We stood outside the Palmers Resorts Hotel building, figuring out if we were at the right place.  There were no obvious signs to say Eorzea cafe was in the same location until we saw the building floor guide to our left half covered by some plants, which confirmed that the cafe was inside .

We went in then up the second floor where a friendly lady by the reception area greeted us cheerfully. We were a bit too early for our appointment she said. It was still 6:00 pm and we were booked for 06:30 pm. She kindly asked us to come back closer to the set time, which was fine for us. We made our way back to the ground floor and sat at one of the benches in the hotel lobby.

When we came back up, other people were already there waiting as well. We waited in line outside the cafe door for a few minutes then one of the staff started talking and handing out some stuff. We were given two small papers with numbers on it (this was our allocated seating numbers) and a sheet of paper which the staff later on explained had the drinks menu on it, and we were to mark which two drinks we wanted (this was for the two complimentary drinks that came with our ticket). After that, we were then ushered inside.

GETTING SETTLED IN

Once we were all seated, one of the staff started talking again in front of everyone and welcomed everybody. He was talking in really fast Japanese that Jan and I could barely make out whatever he was trying to say. The gist of what was going on was that there was some kind of raffle game happening, and people got a prize whenever their seat number was called. I was hoping we’d win something… we didn’t. Haha.

After about three numbers… the game was done and we were left to order our food and drinks. Each table was given a tablet to use for ordering. This was very convenient as we did not need to call on the staff everytime we wanted something. It automatically saved all our orders as well and then summed it up so we were able to keep track on how much we had to pay.

The only thing that made things a bit hard was that the menu was mainly in Japanese.  We asked the staff if there was a separate English menu we could have a look at but they did not have any. There WAS a tiny bit of English translation for each item at the bottom, but the letters were so tiny it was quite a bit hard to read. We managed to muddle through things, however, as there was a photo for each item which made things a bit easier. 

FOOD AND DRINKS 

The food and drinks were themed after the Final Fantasy Game. For a themed cafe, the food was actually quite good. We ordered soup and pasta, a couple of cocktail drinks and one dessert.

The soup was so-so… nothing outstanding but it wasn’t bad either. It was pretty well seasoned and the vegetables weren’t soggy or overcooked, so that was good.

The pasta was our favorite. Soooo full of flavor! And it wasn’t jut the sauce… the noodles itself was infused with a nice garlicky flavor…very delicious. Definitely two thumbs up for this one!

The cocktail drinks looked really cool, especially the one on the right where they added a bit of sword decoration with it to kind of add to the theme.

YUM! This was my favorite drink. The white fluff on top is cotton candy and it went really well with the drink. The drink itself had a hint of bitterness to it and so when you had the cotton candy after taking a sip, the cotton candy kind of balanced the flavors out. Anyway, really really good!

Presentation wise, this was definitely the winner out of everything we ordered. I mean, it’s a Chocobo inspired mousse! How cute is that?! Hehe! This tasted pretty good too. It had a mild matcha flavor to it that went quite well with the tanginess of the fresh frozen berries.

OVERALL THEME/DECOR

The cafe is modeled after a fictional inn within the Final Fantasy XIV game called the ‘Carline Canopy’ and ‘Eorzea’ is a region within Final Fantasy XIV where the game is set. The cafe was small and cozy and aptly decorated to fit the theme.

This was my favorite section of the cafe. The details on the stained glass window replica looked really good and just looking at the entire wall made me feel like I was transported to the game world.

The interior was also decorated with iconic characters like these cute moogles and chocobo, as well as other FF creatures.

There were also replicas of weapons and armors, signed art portraits and a map of the game world scattered around the room.

The decorated bar by the door was also a nice addition and across it were a couple of computers (not in photos) where people could play the game while they were in the cafe.

Overall, we had a fun and pleasant experience and would recommend checking it out especially to fans of the game out there.

SUMMARY

Pros:

• Interior decor was amazing.
• Service was good. Staff were very friendly.
• Food and drinks were aesthetically pleasing and was also pretty tasty.
• Tablet for each table for hassle-free ordering.
• There were English speaking staff.

Cons:

• English menu unavailable
• A lot of the general talk by staff was in Japanese so we couldn’t understand, however, it is to be noted that we absolutely understood that we were in a country where English is a second language so this did not bother us too much. Also, the English speaking staff were happy to help explain or translate when we needed them.

GENERAL

• You are allowed to stay in the cafe for a maximum of two hours per visit.
• Bookings are recommended. You can book tickets in advance here.
• You get a free Final Fantasy coaster for every item ordered.
• There’s a mixed review when it comes to pricing. Personally, we found the food and drinks to be on the cheap side… but that’s factoring in the currency exchange between New Zealand Dollars and Japanese Yen and the fact that food in NZ isn’t generally very cheap anyway.