Lunch at Kawaii Monster Cafe in Tokyo

In my previous post; “Crazy Cafés of Japan“, I promised that someday I will tell you more about the Kawaii Monster Cafe we visited. well, we didn’t see any monsters, but it sure was an interesting and fun experience, and our daughter still talks about it every week. Kawaii actually means cute or sweet, so I think that is why the monsters we met were not scary at all.

Kawaii Monster Cafe is located in Harajuku, Tokyo. It was opened in 2015, and designed together with an artist called Sebastian Masuda, who is behind many other theme cafes in Japan as well.

During our trip to Japan we also visited the Moomin Cafe and a Hello Kitty Cafe, but there is also a Lisa in Wonderland Cafe, Vampire Cafe and many others in Tokyo.

Our experience in Kawaii Monster Cafe

We arrived at the Monster Cafe right when lunch started since we figured that later we might have to stand in a line. That was a smart move, we were escorted right in, but when we left we did notice that there was a line.

Before letting us in, we were asked which room we would like to sit in and we had to pay an entrance fee which was a couple dollars. We had no idea what the restaurant would look like, so we went for the room called Mushroom Disco.

The doors were opened in a very theatrical way, and in we went…

It is very hard to describe the atmosphere in this place, but this video will show you what it was like.  

The words that come into my mind from this place are; colorful, crazy and corny. It was very dark and colorful, and the music was very loud. Well, at least it was something we had never seen before.

The monster girls were dressed kind of like Harajuku girls, and they also did a show on a merry-go-round that looked like a cake. Our daughter was invited to dance with them on the carrousel which she loved. The monster girls were also happy to pose for pictures.

While we were waiting for our food we did a little tour in the restaurant. Along with the Mushroom Disco, there was the Meal-Tea Room, Bar Experiment and a space called Milk Stand. After leaving the restroom we accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up in a private room. It was a pretty pink room with a huge kitty cat on the wall. It was very cool!

And I should probably also mention the restroom too. It had an interesting collection of colorful marbles in it. 

The menu at the Monster Cafe was quite limited and unfortunately many of the desserts were sold out even though the day was just starting. My husband chose the only Japanese sounding dish on the menu while I decided to try the Monster Burger.

Our little girl got the french fries she had been asking for, since it took a while for her to get used to the Japanese food. They were served with colorful dipping sauces.

My husband also ordered a drink, which was served in test tubes. What was in it? We have no idea, but it sure looked interesting.

The food at the Monster Cafe was ok, but I would not choose this place based on the culinary experience. They were fun, but not as tasty as the food we had been enjoying during our Japan trip.

The exit in Monster Cafe was built just like in many touristy restaurants in the United States where you leave by walking through a souvenir shop.

Overall the lunch was very interesting and fun, but maybe one time in this place will be enough for us. If you want to experience something really crazy or if you are traveling with kids, I would recommend this cafe just so you can see something different.

The prices are little bit higher than the average restaurant in Japan, but here you will be paying for the experience, not just for the food. But it wasn’t too expensive. I think Monster Cafe definitely takes the first spot on our “weirdest restaurants” list, and we have done a few!

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Japan is definitely the mecca of theme cafes. On this trip we visited a Moomin Cafe in Tokyo and a Hello Kitty Cafe in Himeji as well.

Kawaii Monster Cafe can be found from; YM Square Building 4F, 4-31-10, Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo.

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