For over thirteen months, I've made a minimum of three attempts to make the trip to Le Cafe Michi. Each was met with failure, with reasons being that its location was out of the way or that Mondays were their single day of inoperation.
An open mind was in the midst of being maintained at this point, but initial expectations and further complications of securing a decent parking spot made this increasingly difficult. Vehicles were halted at acute angles I never thought imaginable in each of the narrow slits; a slender one-way path also meant that neither reversing nor straightening out was possible until one's path was entirely clear.
"You'll need to add Green Tea or Coffee." she replied coldly.
"How much would that be?" I responded.
She flipped through the slimy laminated pages until she found the drink section. My eyes followed her index finger: "$3.25" I gasped in horror.
"Can I just have hot water?" I was almost pleading at this point. "That's free right?"
The waitress nodded, ever so unwillingly, before departing.
The most unique option available, it was probably the highlight of the entire meal by my standards. A jiggly bowl of gelatinous, alcohol-enhanced jelly and juicy grapes was a nice way to smooth over the depressing meal. It was insufficient in dismissing the nasty dining environment, subpar service, and poor quality sashimi, but nonetheless enjoyable on its own.
Before my eyes flashed all the numerous possibilities that could have been attained with an equal amount of spending: lunch at Miku, specialty rolls at JaBistro, a super-satisfying meal at Hub... The list went on. A portion of me was angry for having arranged for the visit at all, while another was fuming over how Michi even dared to charge such an amount with such hasty operations.
Cute companions aside, croissant taiyaki is still not on offer and fruit bingsoo cups were presented with not even the slightest shred of care.