Asa Bakery & Cafe

634 14th St, San Diego, CA

★★★★4.3(558 Google reviews)

Crema's Take

Asa is a Japanese bakery café in downtown San Diego where the matcha is legitimately exceptional—dense, aromatic, and a cut above what you'll find elsewhere in the city—and the savory pastries like their celebrated shrimp katsu sando are so good that regulars actually regret not arriving earlier to snag them before the lunch rush. The vibe is warm and family-friendly with a slow-sit atmosphere perfect for lingering over a tiramisu latte and buttery croissant, making it the kind of spot where you'll keep coming back to finally try everything on their impressive rotating menu of authentic Japanese baked goods.

What to expect

Traditional drinksMatcha & teaPastriesFamily friendlyMeetingsSlow sitLight foodSpecialty drinks

Google Reviews

Nguyễn Thị Anh Thư
★★★★★2 months ago

The matcha here is way better than other spots in San Diego. It’s richer, more dense, and has a really strong matcha aroma. The croissant has a great texture with a nice buttery smell, and the matcha filling isn’t too sweet, which I loved. The earl grey melon pan is light and fluffy with a really nice tea fragrance. Honestly, no complaints about the food at all. There’s usually a line, but it moves pretty fast, so it’s not a big deal. The only small issue was that we didn’t order anything with chocolate, but our dish had a pretty big chocolate mark on it.

Beullah Escalante
★★★★★3 months ago

We always come here early and punch ourselves because we keep forgetting the Sandos are only available after 11a. But anyway this time we ordered a ton of savory pastry that are all well made and great quality. (See pics) For drinks I got their regular iced matcha latte with honey and my partner got coffee. Both were delicious and well made. For the Pastries, I think my fave was the soft bun with ground meat curry inside - so YUMMY. My partners fave is the hotdog (pigs in a blanket type dish) I also really love the ham with cheese pastry. We will be back to try the sandos. Edit: came back for the Sandos. I got the shrimp katsu sando and honestly, it's so fire!!!! My friends got the chicken one and it was delicious as well.

Rina
★★★★3 months ago

This is a really nice Japanese bakery located right in downtown, and it’s clearly very popular. The bakery offers authentic Japanese baked goods, and everything we tried was impressive. The cutlet sandwich was especially good—the fluffy, soft bread paired perfectly with the crispy cutlet and savory sauce. It was simple but incredibly satisfying. The French toast was rich and soft, and the curry bun was flavorful with just the right amount of filling. Overall, it’s a great spot if you’re looking for high-quality, authentic Japanese bakery items, but be prepared for a crowd due to its popularity.

Kelly Yung
★★★★★4 months ago

This place was FANTASTIC! We loved the shrimp katsu sando (so juicy!) and all the breads we got. We only wish we had more stomach space to try more of their baked goods. The service was really friendly and the staff made sure to go around multiple times to clean the tables inside and out. The coffee was also really good, we liked that there was a seasonal menu to try. Definitely will be back next time we’re in San Diego.

WOOCHIKA
★★★★★5 months ago

We stopped by this Japanese bakery café while visiting San Diego, and honestly everything we tried was a hit. Their tiramisu latte was fire, and the mentaiko baguette ended up being my favorite item of the day. We also got the Earl Grey melon pan, fruit sando, and curry pan — surprisingly, all of them were really good. I especially loved the cake sponge they use for the fruit sando; super soft and airy. The curry pan had really flavorful curry inside, and both the mocha and matcha drinks stood out too. Overall, an amazing spot with great flavors across the board. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area! My Japanese wife approved this spot!

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