10 Baby-Friendly Cafes & Restaurants in Tokyo

The perfect places for a quiet date with your baby!

You finally manage to leave the house, hoping to get some work done or just want to enjoy a well-deserved coffee break outside while your baby naps away. But everywhere you look, it is full of people chatting loudly, or the tables are so close to each other that you can almost rub your neighbor’s shoulder. It’s not ideal for what you’ve planned for today, so it’s time to look for something new. The following is a list of 10 conveniently located family- and baby-friendly cafes in central Tokyo where you can sit down, relax, and have a break in a pleasant atmosphere, with, of course, ample space for you and your little date.

1. Latte Chano-Mama

© Photo by Latte Chano-Mama

© Photo by Latte Chano-Mama

Located at the Shinjuku Isetan department store, this café is heaven for families. You can bring in your own baby food and you don’t need to feel hesitant to breastfeed—in fact, you’re encouraged to do so! You can take your stroller inside and sit on the large elevated seating area, which is perfect for the baby to nap or roll around while mom is working or enjoying a chat with her friends. Tables and chairs are for children from six months or older. The café also organizes monthly workshops for mamas, where you and your baby can make new friends.

• Address: Isetan Shinjuku 6F, 3-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• Open: Daily, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

2. Kichiri Mollis

© Photo by Kichiri Mollis

© Photo by Kichiri Mollis

Though it doesn’t strike you a place to go with a napping baby at a glance, this café is, in fact, quite a well-known spot among young Tokyo moms—mainly for its soft rugged floor and semi-private rooms covered with curtains. There are many types of seatings to choose from, a few of which allow you to sit on a rug where you can freely let your baby crawl around. The restaurant occupies the whole floor of a building equipped with breastfeeding and diaper changing rooms. Shoes and strollers are not allowed inside but the staff takes good care of them at the entrance. Due to its popularity, the seats are limited to two hours per visit.

• Address: Shinjuku Nakamuraya Building 6F, 3-26-13 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• Open: Daily, Lunch: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dinner: 5 p.m.-11 p.m.

3. Minori Cafe

© Photo by Minori Cafe

Famous for their vegetable sweets and spacious open space area, this café is very welcoming for parents with small babies. On sunny days, you can take your food out and eat on the bench outside their pleasant outdoor terrace. The menu is full of healthy options, including gluten-free rice flour bagel sandwiches, organic local vegetable soup and their especially refreshing apple green tea soda. Baby room and diaper changing facilities are located on the same floor.

• Address: Ginza Mitsukoshi 9F, 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• Open: Daily, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (Weekends & Holidays from 10 a.m)

4. Ukafe

© Photo by Ukafe

© Photo by Ukafe

Located right next to the popular beauty salon Uka in Midtown Tokyo Roppongi, this café is known for its great variety of healthy “beauty juices” and delicious lunch and dinner menus. Their enzyme brown rice plate with daily side dishes is highly recommended. Strollers are allowed in the café and highchairs for kids are available upon request. A baby room is located on the same floor with two private changing rooms and a kids play space.

• Address: Midtown Galleria 2F, 9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• Open: Daily, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

5. Karaoke Pasela, Roppongi

© Photo by Karaoke Pasela, Roppongi

© Photo by Karaoke Pasela, Roppongi

Don’t underestimate karaoke boxes in Japan! The famous chain Pasela has one of the best kids’ playrooms in the entire Tokyo area, equipped with so many toys and fun stuff for your kids to do that your little ones will never want to leave. They also offer three-hour packages for families that come with free refills, honey toasts and other sweets, a three-course meal and free karaoke for just ¥2,980 on weekdays. They are also equipped with microphones and special food menu for the kids, as well as bouncers, rental toys, diaper changing mats and diapers, and even baby oil.

• Address: Pasela Resorts Roppongi 1F, 5-16-3 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• Open: Daily, 5 p.m.-5 a.m. (Weekends & Holidays from 11 a.m)

6. Bondi Cafe Hiroo

© Photo by Bondi Cafe

© Photo by Bondi Cafe

This Australian-based cafe (named after the iconic Sydney beach of the same name) has four locations in Tokyo. The chain boasts that it is pet and kid-friendly, and I went to the flagship cafe near Hiroo Station. They had an extensive coffee menu for all you coffee-lovers out there, as well as separate menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Menu items are made-to-order and sourced from local ingredients whenever possible, so it’s got a nice farm-to-table vibe. The cafe has indoor seating (includes comfy couches, long wooden tables and plenty of high chairs) and outdoor seating (spacious enough to keep a sleeping ankle-biter, as the Aussies say, in their stroller next to your table).

• Where: Barbizon 70 1F, 5-15-9 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• When: Daily, 9 a.m.-11 p.m.

7. Yurinoki Tsuburano in Shinjuku Gyoen Garden

© Photo by Yurinoki Tsuburano

© Photo by Yurinoki Tsuburano

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a gorgeous public garden that should be on everybody’s Tokyo bucket list. So if you find yourself wandering through the garden with your baby and hear your stomach growl, Yurinoki Tsuburano in the middle of the garden is the perfect kid-friendly pitstop. On warm, sunny days, there is ample outdoor seating, although when I went, our big group of parents and children opted to sit inside. There were plenty of highchairs available for all of the kiddos in the group, and a menu of basic Japanese dishes that pleased everyone. You place your order at a vending machine that has only Japanese (no English and no pictures), but don’t worry: there are menus at the tables that have plenty of pictures so you know what you’re getting, and the meals are numbered as well. Just pay attention to that and you’ll have no problems!

• Where: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, 11 Naitomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• When: Daily, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Food is only available between 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m)

8. Butter

© Photo by Butter

© Photo by Butter

If you’re walking along the Yokohama waterfront with a kid in both arms and soon realize that you are all in desperate need of some sustenance, you have to stop by Butter in the Bay Quarter Yokohama mall. It has outdoor seating in addition to about 12 tables inside. If your kiddo is walking and antsy, the outdoor seating is great because there is no place to go besides up and down the sidewalk—that’s all kids need anyway, right? The kiddos will have to get pretty far away from your table before being able to get into any trouble. My toddler loved watching the boats, trains and traffic while we waited for our stack of 10 (yes, 10!) pancakes to split amongst our group. The specialty lemonades were delish!

• Where: Bay Quarter Yokohama 2F, 1-10 Kinkocho, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa (Google Map Link)
• When: Daily, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

9. A Piece Of Cake

© Photo by A Piece Of Cake

This quirky café is adjacent to the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in Aoyama. A small ramp takes you to the outdoor seating area, which overlooks the unusual sculptures created by avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto. If time permits and your baby is in a carrier, you can visit the small museum to see the studio where he worked. There is a coin parking lot directly opposite the café for mamas who drive.

• Address: 6-1-19 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• When: Thu-Mon, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

10. Spring Valley Brewery

© Photo by Spring Valley Brewery

© Photo by Spring Valley Brewery

Considering how popular microbreweries have become in the last decade, it was still a surprise to me how Spring Valley Brewery in Daikanyama is incredibly baby-friendly. Their outdoor seating area is spacious and comfortable, with a mix of seats in both the shade and the sun. Not only can you bring your kids, but feel free to bring your pup along too, as it is also pet-friendly! Their baby chairs don’t have buckles, but as long as it isn’t peak mealtime, there is enough open space to pull the stroller right up to the table. The beer flight, consisting of six small pours of house brews, was a great choice to pair with my chili burger. The next time you’re out for a walk with the baby and the dog and get a craving for some craft beer and pizza, this is the place to go!

*Do note that children preschool age and younger are not allowed after 5 p.m. on weekdays.

• Where: Log Road Daikanyama, 13-1 Daikanyama-Cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (Google Map Link)
• When: Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-12 a.m., Sundays 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

Do you have any recommended baby-friendly cafes in Tokyo? Let us know in the comments!

This article is written in collaboration with Mai Shoji, Emily Clemenson and Joanna Pearce.