Café specializing in quiche, coffee opens in Kagoshima – Also offering SUP lessons
Erika Fijiwara, the owner
It has been almost three months since KOA, a café specializing in quiche and coffee, opened near Eguchihama in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Erika Fujiwara, the owner and a wine enthusiast, says that she started making quiche as it goes well with both alcohol and coffee. She also noted, “It encourages children to eat vegetables, even if they don’t like them.” Initially, she sold her quiche from her food truck, but she renovated part of her house and opened the café on November 28 last year.
The café area is about 20 square meters. A surfboard greets customers at the open entrance. Erika’s husband, Masaru, is a competitive stand-up paddleboarder (SUP). For this reason, the café offers stand-up paddleboarding lessons and sells wetsuits and other related items. The name of the café is derived from their second son’s name, “芯,” which means “core” and the English word is pronounced “koa” in Japanese, with the hope that the business will grow strong and straight with a core.
Six types of quiche are available on weekdays, and nine types on weekends and holidays. The most popular is the Quiche Lorraine (320 yen for a slice, 2,240 yen for a whole) with diced bacon and cheese. Other items include Cream Quiche with Four Types of Mushrooms (330 yen/slice, 2,310 yen/whole), Burdock Root and Shiso Quiche (330 yen/slice, 2,310 yen/whole), and Broccoli and Tuna Quiche (340 yen/slice, 2,380 yen/whole). Home-roasted coffee is available in drip form (330 yen) and cappuccino (380 yen), and customers can also purchase coffee beans. The scones, ideal as a snack, come in three varieties: plain, walnut, chocolate and coconut (from 200 yen per scone).
She is trying out new menu items, and there are days when a trial quiche makes an appearance. Erika said, “I hope to add a dessert-type quiche using chestnuts and sweet potatoes to our repertoire in the near future,” and Masaru added, “I would love to train world-class paddleboarders from Eguchihama. I hope this place can be a foothold for them.”
Opening hours: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. There are seven parking spaces. The café announces its opening days on Instagram.