kodo cafe — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Cute cafe with cold staff and overpriced drinks. Literally, the only reason people would come here is for the gram as the cafe has a Japanese inspired minimal aesthetic.

Drinks are overpriced in non-branded cups and taste like normal drinks you’d get at any other cafe. We had the soba cha and matcha latte and both were okay. I like my soba cha which was just buckwheat tea.

The staff was what irked me. There’s a male and female who work behind the rykn counter and they don’t know how to be in the service/food industry. They were done if the most unwelcoming, disinterested and conceited people I’ve come across. The moment you walk up, their expression is enough to make those walk away.

They share the space with another business and not sure if they are a permanent vendor but during the time we went in mid-Oct, there was a Japanese ice dessert business and although we didn’t purchase anything, the staff their sure had better service to their customers than at rykn.

Went on a Sunday afternoon so the place was busy. Since it’s in the edge of the art district, surrounding areas can be sketchy and it was extremely loud with many motorcyclists being obnoxious on the road.

Will not be returning and don’t recommend...

Have to say I'm somewhat disappointed. It was a Saturday afternoon and quiet in the area. But still kind of hard to find parking since is street parking only. The interior is quite small and not so zen like all the videos I've seen on the Instagram. Guess it was a IG vs reality moment. The outdoor area wasn't opened either.

I ordered the ujikintoki and the coconut matcha. For a $8 matcha I was early expecting much more. It was good, but also very small. I had uji match before at a lower price tag. What disappointed me the most was the coconut matcha. It was a coconut milk foam, which tasted oddly weird. It was sour like the milk went bad. My partner tried it and agreed with me too so it wasn't just me. I was afraid I would get an upset stomach since it tasted VERY abnormal so I told the barista and he said he would make me another drink. So I quickly chose the strawberry matcha which is a bit cheaper. I didn't read the description and didn't realize it was actually strawberry milk. Basically it tasted like binggrae artificial strawberry milk and matcha. Did not enjoy that at all.

Overall nothing here makes me...

This place is very lovely, especially with the outdoor space's design and spacious interior, but I have to say something about the cold service we received. Their pastries all looked elegant and delicious, but had no labels or descriptions to tell you what they were. I asked the staff on register and he mumbled their names, with no additional details whatsoever as some sounded like unique goods. He was very cold, and when he got the item I picked, he placed it right in front of him instead of out towards me, so I had to awkwardly lean in and grab it from him. I believe he needed a pick-me-up or something to lighten up his customer service.

There was one girl though working in the back half of the restaurant and coming in and out of the outdoor seating area. She smiled at us every time any of us made eye contact with us and was very welcoming, including letting me know where the bathroom was. The pastry was tasty. Maybe I'd come back to try the food, but there are so many other...