Our visit to the Pokémon Cafe in Tokyo
The PokéOta team went on a trip to Tokyo and experienced an absolute highlight: a visit to the Pokémon Cafe in Nihonbashi. In this blog post, we would like to share our interesting and entertaining experience with you.
For anyone who hasn't heard of the Pokémon Cafe, here's a quick introduction: The Pokémon Cafe is an official Pokémon-themed cafe where everything revolves around the world of Pokémon. There are only two such cafes in all of Japan: the first and original one in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo and another in Osaka. The Pokémon Cafe not only sells exclusive merchandise, but also has an impressive ambience that's reminiscent of a small Pokémon theme park. Pokémon plush toys are everywhere in the cafe, decorative Pokémon pictures adorn the walls, and the tables are decorated with life-size (?) figures of Pikachu, Hopplo, and Eevee, among others. But the real highlight is the artfully prepared food and drinks. All dishes are prepared with a Pokémon theme down to the smallest detail and look so great that you almost don't want to eat them.
Because the Pokémon Cafe is incredibly popular with fans, reservations are required and visits are limited to 90 minutes. Reservations are often booked up weeks in advance, and to get a table on a Saturday lunchtime, we had to visit the cafe's website a month in advance at a specific time . Within five minutes, the entire day was booked up - that's how popular reservations are at the Pokémon Cafe in Tokyo.
On the big day, we followed the instructions and arrived at the Pokémon Cafe 10 minutes before our booked time. The cafe is located right next to the Pokémon Center Tokyo DX, where a long line had already formed. In order to cope with the rush inside, entrance tickets were distributed. We also got tickets because we thought that with a bit of luck we would be able to make a quick trip to the Pokémon Center after the 90 minutes in the Pokemon Cafe. But we were far from it: the entrance time on our tickets was a whopping 4 hours later! The Pokémon Center is also very popular...
When it was finally time to enter the Pokemon Cafe, a friendly employee led us past a large shelf full of Pokemon Cafe merchandise to our seats. In front of us was a large table divided into individual seats by transparent partitions, and decorated with several large Pokemon figures. Each seat was equipped with a tablet that you could use to select and order your food and drinks. We opted for the Snorlax pancake with chocolate sauce and a Pokemon latte for each of us. The great thing about the cappuccino at the Pokemon Cafe is that you can choose which Pokemon you want to have as a decoration on your milk foam. You can choose from 493 (!) Pokemon, all of which you can view on the tablet beforehand. This is a really original idea, even if it meant that choosing our cappuccinos took a surprisingly long time. After much deliberation, we finally chose our favorite Pokemon, Charizard and Abra.
We didn't have to wait long before a nice waitress in a Pokémon cafe outfit brought our order to our table. After she had put everything down, she pulled out a tablet and let us play a short game in which each of us won a plastic coaster with a different Pikachu motif as a gift. After that, it was time for a photo session, because the food and drinks looked so great that we couldn't resist taking photos of them from all angles before eating them. The cappuccinos in particular were almost too good to drink with their artistic decoration. When we finally turned to our meal, a cheerful waitress accompanied by a giant Pikachu entered the cafe and we and the other guests were treated to a very cute performance.
After eating, we browsed the small shop at the entrance to buy some of the exclusive items that are only available in the Pokémon Café as souvenirs. Not only are there clear plastic sleeves, dishes and cutlery with Pokémon motifs, but you can also buy Eevee, Pikachu and co. as plush toys in Pokémon Café outfits. With such a large selection, it was of course difficult to choose, but in the end we decided on a few small spoons and forks with a Pokémon motif and a cute Pikachu plush toy in a chef's outfit.
Visiting the Pokémon Cafe was an unforgettable experience for us and we can only recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to get a reservation. The unique atmosphere in the cafe, the creatively prepared food and drinks, the exclusive merchandise and the lovingly designed interior make the Pokémon Cafe a unique experience for all Pokémon fans. Even though reservations are hard to come by and the visit time is limited, the visit is definitely worth it. We will definitely come back again, if only to add more of the cute stuffed animals to our collection.
