FIKA
“Although this coffee spot is close to Bryant Park and Times Square, it's never extremely crowded from my experiences here.”
“I imagine it to be a zoo from 12-2 like any decent place in Times Square.”
“The ambiance is so refreshing in the area, with very high ceilings and a large open space (never feels crowded!), it is very clean and modern.”
FIKA
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Good for Working: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Hey, (eller, kanske "Hej!") so I lived in Sweden for a while. I enjoyed the schtick (some Yiddish/Svensk fusion) – especially the Swedish / English phrases painted on the back wall.
Selling points are convenience, and the Swedish baked goods … it's been too long for me to assess "authenticity", but the roll I had was good. A bit pricey. Super busy. Clever variety of seating. Kinda' messy … but that's a function of the high volume of people spooling through.
Fortunately, I had enough pengar (money) for the dough in my fika (pocket).
I like FIKA coffee, it's just strong enough. They also have delicious chocolate covered coffee treats they sell in store.
So happy I found a Swedish cafe! I have been craving some Swedish pastries which they had (kanelbullar and kardemummabullar). They were good but just wish they would of heated them up, they were kind of cold. I got a latte which was good. They have almond milk and soy milk as an option also. I saw that they have princess cake but unfortunately they didn't have any when we were there.
You can't order most of the lunch menu until 11 other than the couple of sandwiches and wraps in the case.
I would go back there again!
Fika.
Coffee Break.
Good coffee and true to the European standards (sizes are small). Order a size up for what you expect in other cafes. I like their cold brew and drip. Their collection of chocolates are also delicious, although I would skip on the bakery sweets.
I like the open space but it's quite hard to find a seat most of the time in the early afternoons as you have a wave of corporate employees going on their fika (coffee break, get it?).
Also, what other cafe serves alcohol? They have some beer and wine if you want a boozy one too.
So this is just your normal coffee shop in midtown. BIG PLUS (and probably my reason for the 3 stars): free wifi!!!!! And it's not spotty either for the most part. I went here with a friend to complete an online assignment, and was very impressed with the wifi. Also, another bonus: comfy chairs!
Okay now with that said, I couldn't give this place more than 3 stars because of their drinks. I got the matcha green tea latte and it was probably the nastiest drink I have ever had. I still can't believe I paid $6 for that. It was powdery and thick, very poorly made. I'm not sure of this is how their drinks always are or if the barista that day was new or not familiar with how to make green tea matcha lattes.
My friend got coffee and also said it tasted recycled and stale. Not fresh. I guess I just expected a more decent brew for this place. Since the interior is so nice and set up is great.
Maybe I'll give them another shot. But we'll see.
Here's the good: FIKA is so spacious! It's the perfect place to do a midday break or maybe some work without feeling cramped.
The actual things that I ordered on the other hand were just A-okay. I had a matcha latte, which tasted watered down and lacked the richness which I like in my lattes. Also, the default matcha latte is made with almond milk, but by 2:30pm, FIKA had already run out of almond milk. I also tried a bunch of truffles as well, and while they were certainly unique in flavor (goat cheese, spicy, alcohol flavor, etc.), I didn't think any of them were particularly that desirable.
This is a review for the breakfast items at FIKA, not for the coffee (which is what FIKA is known for). FIKA, which refers to the Swedish culture of taking a coffee break often accompanied by sweet or savory treats, has multiple locations in NYC to introduce this culture to the U.S. The first flagship store opened in Sept. 2006 at Central Park South.
FIKA's savory menu is heavily influenced by Swedish heritage and flavors. I tried FIKA's breakfast sandwiches – Ham & Vasterboten Croissant and Open Face Egg Sandwich. The first was a croissant sandwich with Vasterbotten cheese (hard cow's milk cheese) with ham and greens. Both the ham and the croissant were on the dry side. Nothing too exciting or unique about this sandwich.
The Open Face Egg Sandwich definitely had more of a Swedish influence to the flavors. It was served on top of Kavring, or Swedish dark rye bread, with Kalles Kaviar (Swedish seafood spread) over slice boild eggs. Maybe you will like this sandwich if you like something fishy, but personally it was WAY too fishy for me. The flavor was too overwhelming for breakfast…
I've been to Fika before, but not this location until today.
It has the same look and feel as the others. Sleek and modern.
I loveeeee the lattes there. They always taste super creamy.