Laumelia Hawaiian Cafe Urayasu
For me, Hawaiian food is a lot like Chinese duck or porchetta: traps that often lure me in and leave me disappointed. I drive by a Hawaiian place in LA, get excited, go in and try it, and remember that it’s not my favorite. Then I forget until I’m tricked again. Just one of those things that sounds better than it is.
That’s why I wasn’t jumping at the chance to go to a Hawaiian restaurant in Japan. But when we were on our staycation at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo Bay, we didn’t want to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant (because it wasn’t free), and there weren’t many places within walking distance of the hotel. The one place that looked all right was Hawaiian, a cafe called Laumelia. We went. I’m glad we did.
Laumelia Cafe’s Hawaiian vibe
Laumelia was about a 10-15 min walk (we walk fast when we’re hungry) from the Regency, along a hotel-lined street with a park across from it. You’d swear you weren’t in Japan, with so many palm trees around. The cafe is connected to a Mercedes store, and I saw no explanation of why that is. They share a building, but as for whether they are owned by the same place, I have no idea.
The menu is bigger than it looks. There’s a regular menu, but also a board with some specials, and also some other boards with other specials. I ordered the acai bowl, only to later see that there were three other kinds of acai bowls that I didn’t know they had. There is a mix of breakfast food, burgers, salads, and pastries. It’s a good spot for brunch since you can get both breakfast and lunch stuff.
It’s one of those places where you order up front and then sit, with the tables located outside on a veranda. We were super excited to sit out there because the restaurant is dog-friendly, and on a Saturday morning, there were TONS of doggies there. Fluffy ones. There were three dogs at the table next to us, and even more beyond that. We had a lot to look at. Most everyone was eating burgers, but they didn’t look that great to me. However, all the people seemed to be having a good time. After watching the fluffy doggies for a while, eventually our buzzer sounded and I went to get our food. I was impressed that they were able to fit our entire order on one tray, because we got a lot of food.
Coffee and donuts at Laumelia
One special item on the menu was the Malasada, or Hawaiian donuts. We each got one for science. I wasn’t expecting much, but they were delicious. Covered in sugar, they were puffy and soft, a perfect middle ground between a dense cake donut and a vanishing Krispy Kreme. Substantial yet light. You could make a whole meal of these, and I bet people do.
The coffee was way better than I was expecting. They knew hot to put together a decent latte, and I could actually taste the coffee. Eriko’s orange juice was a little watered down, but at least it was big. She says it was delicious. So far, so good.
Acai bowl and fries from Laumelia Urayasu
They had an acai bowl, so you know I had to get it. I am an acai bowl expert at this point, and I demand the very best. There were a lot of berries and banana, but no peanut butter to even it out. The frozen acai paste was a bit reddish, and tasted like it had some other berries mixed in besides just acai. It actually tasted a lot like when I make acai smoothies at home, and sometimes add too many mixed berries. Surprisingly, the acai bowl was the worst thing we had at Laumelia. But a bad acai bowl is better than a great salad, so I was still happy.
I had a bit of a cold and sore throat, so I ordered some French fries to get some salt on my throat. They were great. Nothing special, just well-cooked basic fries, not too greasy to touch, with plenty of salt. And I got a gigantic bowl of them. Perfect for what ailed me. Probably wouldn’t need these on a normal day, but on vacation and feeling a bit sick, they were ideal.
The Elvis breakfast sandwich from Laumelia
Sometimes Eriko wants to try something at a restaurant, but isn’t sure if it will be good, and wants my opinion. At times like this, she’ll say “I’m interested in…” That happened this time. She said “I’m interested in Elvis sandwich.” This was perfect, because it allowed me to explain that Elvis pioneered peanut butter and banana sandwiches with bacon. Truly a genius. I told her to get it.
The bread on this sandwich was nicely toasted, and the peanut butter was legit, not some weird sugary Japanese peanut cream. The bacon was not good quality, floppy rather than crispy. But it was the way that they put it all together that made it work.
Biting into this thing, the first taste was peanut butter and toast. But then as you chewed, you got that hit of saltiness and fat from the bacon. The bacon’s texture didn’t ruin the feel of the sandwich, but its flavor added that extra bit missing from normal peanut butter/banana toast. Exquisite. I told Eriko this was a very good version of this sandwich. We both loved it. Would definitely get again every time, no doubt about it.
Verdict: is Laumelia a good brunch option on a visit to Urayasu?
I should mention the bathroom. It is shared by the Mercedes dealership, and is Mercedes-quality. The sinks are seashell-shaped and have these round faucets that I would very much like to install in my mansion. Step above normal cafe bathrooms for sure.
The one thing I didn’t like about this place is that it’s one of those cafes where you bus your own table, and have to put the tray in one spot, cups in another, plates in another, cutlery in the bin, separate the paper and plastic trash - do I work here? Am I employed by this restaurant? Pay someone for this. It’s not my job.
In the end, the cost was 4,400 yen ($27.87), which is a lot when compared to the cost of eating at Porky’s the night before, but not that much given that we ordered a bunch of food and drinks. No way you can eat that much food at a place like this in LA for less than 50 bucks. And you get to see lots of doggies!
If you’re staying in Urayasu, you have to check out Laumelia Cafe. It’s great for brunch, and I imagine on a good weather day, it’s a pretty good place to hang out on the porch and drink coffee. There’s not much else around in walking distance, but luckily, you don’t need anything else. If we are ever around this area for some reason, we are eating here, and we’re getting that Elvis sandwich.
Where to find Laumelia Cafe
