Bills Omotesando (Tokyo) – Aussie Style Cafe Where You Can Enjoy The “Best Breakfast In The World”
We visited Bills Omotesando one morning for breakfast and it was one of our best meals in Tokyo! We simply loved the delicious food, wonderful ambience, and good service of this Australian breakfast place. I know it may seem a little strange that we are recommending an Aussie cafe in Tokyo, especially when there are so many other awesome Japanese eateries. However, this is no ordinary cafe; some media outlets have reported that Bills serves the “best breakfast in the world”.
Bills Omotesando
Bills Omotesando is an Australian style cafe in Tokyo known for its delicious breakfast and brunch items. Their most popular dish is the Ricotta Hotcakes.
Prior to visiting, I did a quick search online and found out that Bills was founded by Australian Bill Granger in Sydney in 1993. It soon became known for its fantastic breakfasts.
Granger gradually expanded his business overseas and today you can find Bills cafes in many other cities such as Seoul, Tokyo, Honolulu and London.
Due to the overwhelming popularity of his breakfast items, Granger has even been nicknamed the “king of breakfast”.
Currently, there are four Bills branches in Tokyo, located in Futako Tamagawa, Ginza, Odaiba, and Omotesando.
We visited the Omotesando branch, which opened in 2013 and is located on the 7th floor of Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku.
Bills Omotesando Menu
Bills is best known for its classic breakfast items such as the Ricotta Hotcakes (JPY 1500), Scrambled Eggs and Toast (JPY 1450), and Full Aussie (JPY 2200). As mentioned earlier, the most popular item is the Ricotta Hotcakes.
Looking through the rest of the menu, I saw a small but solid variety of salads, pastries, sandwiches, fruits, and cereals. These breakfast items are only available till 11am.
Drinks wise, the menu offers a good variety of juices, shakes, coffee and tea. The cafe serves alcohol too and I was impressed to see an extensive list of beers, cocktails, and wines.
There are also lunch and dinner menus but I didn’t get to check them out. Note that the prices in the menus above do NOT include the consumption tax of 8%.
Wonderful Ambience and Good Service
I think my tummy was growling during this shot
the friendly staff helped us take this photo
coffee bar
alfresco dining
nice scenery
The wife and I visited Bills Omotesando on a Sunday at around 9am, which was half an hour after their opening time of 8.30am.
We had actually aimed to reach before opening time, because we had read about the crazy queues at this cafe. Unfortunately, we pressed our phone alarm snooze buttons too many times.
But luckily, there were only two people queueing when we reached. We got our seats after just five minutes.
As I sat down at our table, I could immediately sense the relaxed vibe of the cafe.
Bills Omotesando is an airy space with a casual and convivial atmosphere that set diners at ease.
Located on the 7th floor of Tokyu Plaza, it offers the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the vibrant Harajuku.
There was an alfresco area where you can get to enjoy nice scenery while dining. We didn’t eat here because it was a little too warm for us. But this should be a nice place to dine in the evening or in cooler weather.
The cafe also had a pretty coffee bar with a barista, which was a nice touch.
Service was good too. The Japanese staff in the restaurant were all very polite and nice.
In fact, Granger had this to say upon the opening of the Omotesando outlet: I’m so excited to be opening in Omotesando. The great thing is that despite the busy, bustling location, the new bills, like all my restaurants, is an oasis-like destination where you can go to feel good, and step away from the pressures of everyday life. I hope people will come here every day, and feel as relaxed and happy as if they were coming to visit me in my home.
Well, I’ve got to say this awesome restaurateur has indeed achieved his goal!
Ricotta Hotcakes
I ordered the signature Ricotta Hotcakes (JPY 1500), and was informed that it would take about half an hour to be served.
I was quite hungry by now and the thought of waiting for another 30 minutes only made my tummy growl louder. But I decided to stick with the order anyways. And I was glad that the staff had informed me about the wait beforehand.
I tried to distract myself by taking photos of the restaurant, and drinking water to try and appease my growling tummy. But surprisingly, my hotcakes were served after 20 minutes, which was earlier than expected. I guess this is Bills’ clever way of managing expectations.
This tantalising dish comprised three jiggly pancakes dusted with icing sugar, a few small chunks of honeycomb butter, a banana, and a small pot of maple syrup.
These ricotta pancakes were fluffy heaven on a fork! They had a wonderfully fluffy and moist texture, and tasted perfect with the luscious maple syrup. It almost felt like they were melting in my mouth.
The honeycomb butter had a refreshing cinnamon-like taste, which provided a nice balance for the dish.
On the whole, it was lovely to savour the rich fragrance of the pancakes, maple syrup, butter and fresh banana as they turned into a sweet pleasant mush in my mouth.
Full Aussie
And since we were dining in an Aussie cafe, we decided to try the Full Aussie (JPY 1700), which took about 15 minutes to arrive. I shared this dish with the wife.
This sumptuous breakfast dish consisted of free-range scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, roast tomato, herbed garlic mushrooms, and pork sausages.
I enjoyed this dish as well because all the ingredients were very fresh and delicious.
My favourite was the scrambled eggs, which had a pleasant buttery fragrance and nice moist texture.
The savoury bacon slices, sausages and mushrooms were all on point and very satisfying.
I left the roast tomato for last. It had a tangy and slightly acidic flavour that spread throughout my mouth the instant I took a bite, providing a nice balance for the oily dish.
Conclusion
Bills is located on the 7th floor of Tokyu Plaza
On the whole, I enjoyed dining at Bills Omotesando very much! The food was fantastic and the ambience was wonderful. Personally, I feel that the prices are quite affordable and similar to brunch joints in Singapore. If you’re planning on checking out Bills, I strongly advise going early or making reservations online. This is because when we left at around 10am, there was a long winding queue of about 30 people that stretched down the staircase outside the cafe! I’m was really glad that we went early.
Bills Omotesando
What to Order: Ricotta Hotcakes (JPY 1500), Full Aussie (JPY 2200)
Online Reservation: www.tablecheck.com/shops/bills-omotesando/reserve
Opening Hours: Daily 8.30am to 10pm
Directions: Walk 5 minutes from Harajuku Station, then take elevator or escalator to 7th floor of Tokyu Plaza.
English Address: 7F Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku, 4-30-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Japanese Address: 東京都渋谷区神宮前4丁目30-3 東急プラザ 表参道原宿 7階
Other Branches: https://billsjapan.com/en
This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!
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