Na Ya Dessert Cafe — Restaurant in San Francisco

We ordered 3 bingsus (shaved ice desserts): Mango Tango, Melon Snow, and Royal Milk Tea (forgot to take a picture). It was actually my first time trying Thai-styled bingsu and they were all pretty great. It’s interesting because Korean bingsus have the toppings on top of the shaved ice while here they provide it on the side. Still tasted great. The only part I’d comment is that although we ordered large size for all three, they were pretty small. If you’re used to Korean bingsu ranging around $12-16 that come out in huge bowls, you’d be a bit surprised at the size. However, I am still giving the place 5 stars because they are excellent at accommodating a large group. We were a group of 5 people at an especially hot day in SF (unusual) and we had to change sitting from inside to outside, and then back into inside when it got cold outside. We also ordered drinks once we went in, and I ordered Iced Royal Milk Tea. The tapioca they add is not the traditional tapioca you’re used to, so take that into consideration (it’s the more clear kind that’s more like jelly than tapioca).

Overall, it’s a really cute place and I appreciated the fact that the place was opened till 11 pm and was super accommodating in terms of seating. I also appreciated that they didn’t kick us out even though we were basically at the place till 10:55. They were silently cleaning up, and didn’t make it super apparent (some places make you feel guilty about staying at the place close to closing). I’d definitely visit again to try their...

a very cute thai dessert cafe in hayes valley that serves toast cakes, bingsu/snow, crepes, crepe cakes, drinks, and even food. friendly service (feels like a dine-in experience as the waiter takes your order). cozy interior.

we really wanted to try the kaya toasted cake, but after dinner were feeling full so opted for a lighter bingsu (snow) to split. many other customers were splitting desserts, though there were some solo diners who were studying/working with laptops.

// melon snow (large) $16.99 // naya serves their snow as "deconstructed" with the snow, melon balls, and melon flavored syrup. the large is a lot smaller than i thought it was, but it's enough if you just want a sweet treat after dinner.

the snow itself is milk flavored, very sweet from the condensed milk. i did like the milk flavor though as some places just taste like ice; the snow is also on the denser side. there is also vanilla ice cream on top. the melon balls were ripe and sweet. the melon-flavored syrup is artificially flavored (it tastes like melona) and very sweet, so i'd recommend tasting and drizzling at first (not pouring the whole portion on top). overall, i did like the melon snow as it is not a flavor combination i have tried before.

only critique is i wish it was a little bigger for the price...

This is a cute little cafe, but that also means that it is busy and usually has a wait. We were thankfully seated within 5-ish minutes of joining the wait-list and could sit inside, but there were people eating shaved ice outside in the cold! This review is only for the dessert but you can also order actual food. The servers could be more involved because after taking our order, we didn't see the server until trying to flag him down several times to pay the check.

We ordered the salted egg custard croffle and the melon snow bingsu. Both portions were pretty big so please be prepared for that. Between the two, the melon snow bingsu was an absolute hit. It was creamy shaved ice with melon pieces and syrup and it was delicious. We couldn't stop eating it. Even after it melted a little, we enjoyed the whole thing as a milkshake of sorts. This is a must have.

The salted egg custard croffle was not as great. First, the croffle was quite hard and not as easy to break off. Second, the egg custard tasted more yolk-ey than we would have liked. The ice cream and strawberries with it were a nice touch, and honestly, we enjoyed those more than the croffle or the egg custard.

Pricing is medium range, but I guess we expect that for San Francisco. Come here for the shaved ice. You will not be...