Asa Cafe and Bakery

By far the best bakery downtown! I've been here a couple times now and had nothing but great experiences. The staff is really friendly and helpful given how high paced and busy they are.

There's a reason why they run out of items so fast! Everything they serve is soo good. I would definitely recommend getting there early, and expect to wait 20-30 minutes to order because ASA is becoming very popular.

I was in East Village a couple of weeks ago to visit a friend who broke a leg and lives in one of those beautiful high rise buildings and, of course, I was not going to go empty handed...so I check on my Yelp app to see if there were some bakeries around (I had not been in the area for a while) and surprise surprise! I found Asa Cafe and Bakery.

I was just mesmerized by the amount of people in line (and a bit deceived that I could only buy 4 pastries because i wanted to share plenty with my boyfriend. The style of the bakery looks super nice but if I have to say something to improve the experience (I did not eat there) is that I would rather see people eating out of plates instead of carboard boxes. I don't want a to go experience in a super cool place.

The pastries were to die for, for real! I was not having any expectations and they really surpassed anything I might have in mind. So good, so yummy everything, so pretty looking. Both my friend and my boyfriend (of course I brought him something) got very happy with the flavor and presentation. I want to go back soon!

Authentic Japanese bakery in Downtown. Come early to avoid long lines!

They sell HUGE Azuki Bean baked pastry and custard pastries.

rip I was so disappointed from my visit here :') I tried their hojicha latte, sakura espresso latte, genmaicha latte (not pictured), and melon pan.

I was really looking forward to their hojicha latte but it tasted so diluted :( The sakura espresso latte kinda just tasted like artificial cherry to me and there was no espresso flavor. The genmaicha latte was better than the sakura espresso one, but this one also tasted pretty diluted ;-; I did like the roasted flavor of the brown rice, but the drink as a whole wasn't great. The melon pan wasn't anything special and I regret not getting something else instead; the top crust was really sugary, and the inside kinda resembled bolo bao (chinese pineapple bun) but more bready and dry

Kind service and cute interior (although a lot of the tables looked quite dirty), but I wouldn't come back ;-;

Came on a Saturday for a late lunch at 3pm. There is a bit of a line, but we didn't wait long. Small place inside and outside, but we were able to get a table for four.

There were still a lot of choices of bakery items, but there were no croissants left, which was disappointed.

Our favorite was the curry bun. The bread was soft and plenty of curry filling. Best of all, it was not greasy.

We ordered the chicken katsu and egg sandos. They were pretty big. I underestimated the size and ordered two orders, which have 4 pieces only to eat only 2 pieces. The bread was nice and pillowy. The egg had a horseradish taste. I am guessing a wasbi mixed in the dressing. It wasn't too strong for me, but my kids didn't like it as much. The same goes with the chicken katsu.

Our drinks were really good. Slightly sweeten on the matcha and hojicha lattes. The strawberry float was more on the sweet side. I do wish the soda was more bubbly. It was a bit flat.

The best was the curry bun. Definitely grab a few of those. The lattes were good, too.

I really wanted to love Asa, but the pastries didn't live up to the hype. The Everything Mochi Bagel was extremely dry and didn't have enough mochi texture. More of a bread than a bagel texture. Looks like an asymmetrical bagel.

Interior is beautiful and love the Asian fusion concept of this café, but the food was a miss :(

Waited one hour on a Sunday afternoon just before a Padres game. Asa Bakery is the East Village, not far from Petco Park. Enrons in line were all probably thinking the same thing...is this worth it.

It was...to a certain degree. Amazing Japanese Milk Bread made with Hokkaido flour. Soft, pillowy, slightly chewy goodness! Buy a loaf to go. Great sliced with butter and jam, amazing French toast, or make your own Sando at home.

Sandos are spectacular! Especially the egg Sando. For an additional $3, you can make it a combo with truffle fries and salad. Great prices and the fries are delicious.

Our Matcha milk tea drinks were ok, as they really tasted like drinking a glass of cold milk. Needed a bit more of the ingredients to enhance the flavor.

The highlight of the chicken Katsu omelette rice was the curry sauce. Yum! But in hindsight, it's a dish you could replicate at home. Very comforting.

Eating both inside and outside and you can't go wrong. The noise level inside is not that bad. However with a long line and new customers looking for seating, we did notice two girls on their laptops with headphones on and heads down just taking up a table for four as their personal study table. I would recommend for the staff to kindly say something to customers who overstay their turn and give space for others.

As busy as it was, I have to highly complement the staff. So genuinely nice and helpful. Took their time to pleasantly welcome everyone and answer questions for first-time customers. I also learned of the two 'hidden' doors in the cafe. One for the 10-seat Omakase experience. The other for the elegant bar/lounge. Both open in the evenings.

Would I wait one hour again to go back. Not likely. I would go again though just to buy a loaf of the Japanese Milk Bread made w/ Hokkaido flour! Just not in a Sunday before a Padres game.

Oh, and I am looking forward to visiting the unique establishments beside the 'hidden' doors as well.

Went a little crazy and ordered a ton of food! We arrived around 11am on a Friday and the line was decent but quick!

We ordered a few sandos and pastries to take home. They had a limited amount of pastries when we arrived but they also brought out more varieties when we were about to leave.

The sandos were delicious and very filling! We saw everyone around us get the curry so that'll be on our list to try next time.

Since we dined in, they put our coffee in mugs and the barista noticed one of the cups had a crack. He remade the coffee on the spot before we could grab it off the counter top. Everyone working there are extremely nice and so hospitable.

Came here for breakfast on my bday with my mom and brother. There was a line but it went fairly quick. I was raving to them about the strawberry royal milk tea but it seems like that was a seasonal item!

Something I noticed was that several people were claiming tables with their items and then getting in line -- wayyy behind us. I think that is a rude thing to do and I hope less people will do that. Because what if the people at the front of the line want to sit and enjoy their pastries and drinks? They can't now because the table is "claimed." Eating these pastries won't take longer than 15 min at least or even less depending on what they order. Leave the tables empty so that they can sit, enjoy, then leave.

This time we tried:
- 2 Chocolate Candied Orange Peel Croissants ($5): HIGHLY recommend ordering this. It was so good. There were lots of layers in it, it's buttery, and the chocolate was good. I wish that the candied orange peel chunks were more distributed through the dough or rolls because they were all in one side of the croissant. I feel like it would be such a level up if it was well distributed. My mom loved this one! Would be good with coffee.
- Curry Pan ($5.95): brought this home for lunch and heated it in the toaster. Omg, it was so good! The beef curry was really tasty and perfectly seasoned. I've never had Japanese curry but this was very tasty. Once heated the topping, maybe it was panko? Crunched nicely when I took a bite and it contrasted well with the soft bun. Recommend this too!
- Fresh Cream & Berry Danish ($6.50): This was in the refrigerated section by the caramel puddings. The pastry was dense but still had layers. The cream wasn't too sweet and the surprise of custard was great. I liked the amount given here, not too excessive like other pastries. The berries were fresh and delicious. My brother really enjoyed this.
- Matcha Croissant ($5.95): The matcha cream inside was really smooth and heavy on matcha flavor. If you're a fan of matcha you'll really enjoy this. The croissant itself was pretty well cooked, I liked the soft layers it had.

What I would skip next time:
- French Toast ($3.5) It was a bit too heavy in my mouth, like it was drowned in custard or egg. It's sweet because of the it's made with shokupan aka Japanese Milk Bread, but as a french toast form...it's not for me.
- Chocolate Scone ($4.95): Quite average...something you'd get in a coffee shop except more moist. Not bad, but not amazing either.

We also ordered the Iced Sakura Latte. And when I read the word latte, I assumed it was with coffee too. But I feel like Japan is probably like Italy in a way where the word latte = milk. I feel bad for assuming! It was an Iced Sakura green tea with milk. I've never had Sakura aka Cherry Blossom before so I was pretty excited to try it. It was a light and refreshing floral flavor. It was also sweet. When I went home I added an espresso shot and I enjoyed it more.

The Naruto Rolls come out at 10 am on the dot. If we were in line for 2 more min I could have ordered one! I think there's a limit for 1 per person ordering? Also limit 4 pastries per (paying) person. Since my mom, brother, and I went together. My mom and I ordered 3 pastries. And then my brother had his eyes set on 4 pastries so he ordered/paid for himself! This way we kind of worked it out so we could try multiple different pastries together.

Asa Bakery is a great spot to come to with family or friends. The pastries are set with amazing prices! You won't be disappointed, especially if you eat the curry pan or chocolate orange peel croissant. Next time I come, I want to try their lunch menu so I'll have to come at 11:30am!

Asian style bakery and cafe!!! Came in with high hopes of eating some baked good, but at 1:30pm all of the goodies were gone so I settled for lunch food.
Sausage and croissant - type sandwich was delicious. Tasted like pizza! Chicken Hayashi with omelette was a pretty good and gravy was very rich. Chicken by itself was a little dry for my taste but as it was soaked in gravy - it was just fine.
Service was good but chaotic. This place is very popular and you order at the counter while waiting for food to be brought over. As establishment is small, there is more than an average chance that you will not be able to get seated...so plan accordingly!