Kumonocha: the Japanese Cafe with the Rainbow Clouds

YouTube shorts and Instagram posts reveal bubbly, cloud-shaped cakes with pebbly textures and dainty leaves. The crispy shell conceals spongy cake, delicate mousse and a paste or custard filling. Basic clouds come in white and matcha green, but seasonal cakes dazzle with brightly colored hues.

These puffy desserts originate from Kumonocha, a cafe with locations scattered across Kyoto, Japan. You can order tiramisu and other treats, but if you want a cloud cake, Kumonocha encourages you not to grab and run. Instead, you sit down and enjoy a light afternoon snack served on a platter with an accompanying drink.

Locals and tourists praise the quality. "The cake features a delicate yuzu chocolate 'crust' exterior and a lightly flavoured mousse," PURPLECHIVES writes after ordering a bright yellow cloud. "In the center is a yuzu jelly and on the bottom is a light sponge." They add that the tea is rich and creamy, served in a bamboo-shaped glass.

Fluffy as a Cloud

Kumonocha in Shimizuzaka sits near the famous Kiyomizu-dera Temple. You'll see various cloud cakes online, but most of these are limited edition. Kumonocha typically sells one flavor at a time with a couple of seasonal varieties, such as the Valentine Vanilla Mousse that replaces the leaf with a miniature cat head and bow tie.

Cakes, ice cream, tea, lattes: matcha's earthiness and slightly bitter tang dominate the menu. If you prefer a sweeter beverage, try the strawberry milk, yuzu cream soda or superb peach oolong.

By design, Kumonocha encourages you to sit down, eat slowly and enjoy your meal. Eat-in sets, which come with one or two snacks and a drink, arrive in a wooden box with a handle. No swapping drinks: the cafe pairs specific beverages with the food.

When you leave, you'll feel clean and refreshed. White counters, paper lanterns, round wooden seats, spacious aisles and a window overlooking the backyard promote calmness and appreciation for Japan's landscape.

Dining Like a Princess

Kumonocha Cafe in Teramachi Kyogoku has a few matcha offerings, but the menu focuses on luxurious treats: canelés topped with fruit, pound cakes smothered in icing, sugary roll cakes, seasonal cake sets and creamy, coffee-soaked tiramisus.

Equally extravagant, their drink options include caramel popcorn lattes, peach pink fruit soda, strawberry soda, caramel biscuit lattes, kiwi jasmine tea and black sesame milk. Black sesame can taste sweet, savory, nutty or faintly bitter, balancing the creamy milk.

Don't have a strong sweet tooth? You can still order cloud cakes with accompanying matcha or seasonal beverages. Kumonocha also sells black tea lattes, earl grey tea and other milder drinks.

Despite the decadent menu, Teramachi Kyogoku's location is simple and earthy. The website's English translation describes the store as "a quiet place away from the noisy world." Plants, modernist furniture, cream-colored walls and an outdoor swing turn the store into a sanctuary.

Adult Tea Parties

Kumonocha Tea Lounge in Shijo Kawaramachi has a twist: instead of dessert, you enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea. You select your drinks, then receive a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakes, breads, cookies, puddings and fruit pastries. If you're not that hungry, you can order a round tiramisu for the table.

And forget modernism--Shijo Kawaramachi's store makes you feel like British royalty. Dark green walls, long tables, antique-style chairs, framed mirrors, old books, candlesticks and trinkets transport you back to the 1800s. Drink blueberry black tea, jasmine tea or white peach oolong as you reminisce about your childhood.

Embracing Their Roots

Kumonocha Cafe in Arashiyama reverts to the classic menu, but bamboo aesthetics create a botanical garden vibe. Bamboo-shaped glasses and cakes arrive on delicate wooden baskets. Leafy bamboo, prickly shrubs, large windows, natural lighting and rock gardens invite nature into the space--the perfect atmosphere for an iced matcha latte.

Order a delicate cloud cake, or choose from bamboo-shaped cakes and charcoal-infused drinks. Earthy iced teas sit on top of smooth milk bases. They also sell the usual teas, sodas and lattes with a creamy cloud drawn on the surface of hot beverages.

How Kumonocha Went Viral

Most famously, Kumonocha launched a pop-up store in 2023. The HEP FIVE shopping mall greeted customers with cloud cakes in a rainbow of hues, each with a distinct flavor: peach oolong, chocolate grape, sesame, yuzu, strawberry, blueberry lemon, vanilla rose and white chocolate apple.

Employees served the cakes on square white platters with matching drinks. Cloud cake sculptures on a miniature Ferris wheel decorated the space as foodies filmed themselves cutting into their desserts, revealing colorful mousse and filling inside.

When the store closed in February 2024, Kumonocha celebrated the turnout with a thank-you post. Foodies still delight in Kumonocha's permanent stores, savoring lemon custard, matcha mousse, red bean paste and other specialty ingredients.

Are you planning to visit Kumonocha on your next trip to Japan? Do you think you could make cloud cakes at home? Share your thoughts in the comments.