New Shield Street cafe brings authentic flavours to Cairns CBD

A new Japanese cafe in Cairns has drawn crowds eager to taste viral TikTok sensations like jiggly pancakes and silky omurice in an authentic setting. Watch full tour.

Viral Japanese comfort foods like jiggly pancakes and silky omurice have landed in Cairns, with a new Kissaten style venue opening right in the city centre.

Since opening two weeks ago, Sugoi cafe on Shields street has “exceeded all expectations” with Japanese tourists and locals alike packing out the eatery hoping to taste the internet's most popular foods.

Kissaten’s are traditional Japanese cafes that serve coffee, matcha and sweets as well light meals and the hugely popular Japanese style pasta.

Japanese style pasta is a hugely popular dish in traditional cafes, owner Tadanari Ieki said these authentic flavours were nowhere else in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

Owner Tadanari Ieki said his team had become known for their matcha lattes and omurice.

“I wanted to bring the same level of authenticity from Japan to here,” he said.

“All our foods are traditional Japanese style dishes and drinks, we import our matcha from Kyoto, in Japan.

“This pasta is definitely cooked the Japanese way... but omurice is definitely our speciality and for the drink, matcha lattes are our signature.”

In recent years omurice, which is a folded omelette served on top of a bed of fried rice has become one of the worlds most watched foods on social media.

With more than 300,000 Instagram followers, Chef Motokichi Yukimura helped fuel the craze in the west through videos of his perfectly plated dish, where one cut released cascading ribbons of egg.

Sugoi Cafe has opened on Shields Street, with plenty of well priced Japanese drinks and dishes on the menu. Sugoi Cafe workers Mitsumi Nakatsu and Daiki Takatani enjoy matcha based desserts and coffees, and karaage chicken with rice. Picture: Brendan Radke

On top of trending dishes, the cafes menu also features classics such as karaage and more European inspired creations such as fluffy cheesecake and matcha tiramisu.

After compiling a considerable portfolio of gaming arcades across Australia, Mr Ieki branched out into the world of food in 2023 and now runs multiple restaurants in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

Omurice has become the venues signature dish and most commonly requested, helped in part to the foods viral presence across social media in recent years. Picture: Brendan Radke

He said Cairns was different because it couldn’t rely on foot traffic, so the food had to be good enough for people to seek it out.

“So far this is exceeding expectations,”he said.

“The population is really different here. For example, in our Sydney or Melbourne store, a lot of people are working around the area.

“But this store, I want to focus mostly on the locals. I want the local people, people live here, like this restaurant to the taste everything and give us feedback”

Originally published as New Shield Street cafe brings authentic flavours to Cairns CBD