Tomoniwa Café opens at Sagara Clinic in Kagoshima, focusing on nutritionally balanced food

PUBLISHED Feb 17, 2022

Inside Tomoniwa Café

On February 5, Tomoniwa Café opened on the first floor of Sagara Clinic on Perth Street in Kagoshima City, offering meals with an emphasis on nutritional balance.

With the coronavirus crisis, the café used to be available only for the use of clinic patients, but it is now open to the general public. It has an area of 91.5 square meters with 18 seats at tables and six seats at the counter. Facing the street is a glass wall for good lighting, and there are displays throughout the café, including the collage art of Sakurajima made with Oshima Tsumugi silk pongee. The name, Tomoniwa, is a combination of “tomoni,” meaning “together,” and “niwa,” meaning “garden.” It expresses their wish to create a place where people can gather, relax, and feel connected with the local community, utilizing the location with a green garden.

At the café, a nutritionist and a food coordinator use seasonal ingredients to offer dishes that are “arranged in a café style while considering good nutritional balance.” The Tomoniwa Lunch (990 yen), with seasonal vegetables, “contains half of the recommended daily intake of vegetables,” says Kumiko Yamashita, the coordinator.

Other items on the menu include Bread & Salad (770 yen) with homemade whole-grain bread, vegetable salad, and soup; Udon Noodles in Light Broth (660 yen), available only on weekdays; and Tomoniwa Curry (825 yen). Desserts, such as gelato (330 yen) from Hananoki Farm in Kagoshima City, are also available. On Saturdays, set meals include a dessert.

Yamashita added: “At our clinic, we have always placed importance on providing dietary care to our patients. At the café, too, we want to offer dishes that are enjoyable in every season and pleasing to the body. We hope that customers will spend a relaxing time in our peaceful café.”

Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays). Lunch is served from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Closed on Sundays and Holidays.

  • The exterior of Tomoniwa Café

  • Inside Tomoniwa Café

  • Tomoniwa Lunch from Tomoniwa Café

  • Bread & Salad from Tomoniwa Café

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