Zaiya Cafe - New York City

So this place has been dear to my heart since I was a freshman in High School. This is going to sound super dorky (which I'm sure I am), but I used to hang out inside the Japanese bookstore, "Book Off" pretty often after school. I was learning Japanese at the time, and I liked to practice on .. comic books. Yeah, whatever, JUDGE ME. Cafe Zaiya opened up way during my HS years (2001-2005), and also had a Beard Papa's Creme Puffs (now closed?) inside it. I have no idea where Beard Papa's is these days - I haven't seen any around anymore- must have been a phase (like Red Mango/Pink Berry is going to be-a thing of the past) Anyway, to be honest, Beard Papa's WAS really good!! But this isn't a blog about that place. Cafe Zaiya is a Japanese cafe, that sells Japanese bread, cakes, ramen, bento boxes, onigiri, drinks (calpico & such), caffeinated drinks and basically anything else you can think of. It's like going to MITSUWA without DRIVING out to New Jersey! But this place is, instead, conveniently located on 18 East 41st Street- pretty much right across the street from the New York Public Library (you know, the one where Spider Man's Uncle died in the car?)


It's fun to try out- just to pop inside for a snack- or for lunch. The atmosphere is nice, there's free seating and it's very clean, it gets super busy during the high noon hour (since a lot of people come in to purchase lunch)- but the lines move quickly. There's also another location they have, that's on the 2nd floor of the Kinokuniya Bookstore on 5th ave and 42nd st. Here, they make an AMAZING green tea frapp!


What I love the most about Cafe Zaiya is their onigiris. These are seaweed wrapped rice balls with fillings inside. The fillings range from: Spicy Tuna, Tuna, Salmon, Seaweed, plum and some other stranger things. The best that I recommend is Spicy Tuna. The way they wrap the onigiris will confuse you and shock you to no end. It's like some strange japanese contraption and I seriously- even after all these years- have not figured out how to unwrap an onigiri correctly. But anyway, their seafood is generally very fresh- and it tastes so great when its warm! At $1.75/each, getting 2 would fill you up pretty well, and leave you some space to try other things. Also, it doesn't burn TOO large of a hole in your wallet.

If you have some time, go check this place out for a nice snack!

Taste: 4.5/5
Atmosphere: 4
Cost: $2-$12