A good friend of mine recently got a job at Google, allowing me another chance to visit Googleplex (Google headquarters) campus and eat at a different Google cafe.
Menus for each cafe are posted the day of. I had a hard time choosing, with options including a Japanese-centric cafe, and a creative “Roots” cafe serving up entrees like venison and trout. Ultimately we went to Yoshka’s, which is on the main campus. Entrees that day included Grilled Chicken Breast with Pomegranate and White Balsamic Gastrique and Tomalas Bay Mussels.
Sides included German Butter Ball Potatoes Smashed with Chevre, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Apple Cider and Caraway Braised Red Cabbage; Organic Quinoa with Oyster Mushrooms; and Braised Ranch Gordo Chickpeas with Coconut Milk.
Desserts included a selection of fresh baked cookies, butterfinger cheesecake, and their soft serve ice cream and yogurt.
Despite the cafeteria-style setting, the food is definitely a notch above any other cafeteria food I’ve ever had. Everything was well prepared and I’d be more than happy to have a dozen different cafes of this caliber to choose from every day.
I was also really impressed with the desserts, especially the cookies. It made me re-think my decision of cafe choices because the one across the way, Charlie’s, had about half a dozen mouth-watering treats listed on their dessert menu for the day.
The soft serve machine is always a much discussed feature of Google campus, with prospective candidates often getting a taste after they finish their interview. I always thought it was just the idea of having an ice cream machine, but it’s more than that. The ice cream and frozen yogurt are both ultra creamy here; this was some premium quality stuff.
I had to laugh when the frozen yogurt toppings consisted of raisins, granola and chocolate chips. While Google feeds it’s employees well, there is constantly an emphasis on health.
Google also keeps its employees well-hydrated. I find all the water options quite amusing. Google cafes offer spa waters, plain water, and about a dozen other brands of fruit flavored water, mint water, sparkling water.
The kitchens are similarly stocked with all the various types of waters. Speaking of kitchens, I’ve been really curious about the snack kitchens and was excited to finally see one.
In the kitchen area, there’s a fancy coffee machine, a custom soda machine, fridges full of juice, water, milk, yogurts. Shelves filled with chips, energy bars, dried fruit. I’m not sure how much work I’d get done knowing there were so many snacks available to me.
We also visited the Google store where people can buy all sorts of android souvenirs.
Each of the buildings had different winter displays, all equally enchanting.
One building had a giant slide and a playroom complete with arcade machines and a ping pong table.
Of course no visit to the campus is complete without a stop at one of my favorite places: the android display. Each Android version is named after a dessert and then they built life-sized displays. The latest one is Kit Kat, which I adore almost as much as Ice Cream Sandwich.
Coming here is always a treat. Hopefully, I’ll have another chance to visit soon. You can read about my first visit here.
So many snacks! I want to work at Google, too. Maybe just to go down the slide on a daily basis.
hehe. I would just be at the snack section constantly.
I wanna work there! I’m guessing the soft serve was better than what you get at Dairy Queen?
I think the employees here are all really happy. I’ve actually never had Dairy Queen. But the soft serve here is ultra creamy.