Japan’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Café is Gamer Gourmet

Nestled in a nook in Tokyo’s electric town Akihabara, is the Square Enix café. If you’ve ever wondered what the food in your favorite Square Enix title tastes like, then look no further. The Square Enix café has all the answers you seek.  

The café generally has a set menu but on certain special occasions like an anniversary of a franchise, the theme shifts entirely to the featured title.

When Final Fantasy VII Rebirth released, the café had a special pop-up to commemorate the launch. Aside from the exclusive merchandise that was available, the menu also changed to bring you the best of the cuisine from Midgar, Costa del Sol and Gongaga.

Normally one could just stroll into the café and hope for the best. But because Final Fantasy VII is well, Final Fantasy VII, one has no choice but to get a reservation straight from the website. Preferably a month in advance to book a table at a convenient time. There’s a 1,000 yen reservation fee which covers a free drink (that comes with an exclusive coaster). The website also features an English guide so securing a place isn’t a problem at all.

While the café isn’t exactly hidden, it is a little bit difficult to find, especially if you’re visiting it for the first time. Navigating the streets of Akihabara to get to the café is like trapezing through the Gongaga forest on chocobo back; in other words, confusing.

You know you’re in the right place when you see the words: SQUARE ENIX CAFÉ on top of a set of double doors. Head through those doors, show your reservation slip and you’ll be guided to your seat.

The entirety of the café is transformed into the feature title — in this case, FFVII Rebirth. Giant portraits featuring the game’s characters along with locations adorn the walls, gameplay footage is shown on screens, the game’s soundtrack plays softly in the background. If you’re dining alone (pretty common in Japan), there’s a plethora of stickers of the characters on all the privacy dividers.

Unfortunately for the Cloud fans, there’s no table under his picture, only the staff exit! Fortunately for the Sephiroth fans you may be lucky enough to bask in his presence if you’ve reserved a table for two. After all what else could possibly elevate this experience than dining in the presence of the One-Winged Angel?

While the website’s reservation system had English language support, the menu did not. Like most character-themed establishments in Japan, your order is taken via an iPad that’s on your table. The UI system did have English options to make it easier to select the dish you desire but the names and explanations of said dishes were all in Japanese. There are ways to circumvent this of course, namely using a translation app, but for the most part, the limited menu was pretty tame.

Another thing to be noted about the limited menus for collaborations is that they change. There will be a set of dishes along with placemats and coasters for the first half of the event that will be completely different from what’s on offer for the second half. It’s a bid to encourage fans to come back and have a fresh experience.

The changing merch is a trap for those who really want to get their hands on a particular character. It’s Russian roulette, your drinks come with a coaster covered in foil that has Square Enix Café printed on the cover. You never know if you’re going to get the one you want until you open it. Will you get your hands on the elusive Tifa coaster, or maybe Vincent? Or are you fated to be disappointed with the visage of Rufus Shinra instead?

The same goes for the placemats, you get one for every dish you order. Unlike the coasters, these are only given to you just before you leave. So, there’s no way of finding out which one you’re going to get. Overall, the coasters are a lot more sturdier and useful, and fun to collect.

A huge fan of the main antagonist Sephiroth ordered around twelve Sephiroth-themed drinks until he finally got the coaster he wanted. One might wonder, since you’re going to get a coaster for any drink you order, you might as well try them all. But no, loyalty to Sephiroth is prioritized, such is the dedication of the fanbase.

Speaking of drinks, nearly all of the character-based drinks were themed on the characters’ limit break. A limit break, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a special attack in the game. They’re unique skills that is specific to certain characters, no two limit breaks are the same.

Cloud Strife’s drink was modeled on his signature limit break Climhazzard (also known as Ascension). An orange drink with orange jelly, strawberries and a crackling sugar candy that looked like the visual effect of the limit break in the game. Sephiroth’s drink, on the other hand, was modeled after his Octaslash. In contrast to the citrus flavor of Cloud’s Climhazzard that came in a plastic cup, the Octaslash is in fancy crystal glass-flavored with a whiff of lavender with blueberries floating on the top. Now you can taste what your opponent felt when you delivered the killing blow while playing the game.

Aside from the limit break drinks, the menu also had drinks inspired and available in the world of Final Fantasy VII. Perhaps what piques your curiosity is Kalm’s signature drink. Ever wondered what exactly it was that Barret was sipping in Kalm’s pub? Well, you can sample it yourself — a non-alcoholic version of it at least. You could even pair it with the Kalm avocado shrimp sandwich, a possible staple at the Inn in Kalm.   

Perhaps it is the Gongaga cream pasta, allegedly made with the famed Gongaga mushrooms that grows everywhere in the dense forest, but you can’t help but wonder if this is what Zack Fair grew up eating prior to becoming a soldier.

If neither Kalm nor Gongaga were the places you spent hours gathering intel for Chadley, then maybe something a little more tropical. The Costa del Sol rice dish transports you straight to the Johnny’s Seaside Inn — the sun, the surf, the beach and the endless minigames you play in the Costa del Sol section of the game.

There’s just something about sampling a dish from an in-game region that you’ve been in. Something that unexplainably and intrinsically links you to the game in a way that says, yes, I’ve been there. It is the same sense of nostalgia that hits you when you play the remake trilogy. You’ve experienced this already, and now seeing it reimagined with today’s technology gives you whiplash. Everything is the same yet different. You feel like you’re eating a taste of home (well Zack’s home) as you dig into the pasta with Gongaga’s prolific mushrooms.

There were also character-based dishes like Cloud’s Black Omurice, a traditional omurice covered in squid ink with yellow bell peppers arranged like Cloud’s signature spiky hair accompanied with stew. Then, there’s the Cait Sith on a Fat Moogle meat bun that looked too adorable to eat) and Zack’s seafood pizza that featured the iconic buster sword in the middle.

Of course, there were desserts to choose from, including Aerith’s flower parfait and Cactaur Churros. But would it really feel right to order a three-course meal when only two out of the three parts of the game are out?

For the most part, the main course itself is very filling, so there’s hardly any room for dessert. One Omurice is enough to give you enough energy to battle your way through all the challenges at the Gold Saucer’s Battle Square.

The café also offers a take-out service for certain dishes and drinks so if there’s no need to fear missing out on a dish or drink. Fair warning, the take-out menu is a little more limited and without the pomp and circumstance of having the same dish at the restaurant.

In the space adjoining the café, there’s a merchandise stall where you can pick up exclusive memorabilia of Square Enix titles. You are liable to find more limited-edition merchandise of the featured title at the time than the others. However, there is almost always a lot of Dragon Quest, NieR, Final Fantasy (at the moment FFXIV, FFVII and FFXVI) merchandise. It’s always nice to have something more tangible to take home.

There are a lot of character-themed cafés and restaurants out there in Tokyo, some of which are a nightmare to even reserve a table. One thing to keep in mind is that while the food is good in these cafés, it isn’t great. Don’t go in expecting your mind to be blown, or having the best omurice your taste buds have come into contact with. In establishments like these, it’s all about the ambiance — the experience of eating themed food that you’ve seen in a video game or modeled after your favorite character. With the game’s soundtrack playing softly in the background, you are transported straight from your reality to being an NPC in Midgar’s Seventh Heaven.