A splash of bright blue paint and a wave of fresh aromas have transformed a once-forgotten shopfront on Chelverton Road, just opposite the Royal China restaurant and next to the bus garage.
The arrival of Miyagi Coffee is more than just another café — it’s a love letter to high-grade matcha and expertly roasted beans, served with care in a tight-knit Putney setting.
The new shop, with its sleek espresso machine gleaming behind the counter and handwritten summer specials chalked outside, is the vision of a local team.
The owner is a professional coffee roaster — sourcing, roasting and blending beans from scratch — while the shop’s front-of-house is behind the shop’s hand-whisked matcha, imported straight from Ise (pronounced “ee-seh”), a tea-growing region on Japan’s Pacific coast.
Sarah, who runs the place with a calm warmth, served a small cup of traditional matcha — no milk, no sweetener — and explained why freshness matters. “Matcha is a vegetable,” she says. “You have to store it cold and treat it with respect to get the full flavour.” Hers is vibrant, grassy, and deeply satisfying.
The café is still in its soft launch or “beta test” phase, but signs of ambition are everywhere. A branded banner and metal rack stand at the back, ready for classes and tastings once the roasting equipment arrives. Plans are in place to install a coffee roaster downstairs, creating what they hope will become a micro hub for Putney’s coffee community.
For now, the menu focuses on “The Miyagi Trifecta”: hand-whisked matcha, locally roasted specialty coffee, and homemade cakes. Summer specials include Hong Kong-style iced lemon tea, espresso tonic, and matcha coconut cold foam. There’s even a launch deal: coffee and cake for £5.55.
The unit has stood empty for years, a familiar blank space to those who take a few steps off the High Street. But Miyagi’s bold awning — proudly declaring “S-Class Coffee × S-Rank Baristas” — is catching eyes. It’s clear this is no chain, no corporate roll-out. Just a couple of coffee lovers doing it their own way, in their own neighbourhood.
And judging by the early buzz, Putney is ready to drink it in.
