But I mentioned before that I would do another cat cafe post soon to share more photos of cute cats since my cat naming post seemed popular. I've been to two cat cafes and I wrote about the Nekorobi Cat Cafe here. Nekorobi is located in Ikebukuro where the first cat cafe was founded, but today's cat cafe is located in Shinjuku - adding more entertainment options to an already bustling city!
The exterior of Cat Cafe Calico
Cat Cafe Calico is located on the west side of the Shinjuku station, and it is really a prime location for a cat cafe. It over looks a busy street, and you can easily see the sign from a distance. So I imagine the rent for the building is high, and that rental cost is passed onto you the customer haha! I'm making a joke, but I'm serious that it costs quite a bit more than Nekorobi.
The main sitting room. Free manga and enclosed sitting room on the left side.
This is actually rare, most of the cats don't play and ignore you haha
There are set amount of times you can enter, the cost for the basic 90 minutes in 1,200 yen which isn't very much, but there are no extras included like at Nekorobi. Drinks cost 250 yen (unlimited and free at Nekorobi) and snacks will be 300-500 yen. They also do not give you any treats for the cats, you have to try to lure them over with your own charms haha!
However Cat Cafe Calico is a lot larger, and encompasses 2 floors! This size does decrease the intimacy (and there were many more people here, so there was lots of competition for the cats' attention) but it also means there are many more cats! The odds that atleast one cat likes you is greatly increased haha^^/ The lighting was low, so it was bad for photos but it might be more soothing?
One of my favorite cats there, so cute and fluffy! I guess his name is Harumaki XD
SOME the cats available at Calico
When you first enter you are faced with the cashier immediately, then you are funneled to a locker area where you store your shoes and put on slippers. If you forget to store your bag - it's ok because there are more lockers in the cat area. You wash your hands at a sink and then can enter the cat area.
Lots of floor level seating to get close to the cats^^
The first thing I noticed was a strong cat smell. I'm used to cat smell and even I thought it was strong in this cafe. So I would not recommend this to people who are sensitive to smells. Nekorobi had no noticeable smell. But I guess that smell is to be expected with so many cats, and they display the fancy robotic cat boxes as a form of advertisement haha!
Beautiful blue cat! I'm afraid to feed cats like this haha
Overall I was not as comfortable at Cat Cafe Calico because of the size, lighting and amount of customers. I just felt more homey and at ease at Cat Cafe Nekorobi. However I think Cat Cafe Calico is great for first timers because you don't have to get deeply in the experience, you can just go into a closed off side room and watch the cats while you eat.
Hanging out at the hand washing station. This American Curl looks so worried hehe
Access Info:
1-16-2 Kabukicho, Shinjuku
Huzi Building 5/6F (6F entrance)
TEL: 03-6457-6387
Hours: 11:00 to 5:30 am (opened late, for that hostess/host/partier crowd haha!!)
Map
