Any non native San Franciscians out there can find this cute cafe in Japantown. Forgive me for not using street names right now, but basically you go to Ichibankan. Look across the street, you will see a Shisedo, look to the right. You will see and giant sign that says "YAKINIQ" Now look to the left of that. There should be a single glass door with a colorful board standing outside promoting one of their lattes. When you see the table under the window to the left of the door, you are there.
As soon as I walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the bench with the cushions on top. I didn't realize right away what it was for, but I soon realized that it was like Starbucks. You order, and you can choose whether to have it to-go or you can just sit down and sip your tea. This place has a Coffee Prince/Secret Garden feel. You will notice a very quiet and studious atmosphere right away because everyone is just typing away on their laptops. I just love it how there are couches, family style dinner tables and regular tables that are big enough for four people but sometimes used for two. As you walk in, one of the first things you will see are the cookies, pies, and other baked goods. The menus are written by hand, but I think it adds a nice touch. What I really like about the menu at YakiniQ Cafe is the variety of drinks. Sure it doesn't have a whole wide range, but they have interesting drinks that I never heard about. Then again, I don't really drink anything else besides, tea, water and milk.
Angela and I took a while to figure out what we wanted. I think I took like five minutes because I really didn't know what a latte was. Of course I did ask them to explain it to me. So Angela ordered a green tea patbingsoo. I did not get the impression that the people working there are Korean, but I didn't bother to question them because it's just God dang rude. So for those of you who don't know what patbingsoo is, it is basically Korean shaved iced. From my experience, patbingsoo is basically shaved ice with condensed milk, ice cream, red beans, and some fruit or mochi on top. I think it is better than any ice cream sundae I ever had. Sure that was like my second time eating it, but I love eating good food, SO WHYY NOT~?
The one problem so far was that the minimum charge for credit card is 10 bucks. I know a lot of places in Japantown are like 5-10 dollar minimum charge for credit card, so I wasn't too surprised about this. I was just glad that they didn't have a sign that said "CASH ONLY." So after ordering, we just sad down on the couch. Smack down in the middle of the room, there is this couch that is big enough to fit maybe three or four people. Angela and I just sat there taking random pictures around the Cafe.
I love the idea of recycling items to create something beautiful. For example, this vase, it's actually a mug. I think decorations are best when you don't spend a whole lot on them. I think it's the main attraction that counts. These little pumpkins just add warmth into the room. Of course in the Fall, these would stand out. So if you walk into the cafe and look straight you will actually see this really nice bookshelf.
As you can see the bookshelf have all kinds of knickknacks. Now I apologize for not being able to describe what lies on those shelves, but I was too busy absorbing everything that I didn't bother to go and take a closer look for myself, I guess I will go again soon for study dates and tell you the details about the shelves next time. In front of the bookshelf, you can see this family style dinner table. I just love how they have like a basket of fruit smack down in the middle. I think I can really go there to work on big projects that require a lot of space. THAT TABLE WILL BE MY NEXT STUDYING TABLE! I really think you can have a study party there, but I only suggest going with a group of people when you know there won't be a lot of people there. Remember the quiet studious atmosphere I mentioned earlier? WELL....
When you walk into YakiniQ Cafe, you will notice how ridiculously quiet it is. THIS PLACE IS QUIETER THAN ANY LIBRARY! I swear, it is so quiet that you feel pressured to just whisper even though the person you are trying to talk to is right next to you. Everyone is so concentrated on their studies that it's just really quiet.
Let's talk service. Now I didn't know how YakiniQ Cafe works. My first assumption was that it was like Starbucks, you wait for your stuff to be ready and then you go to your table. But no, you just sit down and then they serve the stuff to you. It's pretty awesome. Waiting for the food to come didn't take that long at all, five minutes top. I ordered a vanilla latte and apple pie. I don't remember the last time I actually had pie, so I guess it was a good time to have some.
If you are looking for an evening dessert after an early dinner or something sweet to have while you are studying or having a casual coffee date, then I highly recommend this place. I'd go back here again and again.
