Chie's Coffee Food Truck Review: Gluten-Free Rice-Flour Churros and Espresso Tonic
A food truck called Chie's Coffee, serving gluten-free rice-flour churros, in-house roasted coffee, and an espresso tonic. An honest review with churros as the real star.
Table of Contents
What you’ll find in this article
- What makes Chie’s Coffee’s rice-flour churros special
- My honest impression of trying gluten-free churros
- How the in-house roasted coffee pairs with the churros
- My first time trying an espresso tonic
- How to check where the food truck is next
I stopped by a newly opened roadside station, “Wellness Arao,” and found a white food truck parked with a coffee flag flying. It was a shop called Chie’s Coffee.
On this blog, I usually write about growing my own coffee tree, roasting at home, or visiting specialty coffee shops. So when I spotted the food truck, I went in purely for the coffee.
But once I got there, what really stood out wasn’t the coffee at all — it was the rice-flour churros. And that turned out to be a very good thing.
Here’s my honest record of the churros, the coffee, and my first-ever espresso tonic, from the perspective of someone who grows coffee trees and roasts coffee at home.
The Real Star: Gluten-Free Rice-Flour Churros
The sign at the truck immediately caught my eye. It was more detailed than I expected:
- 100% gluten-free — no wheat flour or eggs
- Made with plenty of rice flour from Oguni, Kumamoto
- Fried in domestic rice oil
- The only listed allergen is dairy
There are six flavors. The most popular is Original Sugar (made with wasanbon, a fine, delicate Japanese sugar), along with Chocolate, Yame Matcha (using an award-winning matcha from Yame), Cinnamon, Kinako (roasted soybean flour), and Plain. Each churro is 500 yen (tax included).
We went with Sugar and Chocolate.
What surprised me was the texture. Just as the sign promised — “crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside” — it really was crisp outside and pleasantly chewy inside. Being rice flour rather than wheat, it has a distinct bite that’s different from a typical churro: light, yet satisfying. The frying oil wasn’t heavy either, so it stayed easy to eat to the last bite.
Honestly, before stopping by, I expected something like “a decent food-truck churro.” This was far more carefully made than that. You could genuinely taste the care that went into the rice flour, the rice oil, and the wasanbon sugar. I can recommend this without hesitation.
The Coffee: A Dark Roast Blend Built to Go With Churros
The shop is named Chie’s Coffee, and the banner also says “in-house roasted coffee.” I was curious, since the coffee is apparently roasted in Oguni, so I ordered a hot blend.
Honestly, on its own, it didn’t feel like the kind of coffee meant to showcase bright, clean flavors. It felt more like a blend that comes into its own when paired with something sweet.
But as I drank it, I noticed something. This blend seemed designed specifically to go with the churros. It’s a solid dark roast, and when you take a sip alongside the sweetness of the churro, the coffee’s gentle bitterness settles the sweetness down into a pleasant balance. Rather than a bean meant to be judged on its own, it felt like a cup designed to be completed together with a pastry.
Sure enough, on the day I visited, there was a sign that read: “Today’s coffee is available only to those ordering rice-flour churros or gelato.” Since it said “today’s,” the policy may not always be the same, but at least on that day, coffee was meant to be enjoyed as a set with churros (or gelato). It felt like the shop’s way of saying, “please try the churros first” — and that makes sense of why the coffee is built to complement them.
My First Espresso Tonic Was a Fun Surprise
There was one more thing on the menu that caught my eye: an espresso tonic.
I’ll admit I’d never had one and had no idea what to expect. I ordered it out of curiosity, and it turned out to be great. It was a hot day, and the drink was wonderfully refreshing — the carbonation, the bitterness of the espresso, and a citrusy brightness from the tonic all worked together beautifully. It’s good alongside churros, and just as good on its own.
Since I’d never had one, I looked into where the espresso tonic actually comes from.
An espresso tonic is a cold coffee drink made by combining espresso with tonic water. It’s said to have been invented in Oslo, Norway, in 2007, and later became known when the Swedish roastery Koppi Roasters, in Helsingborg, put it on their menu as “Kaffe & Tonic.” It spread in popularity across Scandinavia and, through barista competitions, around the world — reaching Japan by around 2015. The tonic’s carbonation and gentle bitterness, combined with a citrusy brightness, meet the bitterness of the espresso to make a drink that’s easy to enjoy even on a hot day.
(Sources: European Coffee Trip, “Espresso&Tonic: The Story of the Famous Coffee Drink”, Wikipedia “Espresso and tonic,” and Perfect Daily Grind, among others.)
Chie’s Coffee’s espresso tonic didn’t lean into the bright, delicate character of a light roast; it felt more built around the body and bitterness of a dark roast, balanced with the tonic’s freshness. It was fun to see that the same dark-roast, churro-friendly direction of the shop’s coffee carried straight through into the espresso tonic.
Ordering Tips and Shop Information
A few practical things worth knowing before you go.
On this visit, coffee was tied to churros or gelato
On the day I visited, there was a sign saying coffee was only available to those ordering rice-flour churros or gelato. Since it said “today’s,” this may vary by day. But at least on my visit, coffee wasn’t something you could order on its own — so churros are really the place to start. It’s worth checking the current policy when you visit.
It’s a food truck — check Instagram for locations
Chie’s Coffee operates out of a food truck and moves around to different locations. I happened to come across it at a roadside station, but where it sets up changes from day to day. Check their Instagram for the latest location.
About their physical shop and café
I was told that the coffee is roasted in Oguni, that the Oguni shop is open only on Wednesdays, and that a café near Guernsey Farm in Kuju is open on days other than Wednesday. This, too, may change, so it’s best to confirm the latest details on Instagram before visiting.
- Instagram: @chie.scoffee331
In Short: If You See This Truck, Get the Churros
The coffee made the most sense when enjoyed alongside the churros. This felt like a shop built around a rice-flour churro worth making the star of the show: gluten-free, crisp outside and chewy inside, and made with real care. Add a dark roast coffee designed to go with it, plus a fun first-time espresso tonic, and the whole experience works best with churros at the center.
If you ever spot this food truck, my advice is simple: start with the churros. You’ll be glad you did.
