Cafetasia

Had a chance to eat here a few years back, I’m so disappointed it’s closed. The food was excellent and the cocktails were tasty, it’s a shame I never made time to go back there. You guys will be missed.

This was always a tried and true place for my best friend and I. I’m sad that it’s closed. Here’s to hoping the restaurant in its place is the same management?

I came here on a Saturday afternoon.
The food was actually really good. I had the lemongrass shrimp — and while I enjoyed it, it would have been a bit easier to eat of the tails were removed from the shrimp… but that’s a relatively minor point. I also had the gyoza which were fried, and could have used a bit more filling, but again — they tasted good! My guy had the fish & chips — keep in mind the ‘chips’ are actual potato chips, not fries.
The same-​sex bathroom was wild! Gotta say, I’m not a huge fan of how close the bathroom is to the dining area. The service was attentive and I liked that there were many seating options. It was a-​ok.

I went here last night with a friend and I was genuinely surprised that it was well decorated and affordable! The service was initially really great and slipped slightly as the night went on, but overall it was fine.
The food was served relatively quickly and was delicious! I ordered veggie pad thai with tofu, which came in a medium sized bowl and it was beyond filling. I also ordered two thai iced teas (they’re perfectly sized in a mason jar) which were amazing as usual.
Check out Cafetasia if you haven’t already for well priced Thai in the city!

I love the seafood and salmon roll! The roll was crispy outside and soft inside with seaweed and avocado! Perfect! The place is good. I like to sit in front of the window!

After a few attempts*, was able to redeem the PayPal $ 5 offer for the $ 8.95 (no longer $ 8) shrimp basil udon with rangoon app lunch special**. (IDK if this hike is to blame, but their last 10 reviews as of 10.14.14 are all below 3 stars or fake) The menu is wild, so I stuck with a popular option; the fact that a place like this has a ‘ceasar’ item is about as surprising as the fact that they misspelled it. They mean well here, like offering water at the tail end of your wait so you can’t even drink any, but the enterprise is so disconnected (on my first visit, 6 staffers stood in a huddle and didn’t greet 3 consecutive customers). They asked me to move from near the door (not in any way blocking) while I looked at the menu, and another left to get an answer to my question and never returned. All in all, the service on a slow day was inconsistently managed and overburdened, so I can imagine how it gets.
A reasonable amount of food for the post-​offer price, but certainly not the value it once was, if you could even say that, and nothing great flavor-​wise.
Paypal Check In
$ 8.95
SubTotal
$ 9.74
Special Offer
-$ 5.00
Total
$ 4.74
*Called to confirm before heading there:
‘Do you take PayPal?
yes but not today
huh?
they have a catering event today
so how do I know if you’ll be taking it?
call that day and ask, bye now’
**Inquired about their impressively long lunch special — unlike those pathetic 8-​hour HHs, this one is apparently 12 am — 4 pm (
). That said, even 12pm would be odd, seeing as they open at 11, which it turns out is indeed when it starts (I had you there, huh?).

Listen, I’m not a hater, so I’m not going to come on here and hate like a hater, but with that being said, no crime would be committed if they changed the name of this restaurant from Cafetasia to CafeMediocreAsHell.
I’m just saying, based on my personal experience with my personal dish (chicken pad thai), this place is butt. I’m not hatin’, but the noodles were dry as hell. I mean I just don’t understand why you would serve me some parched-​assed noodles. Now, I will say this place is easier on the wallet than some other Asian fusion restaurants and our waitress was a nice lady. I really want to give this place three stars, because I’m not a hater, but I’ve had a lot of better quality pad thai in NYC so it wouldn’t even feel right. Consider this two and a half stars. Peace and love.

The service sucks! I waited 1 hour for my food until all my friends finished eating (they even ordered 30 mins after me!)!
Guess what? When it finally came, the waitress even threatened to take my food away when I complained. «Do you want it or not?» — The service here is ridiculous!!!

They served me raw meat! Literally the chicken was dripping blood. I brought it to the waitresses attention and she said it’s «well done». DOES THIS LOOK WELL DONE TO YOU? I immediately asked for the manager. After sending me another order of chicken wings it was still pink and undercooked. My friend was given a dirty drinking glass and cold food… gross won’t be coming back here anytime soon. I hope I don’t get sick.. pray for me!

Had a late dinner here last Saturday. It’s dimly lit and pretty trendy inside. Bathroom is weird. Sat at a large picnic table with my group of 12. If you’re looking for authentic, you came to the wrong place. The menu seemed very westernized. They do have a full bar, featuring Asian inspired cocktails like the lychee martini. I stuck with Thai tea. It was fine.
For my entrée, I ordered the Crispy Half Chicken Coated with Spicy Chili Garlic Sauce. It was undercooked. When I informed the staff, they took it off the bill. I had some of the spicy calamari salad. It was typical calamari, except it was covered in dressing that tasted like spicy mayo.
Overall, it’s trendy and cool looking, but the food is not awesome.

I’m a big Thai fan and have had a few of cafetasia’s dishes.
I really enjoy the drinks here. The mojitos and lychee martinis are just how I like my drinks… mostly alcohol.
They were a little less liberal when I ordered pitchers for my birthday but still did the trick.
The dishes my friends get are always great. the thai basil dish is well spiced and delicious. The duck salad entrée is also quite tasty, the apples are a nice touch. The Thai chicken wings are a great appetizer here too. My love of massaman curry causes me to order it frequently, but right as I get the first taste of it from here, I remember that it is not as the most flavourful rendition of my favorite dish. Its a touch smoother, almost like a yogurt, and not as flavoured/​spicy as the other versions I’ve had.
Its good for groups of friends mostly because if you don’t have 4 or more people you’ll be most likely cramped up against a large group of students. My first visit here, I was hit with a flicked credit card from the kids sitting next to me.
It would be hard for me to recommend this as a date place since you’re only going to get intimate lighting not intimate conversation.
The bulk of the seating is long tables and long benches. Its not the greatest set up but you forget after a few drinks. :)
Overall, come have some nice drinks with friends. Order a couple pitchers of the specialty drinks (you have to ask very nicely, they typically only do the mojito pitchers), order a few things to share and have a decent night out. It’s a well priced place to start your night.

WOW. Its been a year since I came here.
Finally came back here with my best friend that I brought here last time.
The food has changed ALOT.
My best friend and I got a shrimp pad thai, beef pad thai, thai ceasar chicken salad calamari, spicy fruit salad, thai ice tea and a thai ice coffee.
The food came pretty quick.
Calamari was delicious but the portion is definitely smaller than before.
The pad thai was extremely sour even without the lemon, The shrimp on it was okay nothing special as for the beef it was extremely dry and disgusting very appetizing. The thai chicken salad was MEH the chicken was boiled the tomato and cucumbers were extremely bitter. The spicy fruit salad was disgusting. The only good thing was thai ice coffee and thai ice tea.
Service here sucks now.
I for sure won’t be coming back here again.

A-​OK.
Came in for the lunch special — you get an appetizer and an entrée from a couple of selections.
I had the crab + cheese rangoon, which was pretty good. Bf had the fried dumplings which were okay. We both got fried rice — I got the basil fried rice with tofu and he got the regular fried rice. We ended up switching because the basil fried rice was too spicy.
They’re pretty quick so it’s definitely a solid place for a fast, cheap lunch. It’s not the best Thai food I’ve ever had though but we both came in here with low expectations.

I really need to get out of the office and explore more. I think I know what’s good around here, then I find more little «hidden treasures.»
I only came here once for lunch, but after the one time I was here, I can guarantee I’ll be coming back.
The lunch specials are amazing, for $ 8.50 you get an appetizer and entrée – and the portions are pretty big! I got the cold cucumber salad, which was refreshing and tiny. I followed it up with the Malaysian Chicken Laksa (Egg noodles, galangal, lemongrass, red onion, chili paste, coconut broth.) A bit on the sweet side, but really good.
It was pretty crowded for lunch, but I’d definitely recommend. Service is great, food is yummy. Check it out.

Fellas, if you are looking for a fun and funky place to bring your date without taking out a loan, you are in luck.
Cafetasia’s deals can’t be beat, and they have a killer ambiance with the candles at night. Super sensual.
You get a bunch of food with the $ 10 dollar meal deal, an appetizer, an entrée, and a drink for 11 bucks? Both you and your wallet won’t be getting that much thinner!
I’ve always had spectacular food – Pad Thai, Pad Se Ew, Gyoza, Crab Rangoons, and I’ve never been disappointed. The thai ice tea is spectacular.
It’s a great place to go with friends, but as mentioned Unilocalers, it’s a preemo spot to bring that special someone

This place looks like a cafeteria for the NYU students, I think that’s how they name this restaurant. With big tables and benches that customers sit together, it is just as casual as a cafeteria in the college.
Even though we are sitting on a bench with other customers, we each still have a pretty decent space to ourselves. Because of the very pleasant experience we had in another restaurant, we ordered steamed Mussels in Creamy Lemongrass Broth and Crispy Egg Noodle Pad Thai with Shrimp and Tempura Salmon Roll. The food is nothing special, I was coming and looking forward to have the vegetarian duck, but the waitress said it doesn’t taste as good in the crispy egg noodle dish, so we gave that up. The mussels were pretty good, with a curry kinda taste and a little sour broth, but I still prefer the white whine broth for mussels. The crispy egg noodle is average only, you can get a better one in a chinese restaurant.
Probably won’t be coming back in the future, because the food is only average, and from what we observed, some waiter/​waiteress has difficulties understanding what the customer wants.

I’ve come here on multiple occasions, and I have yet to be really wowed or disappointed. The drink and food specials are pretty good here, but the food in itself is just okay. You can also likely find Groupon specials or cash back specials on your credit card. Last year, on the 4^th of July, we were feeling really patriotic, so naturally, we decided to go to a Thai restaurant. Let me tell you, you can drink for pretty cheap during the day at this place.
As for the actual food, it’s pretty standard, and it’s definitely not the best Thai food you’ll have. They have the basic pad Thai and pad see ew dishes, as well as some other authentic small plates, but nothing that particularly stands out. As I mentioned, the quality of the food isn’t amazing, but at least it’s at a consistent level every time.
The crowd here is definitely pretty NYU, if that’s your thing. There used to be an East Village location, but I believe it closed down. There just ain’t enough room for more than one Cafetasia in this town. Although, I believe it’s now a Lantern Thai, which is basically the same exact thing, except pricier.
Overall, if you can catch the specials here, you can get a decent, standard meal for a pretty good value. I probably won’t go out of my way to come here, unless it’s a hot Fourth of July.

I thought this place was going be mediocre based on a few reviews but it’s actually not that bad. I’m definitely going to come here for their happy hour specials for sure one day.
So I came here for a friend’s birthday and ordered the 3 appetizer for $ 12 deal. I got the coconut soup, the calamari and the chicken satay. The food was amazing! Wow. It was flavorful, had such a huge portion and for the price can’t be beat.
My friend turned 21 that day so we got her the rainbow colored shots. I’ve never seen rainbow shots served anywhere else so I was really impressed Cafetasia had em. Overall I would definitely come back, especially for their lunch or happy hour specials.
One thing I honestly dislike are the tables, rather yet the chairs. They’re so bulky and hard to get out of, especially when the restaurant is at a full house capacity. If they would replace their tables everything would be SUPER but I guess the tables add a sense of «café-​ness» to their name. I’m not letting that discourage me from coming back though since the food was really yummy and affordable.

Food are very flavorful, and the portions of ingredients are very generous. The appetizers are good but not to the extent.
On the downside. the noise level there was unbelievably high. The service here was very poor… they put 18% mandatory gratuity on 2 people’s bill anyways. oh well.
I would like to come back here for the early bird special next time.

This is probably my third time here, or maybe more. I called in advance to ask if they were busy for a party of two, and they told me yes. When I got there within 15 minutes, it did not look very busy inside. So, I walked in, prepared to use the Scoutmob deal for dinner. There is no minimum that you need to purchase in order to get the discount. purchase anything and 30% will be deducted from your bill. This discount saved me about $ 13.
I started off with the Red Coconut Thai Mojito… which was really good, surprisingly. It was made with Red Alize, Lychee, Mint Leaves, and Coconut Liquor (I believe). My girl and I were able to drink about 4 cups each with this pitcher. This pitcher cost about $ 25, which is much more worth it if you are planning to share. It lasted us throughout dinner.
For appetizers, we ordered the Coconut Wrap. This is basically just coconut flakes on top of lettuce with sweet dressing on the side. It was different, but felt like eating coconut flakes off a lettuce. It can get messy if you don’t wrap it and then eat it, but this appetizer, I would rate it a ³⁄₅. That’s because it just tasted like coconut flakes on lettuce, nothing special.
For entrée, we ordered the Shrimp Pad See Ew. Whenever I go to Thai restaurants, this is what I always order. Flat noodles with some bok choy, eggs, and shrimp (you can choose from chicken or beef). I love the flavor of this!
Our waiters were really helpful and also refilling our water constantly when it needed it to be. Use the Scoutmob app and check in! You can save 30% and is valid everyday… there are no restrictions!