PAN & CIRCUS definitely is 'something else'. It is not your regular stay, nor your regular coffee shop. I may sound cliche, but I'm going to say that this particular place is Really Cool & Really Awesome. Totally different from any other place you'd find in Kyoto. The place was said to be a guest house that is also a bar, and event place. But the fact that the place was originally a traditional Japanese house (Machiya) that used as a pawnshop for more than 100 years, filled with random items is what makes the place far more interesting.
Even before we got to Japan, my Wife have been highly curious about this place, she found the photo of this place via some instagram account, and dying to see the place that is somewhat 'magical'. So we got down in Kyoto, and start looking for this place using Maps apps through my phone and apparently the map (one of those google or apple maps) got us into a wrong place. But after a day or two, the sky has turn dark, out of nowhere, we happened to find this Pan & Circus place. The neon sign was turned off, but when the guy inside saw us taking some photos, he turned the lights on, and offered us to come in.
"We got hot coffee here, call me when you want to order" he said. Such a nice young gentlemen wearing a beanie. I looked around and they got tin cans of coffee blends from Saturdays NYC, as well as from The Brooklyn Brewery so I know that the coffee must've been good (it really was). He then asked "where are you from, and real surprised when he knew that we're from Indonesia. "Indonesiaaaaa??" he reacted. (Damn, are we really THAT far away? rarely see Indonesians up there in Japan? This thing also happened when we were in flight).
The bar itself, was filled by many random things from French sofas, rugged long wood table with attached saw on top, antique watch, pop corn machine, wooden boxes, tin cans, ethnic-styled & baroque-styled mirrors, hanging bird-nest-like thingy on ceiling, flowers, parisian posters, botanical prints, paintings, burlap sack, playing cards, mushroom lamp, aaaand the list goes on (it was literally like little shop of treasure game).
Anyway, got talk a little bit the friendly staff from before, asked where we were staying and stuffs, welcoming another guest (a young woman with huge backpack), and then he let us take pictures and instantly gave us 'discount' on our drinks when he saw me counting coins on the table. One more thing, the ambiance music they played back then, it was like stepping into another world, but somehow relaxing from the cold outside.
