Pokemon Cafe
As if there wasn’t already enough reason to be jealous of the lucky people that get to live in Japan, Tokyo recently got a Pokemon cafe. Themed cafes are nothing new of course – from cat to bunny to anime cafes, there are all kinds of fun places to sip your latte in.
Some of them have made it across to Europe – especially pet cafes where you get the chance to pet a or play with a cat while you have your drink and or meal. For some people, that sort of thing is a hygiene issue – we call them party-poopers and refuse to be friends with them.
Luckily, even the most stuck-up animal hater can safely enter this new cafe without worrying about stray pet hair touching him (seriously, unless you’re allergic, there’s just no excuse for hating on cafes that let you pet adorable animals). Here it’s all about the virtual little creatures – no pet hair involved.
The design is obviously dominated by Pokemon – themed things, lamps, wall decorations and more – no word on whether the urinals and toilet bowls are red/black/white, but we sure hope they are. Of course, the whole Pokemon thing goes well past just the decor – the dishes, drinks and pretty much everything else is also inspired by our favourite little creatures.
That includes napkins, the tableware and just about everything else you can imagine. Their menu isn’t limited to simple things either – while, yes, you can get a hot chocolate or coffee with a Pikachu on it (in a Pikachu mug of course) they also offer some pretty elaborate foods.
How about a riceball with curry?
A dessert? It might be a parfait but we can’t be sure.
Fancy something more filling? How about a meatball, omelet and some vegetables? With carrots cut into shapes like that, even the most picky kid would love them!
If that’s still not good enough, how about a cheeseburger? Yes, that’s right – you can get a Pikachu-themed cheeseburger with nachos and salsa. If that’s not impressive we don’t know what is. Also, we’re hungry now.
Now, we know that Pikachu features pretty heavily here, but he isn’t alone – there are other Pokemons too, but we’ll be damned if Pikachu isn’t the cutest. If you’re interested, they also sell Pokemon merch – not the standard kind, but stuff specifically for their cafe.
How about a cook-Pikachu with a little Pikachu dish in his pan?
Admit it, it’s adorable.
There is really only one problem with the whole thing (and no, it’s not the somewhat steep prices) – it’s in Tokyo, Japan and we are not. We are seriously hoping this kind of thing will quickly find it’s way across the (multiple) pond(s) to us – we can’t wait to waste way too much money on a pink rice-ball that looks like a Jigglypuff.
How people actually manage to eat this is a mystery to us – we can only imagine that every single thing to ever leave their kitchen will be meticulously instagrammed and immortalised for the ages. If the good alone isn’t reason enough to visit though, there is more stuff – a Pokemon themed play area:
We are genuinely thinking about booking a trip to Japan just to visit this place – we definitely need some of these cafes in Europe. Pokemon have become a part of our culture to the point where even the most un-informed mums out there recognise them, and even a grandmother or two. That’s big news – back in the day we were lucky if our request for a Pokemon plushie wasn’t answered with a Gabumon plushie. Uh, we mean thanks mum!
These adorable little critters are here to stay, and we can’t wait for this cafe to franchise over to Europe. Ideally, it’d bring it’s whole setting with it – the cafe itself is located within a Pokemon centre, and it’s about as amazing as you could expect it to be.
The cafe already has it’s own Pokestop and Gym in Pokemon Go, and the staff are keeping the stop covered in lures pretty much non-stop, so whether you love Pokemon Go or the more traditional games, this is the place for you. Or it would be, if it wasn’t on the other side of the world. Curse you, Japan! (Kidding, we love you.)
Oh and one last point – if you don’t think the ‘actual food’ looks like those advertisement pictures…boy are you wrong.