Slowly filtering my photos and getting back to regular life, but in the meantime, I want to share my experience at Artnia, Square Enix's cafe, bar, and special ware store. This experience is what I want out of a studio's cafe experience: paying tribute to its franchises while also giving a solid cafe experience. I implore everyone to go experience this cafe if you love Square Enix games!
Let me start off with how to get there. Go to Higashishinjuku Metro station, exit via exit A3, go through the skyscraper which the right by the exit, and you will find Artnia to the left.
As soon as you get to the door, the experience begins. An attendant was there to open the door for me, which left quite an impression on the "level" of the experience here. If you are here just to buy Square Enix goods, you can just pick up a basket and start shopping, but I highly recommend to enjoy the atmosphere and take a seat at a table.
The dining experience is as classy as the building itself. As soon as you sit down, you notice the beautiful red, black, and white table setting.
Despite being a Japan-based studio, Square Enix did a masterful job creating a European cafe experience. I ordered a Mozzarella and Tomato Flatbread Sandwich and Iced Tea with Milk.
Even if you are not interested in having a meal, you can enjoy all the different foods and drinks you can think of from a regular cafe and bar. Another party was enjoying a set of parfaits while another table was enjoying a nice cake. I do recommend getting a drink of some sort as you can get a specialty coaster with either a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest theme. As you can see on my setting, I chose a Final Fantasy coaster. The attendants are even kind enough to place the coaster beside your drink rather than under if as they understand that you would probably want to keep it!
After enjoying a light and balanced meal, you are allowed to enjoy look around the exhibit and tastefully designed shop to see if you want to buy any of the goods. I especially enjoyed their music corner, with three headphone sets to allow you to enjoy their entire library of music and their Materia room.
As for the cost of all this, the meal I had cost around 1500 yen (14 USD). The items range in cost from pocket change to well over 10000 yen (100 USD). I highly recommend this as a nice away from the rest of Tokyo you would usually experience through regular tourism!
Pictures from my trip below!
