Is Shin-Okubo's Viral Queue Cafe Worth It? 41,720 Japanese Likes Say the Line Is the Product
新大久保の行列カフェは並ぶ価値ある？「行列そのものが商品」に4万いいねの本音
By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan
The single most-liked comment (41,720) under a 2024 honest review of meya, the perpetually-queued cake-and-coffee shop in Tokyo's Shin-Okubo area, reads: "If he's tearing into it this hard, the price must have been so far off the value that inside he was even angrier." Japanese commenters who had been there agreed ("it really was terrible," 3,761 likes), then dissected the queue itself: only three groups are seated at a time, which one commenter calls exhausting and another calls a clever way to make the shop look wildly popular. The ¥2,200 cream cake drew its own math ("¥2,200 buys you a small whole cake!"), and the thread ends with where they would spend that money instead: Tokyo's old-school fruit parlors.
These comments are from a video published in 2024. Prices, rules and crowds may have moved since; anything we checked ourselves is marked with a source.
“If he's tearing into it this hard, the price must have been so far off the value that inside he was even angrier.”
ここまで酷評するってことは、価格と見合ってなさ過ぎて、内心もっと怒り心頭だったんだろうな。
Where Japanese visitors go instead
Since finding this channel I've decided never to set foot in any cafe that combines "Shin-Okubo," "hugely popular with young people," and "queue." Thank you. If I'm paying that kind of money, I'd rather add a little more and have a properly elegant tea at Sembikiya or Takano Fruit Parlor.
この方の動画見始めてからもう「新大久保」「若者に大人気のカフェ」「行列」この3個の言葉が付くカフェには絶対行かないと決めました。ありがとうございます。こんな所に大金払うなら千疋屋や高野フルーツパーラーで、もう少しだけお金出して優雅にお茶したいです。
— @にゃんこ-i8q71 likesChateraise will sell you a big, delicious cake for that money. I'll take taste and volume over a concept 🤤
シャトレーゼとかで美味しい大きいケーキ買えちゃうよね。ワイはコンセプトより美味しさと量だね🤤
— @ウーパウパルパ70 likes
Places named in this article
- meya cake & coffee shopOkubo / Shin-Okubo, Shinjuku
The cafe in question: three-group seating, famous queue. The verdicts above are as of the 2024 comments.
- Takano Fruit Parlor (Shinjuku Honten)Shinjuku
The instead one commenter names (71 likes): a properly elegant fruit-parlor tea for a little more money.
- Sembikiya Sohonten Fruit Parlor (Nihonbashi)Nihonbashi
The other named alternative — Japan's oldest fruit specialist, flagship in the Mitsui Tower.
- Chateraise
The budget instead: "¥2,200 buys a big, delicious cake" at this nationwide patisserie chain (70 likes).
Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.
FAQ
- Are the viral queue cafes in Shin-Okubo worth it?
- The Japanese comments on this one say no: people who actually went report the same verdict as the reviewer ("it really was terrible," 3,761 likes; "my friend was fuming — we got played"), and the most-liked comment of all 2,824 (41,720 likes) reads the harsh review as restraint. The consensus is that the photogenic concept, not the food, is what you're queueing for.
- Why is there always a queue at this cafe?
- Because almost nobody can get in at once: commenters point out only three groups are seated at a time (3,315 likes), so even modest demand looks like a phenomenon. Several see it as deliberate — "a clever way to look wildly popular" (2,794 likes) — and one notes some shops slow service on purpose to keep a line visible. A long queue in Tokyo is not by itself evidence of quality.
- Where do locals go for cake and fruit desserts in Tokyo instead?
- The thread's alternative (71 likes): pay slightly more for a genuinely elegant tea at the old-school fruit parlors — Takano Fruit Parlor in Shinjuku or the Sembikiya flagship in Nihonbashi. The budget answer, with 70 likes: the nationwide patisserie chain Chateraise, where ¥2,200 buys a big, reliably good cake.
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What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 70 of 2,824 comments
I'll take this over influencers' bought-and-paid-for ratings any day. He actually evaluates things. I can support that.
インフルエンサーの媚売った評価より、ちゃんと評価してて支持できる。
So brutal I can only respect it lol
辛辣すぎて好感しかないｗｗ
He even breaks down what kind of coffee they're using — that level of detail is why I trust him.
コーヒーの種類まで解説くれるの信用度高すぎる
I went to this place too. His honest verdict is exactly right — it really was terrible.
わたしもここ行ったけど 感想が正直で素晴らしいです！ ほんとひどかった
There was this mysterious queue so I tried it, and came away with exactly the same impression as the reviewer. My friend was fuming: "why is this popular?? We got played."
ここ謎に行列出来てて行ってみたけど本当に投稿主と同じ感想だった、、 一緒に行った友達も「なんでこんな人気なん？？だまされた」って怒ってました
¥2,200 buys you a small whole cake!
2200円なら小さいホールケーキ🎂買えちゃうよ！
¥2,200 for the dog's cake is wild lol
犬のケーキ2200円は草
He wasn't fishing for laughs — he said "tastes like the supermarket" from the start because it genuinely tastes like a supermarket sponge cake. Thank you for that.
釣りじゃなくて最初から「スーパーみたい」って言っててホントにスーパーのスポンジみたいって意味でありがとうございます😊
One small objection, if I may… the ready-made sponge cakes at the supermarket are the fruit of serious corporate R&D and they're wonderfully fluffy. A rock-hard sponge is what happens when an amateur wings it.
ひとつだけ反論させて…スーパーに売ってる既製品のスポンジケーキって、企業努力の賜物なのでとってもふわふわでおいしいよ…かってえスポンジケーキは素人が思いつきで手作りしよう！とかとち狂わないとできないよ…
Only three groups seated at a time, and that huge line… I'm exhausted just imagining it.
3組しか入れないのに大行列…想像しただけで辛い
I mean, they only have three seats — that's why the line is this long. Clever way to make it look wildly popular.
てか3席しかないからこんな並ぶんよな。めちゃくちゃ人気！って風に見せかけるの上手い
They probably engineer the line on purpose. Service stays easy, and people talk themselves into liking it — "well, I did queue all that time."
わざわざ列作る様にしてんだろうね。 接客は楽だし、折角並んだんだからで納得もして帰るだろうし。
Some people are furious — "what if this review kills the shop?!" If a single honest review can kill it, the shop was fleecing people. Overpriced, predatory places getting weeded out means better shops for customers and owners who respect each other. That's a win.
なんかこれのせいで潰れたらどうすんの!!!!ってバチバチに怒ってる人居るけど、この程度の1つのレビューで潰れたらアコギな商売してたってことじゃん むしろお客さんの足元見てるぼったくりや悪質な店が淘汰されて、客も店も相手をリスペクトする良いお店が増えるの最高じゃん! 最近は、難癖つけられて変に燃やされてレビュー欄グッチャグチャになったお店が、常連さんや買い支えようとやってきた新規さんのおかげで大繁盛することがよくある世の中だよ 良いお店はちゃんと周りが見て救ってくれるし、後継者不足とか店側に非がない理由以外はずっと残り続けるもんよ