Neko Tea House

Today Plaza in Westminster is one of the more iconic locations within Little Saigon, in part because of its oversized red gate and collection of largely stable restaurants – including Quan Hy, Da Vien Coffee, and others. When an opening popped up near the large T&K Food Market in 2022, a shop called Neko Tea House briefly materialized to fill it. Neko is Japanese for cat, and the place opened with cute lucky cat logo stickers on its cups, only to be closed within six months.

One of Neko’s novelties was flan, which we tend to see in Vietnamese restaurants as an affogato-influenced presentation with coffee rather than classic flan caramel as the pour-over. Neko’s version was served in a plastic bowl with ice, boba, and coffee mixed in – not super awesome, and not quite sweet enough, but interesting – and came free with the purchase of two drinks.