Citra

This is a cute little place that opens late. Its located in a very central location. Came here at night and ordered the ginseng latte. At first, i was a bit skeptical about it. Ginseng has a bitter taste and how does it goes well with latte milk? Well the taste was a bit awkward. But its not bad. I like that awkward taste.
My other friends got the ice cream. Well we came here because it was one of the few places that are open late at night. A good location for trip planning.
The place is ran by a very genuine and sweet Korean lady. She is super friendly and loves talking. In terms of décor of this place its not bad. Its clean and you can see on the wall has some caps that were decorated by customers. Too bad they ran out of clean cap. Would be nice if I could draw something. Oh well next time.

I LOVE this place, the snow ice taro is amazing. there’s mochi and red beans over shaved ice and it tastes like heaven, worth. The owner is SO nice and the atmosphere is super cute, like an asian starbucks almost. you can chill, crack some books and get your study on, or just chit chat. they’re really nice people and the place just makes me feel so happy lolol
come here, it’s great.

Cute small café atmosphere with free wifi (weak) and really delicious shaved ice and yogurt.
Food: shaved ice is a popular item here so I got red bean shaved ice and it was really good. The ice to red bean and mochi ratio was split evenly and just not 90% ice. The ice was really soft somehow so it basically melted in your mouth. The presentation was 4 stars, it comes in a huge bowl and is totally Instagram worthy haha. The yogurt here has to be one of my favorites of all time. It’s consistency is thick, the flavors I got were taro, and green tea and you can definitely taste it unlike other places where it’s mildly flavored. It’s not self served but they give you your money’s worth, but adding toppings is .50 to .75 cents instead of weighing by the ounce.
Service: adorable Korean owner that’s motherly asking how everything is and having small talk with her customers. It does take a while for your desserts to come out for some reason, so expect to chit chat and socialize while you wait.
Prefers cash, there is a fee if you use card
Overall, if I’m craving yogurt this place would be my to-​go spot hands down. Really good yogurt flavors and shaved ice!

Service here is pretty good! I ordered a grande mocha and the lady gave me a tall. I didn’t realized it but after about 10 min she gave me another cup of grande mocha haha.

The people who work here provide – without question – some of the friendliest service on the Ave. The lady who owns Citra usually works late at night (which is when I come in), and let me tell you, she is the sweetest lady EVER. She is genuinely interested in making sure all her customers enjoy their experience at Citra.
Atmosphere: I absolutely LOVE the environment here. It’s a great study spot, especially when it’s not a busy hour. There are plenty of outlets you can use to plug in your electronics, the seating is cozy, and there’s a good amount of seating for medium sized groups (up to 4). Most of the time, they play soft piano music (lots of Yiruma), which I find relaxing.
I’ve ordered the bubble tea and patbingsoo (Korean-​style shaved ice) here. The bubble tea is good, but not great, meaning you can probably find something better along the Ave; the boba just doesn’t have the fresh, sweet, and chewy texture that I always look for. Similar situation for the patbingsoo; the quantity is great, but I thought the flavor was lacking (in my opinion, not enough flavoring, condensed milk, and fruit).
Despite that, I continually come back for the service and atmosphere! Definitely one of my favorite study spots in U District.

Cozy spot to study if you wanted. Their bing soo was pretty yummy and hit the spot for something sweet and cold after dinner. I’d say it was a little expensive for the amount, but it was cute and still shareable. Seems like they have soy froyo, so that’s pretty sweet and different.

Love their bubble tea’s. One of the best in Seattle. Service is friendly and free Wi-​Fi. Red bean bubble tea is the best. Their yogurts are awesome too.

I’m rating this place based solely on the snow ice. It was crazy delicious! We got the fruit snow ice, and it was huge. The flavor was there, and everything went well with each other. I would definitely come back to try the other favors. The only reason for the 4 star and not 5 is because it was a little pricy for snow ice.

Wooooo! So happy to discover another cute dessert place to eat at and to study. :) If you ever want to try something new and refreshing, I highly recommend trying the froyo patbingsoo (Korean shaved ice style) dessert here. At around $ 9, you get this fancy little cup /​bowl, that is filled with shaved ice, various toppings (red beans, mochi, fruits, etc) and it gets topped off with yummy froyo (frozen yogurt). It’s definitely a big enough dish to share with two and oh my goodness, the green tea and taro flavored froyo is delicious. Kind of drooling at the moment as I write this review but if anything, try the froyo if you don’t feel like eating a bigger dessert.
As for the interior, it’s a small and cozy place. The décor is charming and there’s free wifi if you need to do work. The overall atmosphere of this place is quiet and there are plenty of table space and seats around if you are meeting up with friends and such. Will be making another stop by here soon!

Love this place! The people who work there are amazingly kind and actually care about your day! Their bubble tea is yummy!!!

I loooooooove this place! Their blended coffee has just the right amount of sweet and bitter even with 4 shots of espresso! There’s options for everyone whether its a fruit smoothie, pat bingsoo (korean shaved ice), or your daily fix of coffee! I absolutely LOVE the froyo as well because it is less sweet and more tart than other places.
I highly recommend this place as a quiet study spot or a small group hangout. Having come here time to time since my freshman year, I have had the chance to get to know the owner and she is some of the friendliest ladies I know! Very caring to her customers. She also greets you coming in and out of her café with a smile: D Definitely will miss this place when I graduate from UW this year!

For a warning, they don’t have ice cream frozen yogurt. I was in the area looking for some ice cream and saw the Unilocal tag so stopped here. Luckily they had a tasty bubble tea menu that got the job done.
I had the mango smoothie bubble tea and it was great. Not too sweet and tasted like fresh mangos. The tapioca was in that good middle ground on texture (not too hard or too soft). I’m a one trick pony when it comes to bubble tea so I will probably be back to get another mango smoothie

As everyone has mentioned, the owner of the store is super friendly. We ordered shaved ice which was really yummy. It’s not exactly like Taiwanese shaved ice. You should expect something with less condensed milk and less sugar. Basically. a healthier version. It was quite yummy, although I don’t think it’s worth the $ 9.
The place’s ambiance is similar to the coffee shops in Korea. Lovely music, European style décor, cozy… It really reminded me of the cafes I went to when I visited Korea and the owner reminds me of the mother of the family I visited. Overall, a great experience!

Ok this is the first time I had Pat Bing Su and I have to say I’m hooked. You can be glad Citra took your first time too. The owner is super sweet and friendly — something you rarely find on the Ave.
I went in with my girlfriend and we pondered over which flavor to get. The owner kindly suggested that girls typically like green tea and guys typically like taro. Being the man that I am, I let the girlfriend pick green tea of course.
Girls like green tea… So I didn’t want to say I like it but I LOVED IT. Haters gonna hate but I had to try the taro the second visit and I’m going to vote for the green tea for sure.
It’s certainly a nice place to just chill and study although it’s a little small. But it’s quiet, homey, and the owner won’t chase you out.
⁵⁄₅ would recommend and this one is going on my approved list…

Came here for green tea shaved ice with some friends. It was was good but not the best I’ve ever had. It is a bit pricey for the size we got and they also charge for water unlike a lot of cafes that have water for their customers.
Aside from that the lady working there was really friendly and chatted with us in Korean. It is a really great space to study and have coffee with friends. Great atmosphere and right next to the wilsonian so a good spot for those who live pretty close!

Green tea cup snow ice with mochi!
The owner is very sweet and makes a lot of the decorations. It’s a good atmosphere and usually has classical music playing. My boyfriend is obsessed with the rooibos tea with boba.

This is the kind of place that’s probably earned its high rating largely in part to the friendly service and atmosphere.
And there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’re expecting amazing dessert like the rating might suggest, you might find yourself a little underwhelmed. Still, Citra isn’t by any means a huge disappointment; the fro-​yo we got was very solid. It was original tart flavored, with mochi and strawberry, and came out to about 5 bucks, which is I think an average price point. I also tried their shave ice, which I think is probably the best in the U-​District.
The owner is really really friendly and welcoming. She is Korean, and there is a dedicated Korean customer base that goes regularly. The ambiance is quiet, which was not what I expected, but it’s a great place to study or have a quiet conversation.

It’s been years since I’ve been here and Citra has received a major face-​lift since the last time I was here! The interior space is very cozy, perfect for studying, and has a similar vibe to cafes in Korea.
So during my undergrad, I would come here every other day for their frozen yogurt. I’m not lactose intolerant, but their original soy froyo is fantastic! During my recent visit with my roommates, I was told that their pat-​bing-​soo (Korean style shave ice) was delicious so I ordered the fruit bing-​soo with original tart froyo on top. It. Was. Amazing! The portion size is HUGE! Us 3 girls barely finished it. This bing-​soo contained tons of toppings including strawberries, kiwi, peaches, mochi, red bean paste, and grain powder (, misoot garu), topped with froyo! This is perfect for warm weather and beats traditional frozen yogurt any day!
The owner is incredibly sweet and welcomes and says good-​bye to every patron that enters. You can tell the food and drinks are made with love and I plan on going back got more pat-​bing-​soo!

Wonderful little shop, relaxing music, and the lady that works here is really sweet and friendly. True to her words, she does make amazing shaved ice. I had the Taro Shaved Ice and it was delicious down to the last scoop. Also, the shaved ice was quite large so you can easily share it with a friend.
Will come again in the future!

I’ve been here a few times just chilling with friends and also to study. Good environment to study as the place is not friggin’ loud like others such as Oasis. I’ve only had the bubble tea once, and it was alright — nothing special. The shaved ice, however, was bomb! We had the original flavored shave ice, which had different kinds of fruit, azuka red bean, mochi, and peanut powder. The thing was good and unique from other shaved ice desserts I’ve had. There is apparently also a green tea and taro version, which I will try next time. Price for one of those bad boys is $ 9-​$ 10, and it is easily shareable (is that a word?) between two or more peeps.
The owner is this Korean ajumma that is very energetic and friendly! She also finds me interesting when I bust out the limited Korean that I know :) So yeah nice, comfortable place where the owner knows you and quiet enough so that you can study. Check it out~!