Dimension Poptown Comes to NYC with Heaven Official’s Blessing Themed Café

Cardboard standees of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng in the front windows of Dimension Poptown

I’m a little late to the party on this, although I did learn of it a month ago when it first opened. But work and other obligations kept me from being able to make the trek out to Flushing to visit the Heaven Official’s Blessing themed café. Until this weekend!

Dimension Poptown is an anime and K-Pop-themed event space that provides a unique experience. The concept is a café with a revolving theme. The New York City location, which is in the heart of Flushing, Queens, opened its doors on August 26. Another location opened a month earlier in Singapore, and social media indicates that a location will be opening soon in Bangkok as well. The launch event for both the Singapore and NYC locations was Tiān Guān Cì Fú, or Heaven Official’s Blessing.

I finally had a free weekend and made the journey out to Queens to check out the space. Knowing that the theme changes every so often, I wasn’t sure how much longer I would have. Fortunately, I was able to make it work. Myself and two friends headed over there on Saturday.

Photo of the Dimension Poptown TGCF themed menu featuring three food items, three desserts, and six drinks. Each item is pictured with the freebie that comes with it. — The menu (with corresponding freebies!)

The café offers drinks, food, and desserts all based on the same theme. The “rules” are posted on the windows before you enter the building. Depending on what you order, you get a particular freebie (coasters, stickers, photocards, etc.). If you order a full meal – that is, a drink, an entrée, and a dessert – you get additional gifts. If that isn’t enough, there is also a merch counter on the lower level.

The merch was actually relatively reasonably priced, and if you don’t want to get any food, you can absolutely just head straight downstairs to check it out. They also hold events related to the theme. I had to work and wasn’t able to attend, but one weekend they hosted the English dub actors for the donghua.

Everything is decked out for the theme. The window displays feature giant images of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, as do the tables and the interior walls. Each table has a little chibi version of one of the characters, too! The versions of the characters that you see are the ones featured on the merch that you can buy.

My friends and I each got a dessert and a drink. I’m glad we ended up going with dessert rather than food just because I think the presentation is way better on the desserts. There are three desserts to choose from. My friends and I all picked a different one. We didn’t do this on purpose, but it was cool to get to see all of them up close. My dessert was called the Token of Trust, which was a donut and ice cream, and my drink was the Elation, which was a mixed berry soda.

The "Token of Trust" is a donut with strawberry glaze and dish of vanilla ice cream served on a plate shaped like a folding fan. A butterfly sits on top of the ice cream. The donut is covered with a chocolate version of San Lang's ring. The "Elation" is a mixed berry soda served in a horn-shaped glass. — Chibi HuaLian with my Token of Trust and Elation. (I didn’t check if the butterfly was edible.)

The food is decent, and I enjoyed it. But I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit pricey for what you get. My bill was about $50. The drinks each run you $16, the desserts are $25, and if you get food, it’s another $38. What’s important to remember is that you’re not paying for the food; you’re paying for the experience and the aesthetics. My friends and I are all fans of TGCF. We had a great time, and we agreed that it was worth it.

The staff is very friendly, and the café was doing pretty good business despite having already been open for a month. It’s not a place I would regularly go to, due to the cost (also the travel time! It’s 90 minutes one way from where I live in Brooklyn), but the weather was nice, and it made for a fun afternoon.

I did end up buying some merch – a set of photocards for $6, which I thought was pretty good, all things considered. Some of the items were sold out, but I did see on their Instagram that they will be restocking soon. One of the items they had on display was the graphic novel box set (not pictured), which I actually bought last month at Anime NYC.

Merch display features pins, keychains, acrylic standees, and photo cards, as well as decorations like cherry blossoms. — Merch display on the lower level.

If you’re a fan of TGCF and you live in the NYC area, I highly recommend checking out Dimension Poptown before the theme changes! Make sure, while you’re in the neighborhood, to visit nearby Tangram mall, which has an Akiba House, a Popmart, and a Miniso. In case you want to spend more money.

And if you’re like us and don’t get food at the café, Flushing has so many amazing restaurants to choose from.

Don’t forget to follow Dimension Poptown on Instagram for whatever the next theme will be! The one in Singapore has already switched to The Apothecary Diaries, but I’m not sure yet if NYC will as well, or if it will go with a different series. (It would make sense, for logistical purposes, if both locations have the same theme.)

Given the timing of the Singapore location, I expect that the TGCF theme will only be there for another few weeks, so if you’re going, you’d better hurry!

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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