Like all the Microsoft cafes at lunch hour, Cafe 25 was bustling with employees. Although me and a few other coworkers worked in different buildings, we decided to come to 25 today since we had heard from a friend that they were serving Pad Thai.
Indeed, they were, at a section named The Rickshaw or something like that, with a cute little graphic with a cutout of a person driving a rickshaw on top of a map of Asia. My friend informed me that the stand served cooked to order Asian food and rotated cuisines every few days, so the idea was supposed to be that the person on the rickshaw was travelling to different countries and sampling their food. Cute idea in theory, not so much in practice. The cutout on the map was pinned onto India, a sign read "Currently visiting: Korea", and they were serving Thai food. Oh well!
I had higher expectations than I would normally have for a company cafeteria because from my experience at other Microsoft cafes, the food was generally pretty tasty. Indeed, the Pad Thai didn't fail to disappoint. The noodles were chewy and the fried tofu was firm and flavourful. Garnishes of cilantro and some delicate sprouts, a unique touch ( probably from Microsoft's microgreens project) complimented the other textures in the dish. For $6.95, I definitely felt like I had eaten a plentiful meal. My only gripe was that it could have used a tad bit more salt, but a light drizzling of Sriracha sauce made up for it. Bless company-subsidized dining.
Pros:
-comparatively cheap food! This would have easily cost 12-13 dollars regularly.
-Microsoft has a digital system for ordering where you place your order on a touch screen and you can track your order number on a screen above and even receive text notifications, which is super handy.
-amazing ambiance. The natural light illuminating most of the cafe is a huge mood boost. There was also a small waterfall outside - super peaceful.
Cons:
-as with any cooked to order food, it took a longish time to come. Considering the number of people in front of me though, they were surprisingly efficient. read more