In my neighborhood I have found several eating places that have never been mentioned in books or reviewed and this evening, I went to one of those not mentioned before:  A Japanese café called Café King: Anime, Manga, Musica, juguetes y MAS!

Far away from México City’s China town in El Centro Historico and Korea town near La Zona Rosa sits a lone Japanese café called Café King in Col. Santa Maria al Ribera.

I know I had passed Café King several times but always thought of it as a store like the ones that in Mexico City’s China Town. I had never stopped to seriously inspect what was inside: until tonight.  Tonight as I passed the place I saw people eating – a young mother and two of her very young children.

As I stepped into what I thought was a store, I asked the Asian looking fellow if they had food and he says, yea sushi and “onigiri.”  I knew what sushi was but what was onigiri?  He pointed to the boy eating what looked like rice ball wrapped with seaweed.  Let me try one of those and so I did.

my tasty onigiri pictured below

Wow a not an Asian store but a Japanese Café here in my hood:  As I waited for my onigiri with tuna, I looked at the television that was not too far from my table.  On the TV was a Japanese game show – it was not live Japanese show but a DVD, one of 100’s that he sells in the shop.

As I was watched the game show, I couldn’t help but love that there big as life, on the screen, was a Japanese drag queen, dressed sort of like a geisha girl, but obviously a man.  What I thought was cute was the mother eating in the café didn’t seem to mind that her children a boy of maybe seven, and girl of maybe five were watching a Japanese drag queen on television: or did she know?

My onigiri arrived and I bit into it.  The rice ball didn’t fall apart, but held together because it was a made with sticky rice.  It was good.  As I ate I couldn’t help but enjoy and appreciate the small sumo wrestler providing me protection; see below.

As I ate, the owner talked to me.  I could tell he found a curiosity about me for he had picked up on my Texas twang, observing that I was not from México.  I loved his his Japanese Spanish accent too:  Where are you from? Told him I was from Dallas Texas, had moved to México a little over two years ago.  He said he was from Japan, being in México City for 16 years and being in his current location for two years; how could I have missed this café for the last year I that I have been living in this hood?

He asked where I lived.  I told him:  Said I lived was across the park and that I had a big terrace that overlooked the park.  He said, above a café, I said yes, and he said, the one with the Chinese lantern AND I said that’s the one.  I he said every time he passed that apartment, he always wondered who lived there.  He thought it was a Chinese person or family.  LOL.  My friends often joked that my place looked like a Chinese buffet place with that lantern, they were almost right.

He said lots of young people come into his place to sit on the sofa and play the guitar; guitar and sofa is something I had already noted.  He said the teenagers also like his anime and manga books too.

I picked up a sketchbook that was sitting on one end of my small table; he only has two tables in the whole place.   I asked you like to sketch?  Are you artist too?  He giggled and said no, he doesn’t sketch.  He said I was holding volume two.  The volume one is already full.  People like to draw and write in the notebooks he said.

I found the sketchbooks, school binder note books fascinating:  Full of Japanese anime and manga sketches, poems and some scribbles of people just writing their names sort of like a guest book.  Great documentation of visiting customers.  Lovely.

The owner said he had good coffee and that I should come back and I said I would. Why not the food was OK and seemed like a delightful person – good heart and soul.

If you happen to be in Col. Santa Maria la Ribera stop by:  Read and browse the books, eat sushi or onigiri and sketch in the book.

click photo above to see more pictures of my visit to Cafe King

Café King – Comida Japonesa, Anime, Manga, Musica, Juguetes y MAS

Jaime Torres Bodet 138 (1/2 block from the park – Alameda Santa Maria la Ribera)

Col. Santa Maria la Ribera

México City, MÉXICO

Monday – Saturday:  12 Noon – 8:00 PM