Cat Cafes :: Meow!

During my friend Kathy's visit, I finally made it to a cat cafe. Tokyo has a lot of themed restaurants and cafes. I'm sure you've heard of maid cafes and the ninja restaurant. Cat Cafes are only kind of popular here and after visiting one, I think I know why they haven't gotten popular. BECAUSE THEY ARE WEIRD AND BORING!!!

I should mention that I am not a cat person. I've grown up with dogs my whole life so cats just don't appeal to me. People like to say that cats are great because they are independent and don't need you. That does not sound interesting to me. If I wanted that, I'd go get a career oriented girlfriend.  

The cafe we went to is called Nekorobi in Ikebukuro. There are a lot of cat cafes in Ikebukuro, so people often call it Nekobukuro. (Neko means cat in Japanese.) You pay 1,000 yen an hour for all you can drink vending machine drinks and candy. They also give you a small bag of cat food to feed the cats. That is basically the only way you can get the cats to play with you. Once you run out of food, you're boned. Check out the action:

Cats just sleep! That's it. I mean...this guy up here who is looking perky, I was only able to get this picture by bribing him with the last of my food. He quickly scampered off to some other lonely woman in the corner once he realized I was of no use to him. Even the cafe owners know how boring it can be! They have a Wii that you can play during your hour...in case you get bored...which you will.

It was pretty silly and Kathy and I got lots of giggles in, but it's also a pretty sad place. It's more like a kitty nap room than a cafe and it was sad to watch all the excited kids be disappointed by the lame cats. It is even more sad to see the middle-aged women trying to coax the uninterested felines.

No thank you cat cafes. I will stick to reading Corgi Style magazine at the bookstore and drooling over the sedated puppies at the pet stores like a creepy dogophile.

*** I wanted to link "sedated puppies" to a pet store called Wan's Style in Roppongi. When I went to Google it, the first post came up with my own blog. Apparently, I have already talked about my disgusting pet store visits.

Toraya Cafe :: Classy Japanese Sweets and Tea

Keeping with the Japanese theme, I stopped by Toraya Cafe in Roppongi for some tea and sweets. Toraya serves Japanese sweets and yummy teas. I ordered the Kuzu Purin a la Mode. Kuzu is a white bean paste and a la mode in this case means a dollop of the best whipped cream I have ever tasted. Goes nicely with my Chrysanthemem (?) tea. Purin 「プリン」by the way is the Japanese word for Pudding. Purin is a childhood favorite in Japan and is more like a creamier flan than the JELL-O variety we eat in the US.

Toraya Cafe, Roppongi Hills
Roppongi Hills Residence-B 1F 6-12-2 Roppongi-keyakizakadori
Roppongi Station (Hibiya, Oedo)


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My Lunch :: January 19th :: Cinagro Kitchen + Market

Omotesando (the fancier shopping street near Harajuku) isn't really known for food. I always have a hard time trying to find a good mid-shop food stop but today I stumbled upon Cinagro Kitchen + Market in the basement of the building that houses the MoMa store. It is an organic cafe and market and they offer a great lunch deal. I had a cured ham, parm and avocado sandwich on fresh baked wheat bread and it included a yummy mushroom soup and a trip to their salad bar. Awful music, but that's
to be expected in Tokyo. My lunch plus an iced coffee came out to ¥1,050 - about $12! Not bad!

Cinagro Kitchen + Market
GYRE Building, B1F, 5-10-1 Jinguame
Omotesando Station (Chiyoda, Hanzomon, Ginza) or Meiji-Jingumae Station (Chiyoda, Fukutoshin)

My Lunch :: Dec 29th :: Cafe Meal Muji

Sweet and sour karage, tofu mash and chicken broccoli from Meal Muji in Yurakucho. Finished The Wind Up Bird Chronicles in the process. Not my favorite Murakami, but good enough.

Cafe Meal Muji
Muji Yurakucho, 2F
Yurakucho Station (Mita, JR Yamanote)

My Lunch :: Dec 9th :: Zip Zap Cafe

Thai Green Curry lunch set at Zip Zap Cafe in Harajuku. Definitely recommend this place if you visit Tokyo. It's a nice calm place to get a decent meal in the middle of the Harajuku craziness.


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Neyn Donuts

There is a very cute donut shop called Neyn, down the hill from where we live and as I learn more and more about the shop, the more I love it. The donuts are very unique - they are all handmade and most are baked rather than fried and more cakey in texture. Don't let that fool you - they're still quite tasty. My favorite is the fromage donut which is covered with organic powdered sugar and filled with a sweet cream cheese. They also have matcha, chocolate, cassis and orange chocolate varieties. The design of the cafe is European and authentic. The coffee is strong and tastey - kind of rare of Japan.

What makes this shop pretty bitchin' is the story behind it. The owner, Yoshihisa Yamada is a 45-year-old bad ass. I really admire people who have "made it" in the business world. I guess maybe because I used to work in that kind of environment, I understand how hard it is to be successful and not just another paper-pusher/middle-management drone (like I was...wah wah). Yamada's resume is truly impressive: he graduated from the best University in Japan (Tokyo University), got an MBA from Harvard, worked at both the Bank of Japan and Goldman Sachs, then became the man in charge of Rakuten Travel, the largest online shopping operator in Japan, kind of like the Amazon.com of Japan. Did I mention he's only 45?

Thankfully for sweets lovers, he decided to take his smarts and invest it into a donut shop. It might seem kind of random, but he has such a good business-oriented reason as to why he chose a donut shop. From a Japan Times article:

Yamada decided on doughnuts because their popularity in Japan is a constant, and because there aren't all that many competitors. He said he could have tried the fashion business or a patisserie, but Tokyo already has a ton of those and he wasn't sure if he could set his company apart...

"Creating value-added products and bringing them overseas — that's what I'm interested in doing."

He also chose his location, Akasaka Sacas, because of the high density of Office Ladies (called OL's in Japan) in the area. Office ladies are kind of their own demographic here. In short, OL's are young women who work in big offices, taking care of the workers by fetching tea and snacks. They live at home with their parents and stop working once they get married. The whole point of being an OL is to find a husband...or at least this is what I'm told. Most cute cafes and lunch spots are catered to OLs, and Neyn is one of them.

Neyn seems to be doing pretty well for themselves. Aside from their main shop in Akasaka, they opened an experimental 1-year shop in the swanky Tokyo Midtown building. I hope this shop does well. Anyone who thinks that donuts are a value-added product is someone I can get behind.


Neyn Donuts

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My Snack :: Oct 3 :: Afternoon Tea

Toffee Banana Cake and Iced Coffee at Afternoon Tea. Just what I need right now. Shopping makes you hungry. Afternoon Tea is a really popular store and cafe in Japan. It is quite possibly, the girliest place I've ever seen and my body squeels every time I browse through their inventory. Aprons, kitchen gadgets, bath salts, house slippers - all in pastel colors or animal shapes. I once asked my roommate to pick something up for me since there is an Afternoon Tea in his work building and he didn't speak to me for about a week. The cafes usually have long lines on the weekends, but if you are lucky enough to snag a table, definitely try it out for a sweet snack.

Afternoon Tea, Marunouchi
Shin-Marunouchi Building, 5F

Tokyo Station (Marunouchi, JR)

My Lunch :: Sept 16 :: Zoka Coffee Roaster

Mushroom quiche and an apple spritzer from Zoka Coffee Roaster. Tempted to try their salted caramel latte next...I am quite familiar with Zoka as I am a UW Husky and Zoka's original shop is in the U-District in Seattle. I used to study there and often saw Dave Matthews sippin' on some coffee and being bald. Most Japanese people dislike the taste of strong coffee, but better cafes and baristas are popping up in Tokyo which is a good sign. There are 3 Zokas in Tokyo but I have only been to the one in Akasaka Mitsuke, which is right behind the Akasaka Mitsuke station on Sotobori Dori.

Zoka Coffee Roaster


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