoto in such a short space of time. The recognizable logo with a back to front 'R' in 'rubber' represents the fresh approach of this new age eatery.

This is a café with a very European and contemporary edge. A varied menu, and the drinks are innovative. Embrace the modern atmosphere, relax in its vibrant aura and enjoy playing with the Red Rubber Ball.

Red Rubber Ball Café
Arimoto Bldg. 1f, Miyujimachi Hokusai Kado, Sanjyo-Dori, Nakagyo-Ku, Kyoto
(Situated on Sanjo-Dori, 5 min walk from Sanjo Stn. Refer KS Kyoto map) Open: Everyday, 7am-11pm.
Tel: 075-257-6877

Text: Naheen Madarbakus • Photos: KS