The first illy CAFFE was founded in the north of Italy in 1933 in the town of Trieste. Today the chain is present in some 140 countries, and it has finally opened its first shop in Japan, located in Yurakucho, Tokyo.

You can enjoy there some authentic Italian espresso coffee and many other drinks and foods. We went to try it out for ourselves. We'll introduce a few of the items that we tried below.

The first thing that strikes you when you walk in is the massive chandelier! The cafe is spacious and classy. It's divided into three zones: the drinking zone, the talking zone, and the eating zone; so you choose a zone depending on what you want to do.

What's nice about illy CAFFE is that it's open from 7:30 to 23:00 so you can grab breakfast there in the morning or even have a drink late in the evening.

If you go to illy, you just have to order one of their signature coffee drinks so we tried the cappuccino (¥450). It has a nice amount of whipped cream as a topping with also a bit of cinnamon powder.

The espresso in this one is strong whereas the cream is fresh-tasting and not sweet at all, which balances out perfectly the bitter taste of the espresso.

They also have some special seasonal drinks like the one pictured here (¥580). This one is flavoured with oranges, cinnamon and cheese. The combination might sound strange but it's very good!

Take a sip of it and you're first struck by the sweet taste of oranges. After that comes the bitterness of the espresso, and lastly you'll taste the sweetness of the cheese cream. This is really like a refined dessert drink!

For lunch, you can get a delicious grilled sandwich (¥480). This one has asparagus, eggs, and even truffle in it. With the truffle scent, you get a feeling that you're having some kind of delicacy. For less than ¥500, it's a great deal!

We also recommend the tiramisu. It comes in different flavours but the one made with Kyoto's Uji matcha caught our attention. Not too sweet, it has a milky taste coupled with the fresh and slightly bitter taste of matcha.

For something hearty, you can have this ¥980 risotto that contains ham, asparagus and parmesan. It's very creamy and thoroughly satisfying.

They also have six kinds of excellent pasta dishes under ¥1,000. You can have some olive oil-based ones, tomato-based ones, or cream-based ones. The one here is a Sardinha-style pasta with scallops (¥880).

You might also be happy to know that they have authentic Italian pizza cooked at 500°C (¥950). They're not too big so they make the perfect accompaniment for an evening drink.

With its great coffee and foods suitable for every meal of the day, illy COFFEE is a nice place to visit when you are in Yurakucho. The location is also very convenient since it's in a building directly connected to Yurakucho station.