Monsoon Cafe Daikanyama

5 stars for the building, location and service but only 1-2 stars for the food.

Let’s begin with what makes Monsoon Cafe a great place for hanging out with friends. We couldn’t help but notice how they went all out with transforming the restaurant for celebrating Halloween.

The staff were also attentive to their customers’ needs, which was a challenge considering tables are spread out inside and outside the three storey building. They weren’t wearing mask (“due to health reasons” according to the sign by the restaurant’s entrance) so we could see their faces fully and it was nice to know that both male and female servers were attractive.

As for the food, our dogs loved the gapao rice. I just wished they would serve it with more meat and less rice since our dogs didn’t finish up the rice portion.

I enjoyed unexpectedly the Thai shrimp toast the most. I also liked the Moscow mule made with their homemade ginger ale. Just based on that drink alone, I think their drink list trumps their food lineup.

Here comes my opinion on the main dishes. They were different from those I’ve tried in Jakarta and Bangkok. The pad Thai had an intriguing sour tang. That taste was overpowering you’d think their pad Thai was more of a variation of or inspired by harusame (春雨サラダ). The chicken gapao rice and nasi goreng tasted better but were still light in taste and color.

Based solely on coming here once, I hope that they put more effort into giving an authentic Asian food experience as much as they put in work on the restaurant’s interior and exterior design.