Final Fantasy 14 is at the height of its popularity since more World of Warcraft players moved in and its newest expansion Endwalker was released. However, the game was popular enough back in 2014 to warrant an entire Final Fantasy 14-themed cafe to open in Tokyo's Akihabara district. The cafe is the dream of any player to visit, as both its decorations and its food are all inspired by the MMORPG.
The architecture of the cafe itself is based on an in-game location in New Gridania called the Carline Canopy. It is a location all players are familiar with as it is in one of the starting cities and home to one of the inns their characters can rent. Like the in-game location, the Eorzea Cafe has stained windows and wooden floors. All it is missing is an actual Mother Miounne, but the food makes up for that.
What The Cafe Looks Like
The cafe may not look like Carline Canopy on the outside, there are tons to look at on the inside of this second-floor cafe. The walls are covered in replicas of items from the game and posters of various characters. There are statues of moogles partying and the senior sabotender from the Gold Saucer. Much of the item replicas are weapons such as bard bows, paladin swords and shields, warrior axes, and white mage staffs.
While the place serves as a cafe, there are also computers for customers to play the MMORPG on during their visit. There is a giant map of Eorzea on the wall and some windows are framed with Twin Adder banners. There is a bar customers can sit at that has Dragoon spears hanging above. Of course, this is simply the place decorations. The most dazzling display of all is in the food fans can order.
The Cafe's Food and Drinks
The food menus are split by theme. There is a monster menu based on the monsters found in Eorzea. Such items include "Honey Toast of the Demon Wall" and "Deep Fried Chicken of Dodo." Another themed menu is the characters menu which has "Soup of Haurchefant" and "Curry Rice of Fat Chocobo." For fans of primals, there is a primal-themed menu as well with the "Big Hamburger of Titan" and "Pizza of Ifrit with Hot Sauce." What may be the most popular of the themed menus, though, are the job-themed ones. Fans can have a dish tailored to their favorite classes, enjoying "Sausages Platter of Gladiator" and "Dragoon's Pasta Sakura Style."
The themed names are just a hint of how themed these foods really are. The various foods are creatively designed with familiar faces such as chocobos, moogles, and cactaur. Some have flags stuck in to show that the food hails from the nation of Limsa Lominsa or Ul'dah. The food is not all, though, as the drink menus are just as extravagant with a range of cocktails and sodas. Like the food, the drinks have many themed menus such as primals, jobs, and characters. There is also a special Alchemist menu for fans that want to taste a Potion and/or Elixir. In all, the menus have 35 kinds of food and 55 kinds of drinks. The drinks themselves are known to be pretty sugary.
Behind The Scenes
Due to the restaurant being so special, booking a visit requires some advanced planning because the cafe is small and popular. The cafe is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. with four time intervals for patrons to visit, so customers cannot stay for more than two hours per visit.
For fans who have yet to empty their wallets on the food, there is also a gift shop with fat cat plushies, socks, pins, and various keychains. A clever way the restaurant has gotten fans to order a lot of food and drinks is by giving them a stamp card. Customers get a stamp for each item ordered, and a fully stamped card can be exchanged for exclusive Final Fantasy 14 merchandise.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
