FIKA

Fika is Scandi cool, does great coffee and now unique chocolate. A special ‘Chocolate Room’ in Fidi contains cinnamon nuts, and salted caramel truffles — worth the trip! (and only 60 cals each)
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FIKA is a popular café chain with about 15 branches in New York City. As its founder was born in Sweden, it naturally has some nice Swedish touches. For instance on Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) in Sweden everyone eats a traditional pastry called a ‘semla’. This bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream is definitely worth seeking out. And so I went to FIKA on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan to get hold of mine for this week. A semla is as tasty as it looks. Do keep in mind, cream used in pastries in Europe def isn’t as sweet as cream found in baked goods in the USA. I like it that way, but I am sure many Americans may yearn for the more sugary concoctions they are used to. The truffles at FIKA are also highly regarded and I recommend taking some of them home as well…

Voted the #5 Favorite Coffee of New Yorkers according to this list:

Horrible place! They completely messed up my order. I asked for a to-​go vegetarian sandwich and ended up with fish in my sandwich. Considering I am vegetarian, I didn’t get to eat lunch today. Very upset.

Saw the sign, couldn’t believe my eyes! Fika? Could it be? Yes. Fika, the Swedish idea of coffee, biscuits, a break with friends, etc. Reminded me of the times I spent in Sweden with my grandparents, with one major difference — the coffee and pastries are better here!

I visited FIKA in high hopes of finding a decent matcha latte in the hood. I was highly intrigued to visit FIKA because their matcha powder is distributed from Panatea. I was intrigued by the founders of Panatea and their matcha journey in Japan. –This review is solely based on the matcha latte only.
The ordering process was pleasant, a barista behind the bar offered to get a drink started for me while I waited in line. While waiting, I overheard an employee explaining the truffles to another patron. He seemed very knowledgable about the products even memorized all the prices with tax included. I was quite impressed with his product knowledge.
The first sip of the matcha latte, my lips came into contact with room temperature milk. Not plesant. The matcha had a gorgeous bright green complexion, but there were very strong hints of bitterness lingering after each sip, so I’m not sure if this is actual «high quality» matcha powder or lacked a whole BUNCH of L-​Theanine. The first half of the latte was bearable, but the second half was barely borderline smooth. The texure was definitely not silky smooth but more on the coarse side. I had multiple tiny pebbles of green tea powder floating around in my cup. The matcha was probably not whisked completely. I am hoping this visit was just a flop. Panatea seems to distribute to a handful of cafes in and out of NYC. Pricey @ $ 5
There is nothing wrong with the establishment itself, I will probably re-​visit and pick up a Tokyo edition of their truffles. (Pricey too!) One thing I will like to point out is for staff to clean up the seating area after the patrons have left. A lot of crumbs leftover on the tables. Eck. The décor is very modern and comfy.
Now on to the continued hunt for a nice cup of matcha latte in fidi.

Fika seems to be so trendy and I’ve been planning on visiting it for a while and eventually I got there so I decided to finally give it a try. The place is not too big but furnished with taste and it’s appealing. First and foremost the place is highly overpriced but anyways I choose a Matcha tea latte. Before the order I wanted to ask the guy at the checkout if it is made with almond milk and whether it contains any sweetener but I had to ask him 3 times because he wasn’t pay attention to me at all! It cost 5 $ which is ridiculous but it would be quite OK if it would have tasted good at least. But it was awful! Seriously this was one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted! It was absolutely like if I was drinking powdered spinach with a weird bitter taste. Later I also felt so unwell and had nausea… Sure the drink caused it because I haven’t consumed anything else. By the way I didn’t like the fact that many people leave their empty paper cups on the tables and it takes a lot of time for the staff to clean them up, I think they should improve their efficiency… IMO this is a total waste of money, pricey mediocre (or worse) things, inattentive staff — I only give 2 stars because the environment is nice — so I definitely would not go back!

Oh FIKA, what happened to you? This used to be my go-​to coffee place near work. Yes, it was the most expensive, but it was also the BEST cappuccino when this was the flagship location.
Then Hurricane Sandy hit, you move your operations to the TriBeCa location, and things slipped. I’m not sure what it was exactly, but now the $ 5 6oz cappuccino is watery, not rich and decadent like it once was, the baked goods are still tasty, but equally as high priced, and the chocolates are great when someone else is buying them for you, haha.
I miss getting seasonal Swedish goodies with my coffee, but you’ve got to have better coffee to be called a coffeehouse.

Fan of FIKA coffee and their chocolate selection!!! Note that FIKA coffee is pretty strong!!!

Despite being an idiot and ruining my drink for myself, I still really enjoyed my afternoon at FIKA’s. One of my girlfriend’s was celebrating her birthday and we wanted somewhere to sit and chat, so when we passed FIKA we knew it was the perfect spot for that. It was about 4:30 PM and only two or three tables in the decently large establishment were occupied (not that it mattered as we wound up sitting outside). One of my girlfriend’s got an americano and I got a chai latte. I was very tempted to try some of their chocolate truffles as they had such a charming variety, but I decided that since I already had a dessert on my person it wasn’t necessary.
The customer service at FIKA’s was some of the best I’ve received at a coffee shop in NYC. Since it was my friend’s birthday I had brought her a cake (from By the Way Bakery, it was AMAZING, check them out) and they hospitably handed us dishes and utensils for our dessert along with a nice «Happy Birthday» for her. They even gave her a deal on her coffee. The experience was going very well, but then, I made a mistake.
I assumed a condiment shaker near the coffee bar was cinnamon and proceeded to pour a healthy dose of it onto my latte. It wasn’t until I sat down and had a sip that I realized it was pepper. I’m a dingus. I scooped the foamy and peppery part of my latte onto a napkin and proceeded to drink the rest. It wasn’t the best latte, but that may’ve been because I still had pepper on my tongue. I of course can’t blame FIKA for this, but maybe label your shakers? Or at least don’t put them on the coffee bar? Keep them with the food?
Even though I didn’t really like my pricey latte, I would still come back to FIKA. The service was just brilliant and it was a very cozy spot. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area looking for a place to relax.

Do not get the matcha latte. Terrible! I should have probably ordered a regular latte.

Wish I could give 3.5. The espresso drinks are awesome. Expensive, but worth it! Muffins are also really good, I can tell they are always fresh.
Staff — not so great. Not helpful if you want advice on an espresso drink or food order. Also the first time we came in the barista let us look over the menu and decide what to get for 10+ minutes before telling us that the kitchen is closed on the weekends.
Always pretty empty on the weekends so service is quick!

Bottom line: brings back memories of my trip to Iceland, warm coffee and light Nordic fare.
FIKA is probably my favorite coffee chain in the city — I like the Scandinavian feel and the selection of chocolates they have available for purchase. This particular shop also has spacious seating for a quick seafood-​dominated meal of Nordic favorites like smoked salmon and such.
The coffee is great — I think it is situated nicely in between Starbucks which is overly commercialized and Blue Bottle which is overly hipsterized. I don’t feel that out of place coming in here to grab a cup to go, to sit down and sip, or to get some food and read a book for an hour.

The espresso is less bitter than most places I have tasted, which makes it more pleasant to drink. It’s served just so that it’s too hot for about 30 seconds. I love the lingonberry chocolate and the cardamom bun is also pretty tasty. The friendly and relaxed staff make for a fuller experience.

I spend way too much money at FIKA but their croissants are so delicious. I like how they aren’t too big.
The beet soup is really delicious as well.

I’d like to rate FIKA higher, but their coffee is just «solid good», it’s overrun with people who consistently don’t know how to order, and they play probably the worst pop radio R&B over the speakers that makes me want to drill my eardrums out. Did I enter a 16 year old girl’s car playlist?
$ 4 USD for a large ice coffee, you can get cold brew at most places a little ways away,

FIKA
NY Manhattan FiDi
11am Sunday 10^th May 2015
Three Stars
Nothing about this place struck a chord with me. The place looked pretty enough. The service was nice. My Ice coffee was decent. However, out of the hundreds of coffee shops in the city, this is not a place that I would chose to return to.
They also did have pink water which I assume is from infusing it with strawberries. Again not really a fan.

Venue: clean and modern, spacious with plenty of seating.
Drinks: They fill the cup to the brim with ice and more than half of it is milk.
The iced mocha here is more like chocolate milk with chunks of chocolate on the bottom.
The iced latte also is more milk and ice than coffee.

Being a Cali girl in NY, I don’t do well in cold weather so this was the perfect place to defrost and regain feeling in my face and hands. Super cool ambience & amazing hot chocolate!

It was super cold the last time I visited New York. I was walking around FiDi and I needed some coffee to warm me up. I decided to stop by FIKA to get some coffee because I’ve never tried this place. I liked the design of the coffee shop. It’s very simple and chic. Their brewed coffee was good as well. It was pretty smooth and not bitter. I tried some of their chocolates as well. They look dainty and almost too beautiful to eat. My favorite was the hazelnut chocolate. I will definitely stop by again when I am back in NYC!

Un salon de thé comme on en trouve partout à NYC. Je m’attendais à mieux vraiment, surtout dans ce quartier de Wall Street!
Les cookies étaient secs, trop secs. Le chocolat chaud tiède et le café… pas mal parait-​il. Bref, voici un endroit que je déconseille vivement!