Good Morning Cafe Nowadays: The Ideal All-Rounder Cafe

From long brunches, chilled remote working coffee shop vibes, and fine evening dining, this central cafe does it all.

Good Morning Cafe Nowadays—we’ll call it Nowadays for short—is a member of the Good Morning Cafe family of laid-back brunch gems dotted across Tokyo.

From Nakano to Ikebukuro, each of the Good Morning Cafe outlets has their own unique vibe, but the favorite child of the bunch has to be Nowadays—the collective’s recently refurbished and shining new Sendagaya outpost.

Wedged between Shinjuku Gyoen Garden to the north and Meiji Jingu Gaien to the south, the location of Nowadays couldn’t be more perfect. The leafy green neighborhood, just minutes away from Sendagaya Station, is far enough from the manic energy of Harajuku to feel like a tranquil retreat but close enough to walk to inner-Shinjuku if the mood strikes you.

One of Sendagaya’s most impressive spaces

One of the first things you notice as soon as you enter the cafe is the sheer size of the venue. It’s so spacious that the layout plays host to what could be conceived as four different dining experiences in one.

Wrapping around the front of the cafe, the patio is the first port of call for anyone wanting to really make the most of the city’s longer sunnier days with a little al fresco dining. With lush green foliage creating a natural barrier between diners and the road onto which Nowadays faces, it genuinely doesn’t feel like you’re mere minutes from one of the densest city hubs in the world.

With floor to ceiling glass windows, Nowadays’ massive, multi-purpose layout is flooded with natural light, but it still has an intimacy about it. Just inside the entrance sits a large but cozy booth area which occupies Nowadays’ far right corner. Perfect for larger get-togethers, like birthdays, family catch-ups (where young children are involved), and friends’ reunions, the booth seating is far enough from the rest of the diners that you can almost feel like you have the place to yourself.

Throughout the space, the decorations are minimalistic and chic but meticulously considered. Careful design elements like the curtains and bench table separate the booth seating from the rest of the cafe, which offers a sense of exclusivity while still allowing the movement of Nowadays to flow without any interruption.

In the middle sits the long dining tables, best reserved for work functions or more formal occasions. Although the day we visited they were unoccupied, they’d also make great communal settings for solo diners, or remote workers wanting to get on top of their emails while enjoying a masterfully brewed coffee.

To the left of the long tables is where you’ll find the more traditional cafe setting; smaller clusters of tables populated by pairs and trios chatting over a quick bite.

Best breakfast in the city?

Sure, you can have the most beautifully designed restaurant in the world, but if the food isn’t up to scratch, what’s the point? Well, luckily, when it comes to presentation, taste, and diversity, the menu at Nowadays matches the impressive standards set by the cafe’s design. As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it’s a motto the culinary team here has taken to heart.

Founded nine years ago, Good Morning Cafe was initially conceived as a breakfast establishment. While it has faced a number of different incarnations, its passion for providing good morning food is at the foundation of the cafe’s ethos. The curated morning menu features a broad range of options for all types of diners—but somehow manages not to go overboard.

For sweet tooths, there’s french toast with berries, banana, mascarpone, and ice cream, while the more health conscious can content themselves with homemade granola with yogurt and fruit.

If you’re looking for the more traditional big breakfast-style option, the “Morning Plate” is your best bet. The cafe’s wholesome take on the classic bacon and eggs, this dish comes complete with two types of bread—homemade brioche (using warm water to activate the yeast for a more dense dough) and Yamagata bread—both served with a side of deli-style salad.

Sticking to the salad theme, the “Market Salad Bowl” is Nowadays’ signature dish; a rustic and wholesome combination of eggs, prosciutto, fresh seasonal vegetables, served with a slice of fluffy mini brioche. On weekends and holidays, the cafe also offers a well-stacked “Good Morning Burger,” with crisp salad and vegetables on the side—A.K.A the perfect antidote to those one-too-many wines that got the better of you the night before.

Speaking of drinks, Nowadays has nailed the art of the perfect espresso (also excellent for a hangover) but coffee isn’t the only thing on their mind. To keep it fresh, they offer seasonal updated drinks menus featuring refreshing smoothies and in the theme of current Tokyo trends: tapioca bubble tea.

Later into the day, the lunch menu is a hybrid of the brunch menu with a few extra pasta dishes like lasagna and a daily pasta special thrown in for good measure. Like the “Market Salad Bowl,” there’s also a “Nowadays Salad Plate” on offer too, featuring a well-balanced combination of ham, eggs, and seasonal vegetables.

And when day turns to night, Nowadays’ menu transforms into an antipasto-centric feast, with Italian-inspired salads and meat spreads accompanying comforting pasta plates and thick chunky cuts of steak best enjoyed with a glass of carefully selected wine from their impressive collection.

Laid-back, easy vibes

What makes Nowadays so impressive on the whole is the fact that they’ve managed to achieve the ideal balance of all the elements that make a perfect cafe without ever feeling like they’re trying too hard—a symptom that a lot of places in Tokyo suffer from these days.

Menu-wise, the selection is broad enough to offer something for everyone but doesn’t overwhelm customers with too many options. Location-wise it’s central but not in the heart of the city. Occasion-wise? Lunches, dates, work, or catching up with the kids in tow, the space is big and diverse enough to fit all sorts of customers and their needs.

We’d say Nowadays is the ideal all-rounder cafe as balanced, healthy, and dependable as your three meals a day!

The Deets

Good Morning Cafe Nowadays

Address: Brillia ist Sendagaya 1F, 31-4 Daikyo-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Access: 5 minutes walk from JR Sendagaya Station
Hours: (Mon-Fri) Breakfast: 7 a.m.-11 a.m., Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Dinner: 6 p.m.-11:30 p.m., (Sat, Sun & Holiday) Breakfast: 8 a.m.-11 a.m., Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Cafe: 3 p.m.-5p.m., Dinner 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
Reserve: Online or call 03-5362-7460