Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku (記事＃１)

Do you want to see “the new Tokyo that nobody has seen”?

Well you can see it at the Kawaii Monster Cafe in Harajuku!

Their concept is:

Harajuku, a colorful and crazy town that has been creating it’s own original culture by engulfing the world’s most trendiest fashions and cultures.

It is like a monster that swallows everything in its path and keeps expanding.

Our restaurant is a reflection of this monster visualising TOKYO, HARAJUKU.

The Kawaii Monster Cafe is located on the 4th floor of the YM square building and the address is: 4-31-10,Jingumae,Shibuya,Tokyo. If you want to make a reservation you can do it by phone except for on Saturday, Sundays, and holidays. Their phone number is: +81-3-5413-6142. When I visited I went around 1 p.m. on a Friday without a reservation and our party of two was able to get seated within 10 minutes. Just a warning that if you are looking for a cheap and affordable meal this is definitely not the place for that. When you check in at the front then they will inform you that you must pay a 500 yen entrance fee and the applicable taxes. Your dining time must also be under 90 minutes. Once you agree to that then you are led through a set of doors and into the land of Kawaii Monsters.

Once you are seated the waiter brings you the menu on a iPad decked out with sweets decorations. They also let you know that you are allowed to walk around and take pictures of anything within the cafe. There are five areas for you to look at. They are the “sweets go round” cake shaped merry go round (that you can’t ride), mushroom disco, milk stand, bar experiment, and mel-tea room. But before you go to walk around you should place your order.

To be honest, everything on the menu looked pretty unappetizing except for the teriyaki bowl which was completely normal, but this restaurant is already not normal so why not go all out and pick whichever dish looks the craziest.  My friend decided to order the Colorful Rainbow Pasta (painter) which was 1,300 yen. I decided to get the chicken and waffles which was 900 yen. We also both ordered the non-alcoholic “non druggy” cocktail (experiment) which was 700 yen. Like I mentioned earlier this place is expensive. You’re definitely paying for the experience rather than the food.

Even with that being said, the food was actually pretty good and getting to try all the different flavors of sauces was pretty fun. If you can get over the fact that the food looks really unnatural then I think you’ll enjoy the food as well. They also have different sweets and desserts but we didn’t order any. If you want to check out the menu you can look here, but there are also things not listed on the website that they had on the menu so you just have to go there to find out 🙂

 

The actual restaurant is not that big but with the detailed decorations and booths the place seems larger than it actually is. Besides being free to walk around the entire cafe, you are also free to ask the staff to take photos with you. They even have “shows” periodically which consists of the “monster girls” dancing on the merry-go-round. A lucky spectator might even get chosen to go up on and dance with them!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this place even if you aren’t into Japanese fashion or this type of thing usually. It was really fun and it is probably something you can only experience in Japan. For us, with our party of two, our two dishes, and two drinks along with the entrance fee and tax it came out to just under $50. Yes, it was very pricey but if you make the most out of the experience by walking around, taking lots of pictures, and watching the show then you can feel better about the steep price.

Hope you decide to go and check it out!

❤ Kira