To be honest, I was expecting gimmicky food from Baristart Coffee, given the hype around its cutesy latte art and bear-shape shaved ice😛 Turned out that I was in for a pleasant surprise when I visited the cafe!

The Latte ($6.70) and BIEI Jersey Milk Coffee ($7.50 - cold only) are super smooth and the fragrance and richness of the Hokkaido BIEI Jersey milk really come through the coffee, love it! For mains, I had the Obihiro Butadon ($18.80), which is their signature rice bowl served with grilled kurobuta pork belly, green onion, teriyaki sauce and miso soup. The pork belly is smokey and flavourful with a hint of spiciness, and it goes really well with the Japanese rice. We ended lunch on a sweet note, with the famous Cream Puff ($4.50) overflowing with a delicious custard cream made from Hokkaido BIEI Jersey milk - it’s so creamy and light at the same time!

I enjoyed the food and cosy ambience thoroughly - looking forward to a return visit already❤️