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Dining at Pokemon Cafe Tokyo

Florian Buechting Entertain & Relax No Comments

Pokemon Cafe Tokyo

Pokemon Cafe Tokyo
4.4

Rating

 4.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very atmospheric restaurant
  • Pokemon themed dishes
  • Meet Pikachu during your meal
  • Good location

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Average food quality
  • Very popular (early reservation needed)

I typically don’t review restaurants on Flyctory.com. However, this place is just too special. And it is a highlight for many gaming freaks visiting Tokyo. The Pokemon Cafe allows you to have dinner in the Japanese capital, which has (more or less) been prepared by Pikachu himself. My wife just had to give it a try.

 

Pokemon Cafe – Location & Reservation

Together with the Pokemon Center Tokyo DX, the Pokemon Cafe is located in the fifth floor of the East Building of the Nihombashi Takashimaya Department Store. Before our visit, I read that it is rather difficult to spot the cafe. However, we felt that it is a bit of a subway walk from Nihombashi station (subway lines Asakusa Line, Ginza Line and Tozai Line), but the signs in the subway tunnels are excellent. Finally, you take an elevator up to the right level. Pokemon Cafe Tokyo is also not too far away from Tokyo Main Station.

The cafe is open daily. Operation times are from 10:30 to 22:00. You have a time slot of 90 minutes. After 20:35, you won’t be admitted to the cafe, orders close at 21:00. The two Pokemon Cafes in Japan, this one in Tokyo-Nihonbashi and one in Osaka, have a very structured and regulated reservation process. 30 days before the day of visit at 18:00 Japanese time, you can reserve online. For the Tokyo outlet, it typically takes at most a few minutes before all time slots of a day are taken. The Osaka outlet seems to be more relaxed. We were very surprised that during our visit, the cafe was not running on full capacity, which makes it even harder to get a slot. You may also queue for a walk-in, but you should be very optimistic and have a lot of time for that.

 

Pokemon Cafe – Atmosphere

There are four seating areas at Pokemon Cafe Tokyo. They are named after different Pokemon characters. However, the Pikachu Area, Jiggypuff Area, Snorlax Area and Eevee Area (where we sat) are practically equivalent, with individual tables for parties of two and four. The Lapras Area is one large table with separators, so that you can also dine there as an individual. The decoration is nice, but not mind-blowing. A cute feature of the Lapras Area is that Pikachu plush figures are sitting at each end of the table.

 

Pokemon Cafe – Food & Visit

There used to be a wider menu at Pokemon Cafe Tokyo. It is nowadays rather limited and concentrates on differently Pokemon-style plates. My wife hat the PIkachu and Bulbasaur’s friendly curry plate, which came with a hamburger patty, avocado-potato salad, served on a Pikachu plate. I went for the Snorlax Manpuku plate, which had rice, chicken, a sauce and salad. The dishes were 2,500 (roughly 16 EUR) and 2,000 JPY roughly. You order it via a tablet on your table, which you can also switch to English. For the drinks, you play a “lottery” and receive a thin plastic coaster, which you can take home.

The main dish quality was fine. You don’t go to Pokemon Cafe for a massive culinary experience. We really loved the desserts, though. I had the Pikachu’s souffle pancakes, which were really nice. My wife had the dessert bowl served in a pokeball, which was a blend of two different cakes, fruit and sauce. The (iced or hot) coffee drinks with a wide selection of pokemon logos on the top of the drink as well as the Pikachu feature drink with an ice cream scoop on top were really nice. The iced coffee I had during the main dish came with a Pikachu tail – style cookie, which was really cute.

 

Pokemon Cafe – Services

What would a Pokemon Cafe be without the visit of one of the protagonists? Regularly, Pikachu is entering the restaurant and says hello to the guests. There is also a Pikachu dance. During that time, guests were asked to remain seated and service is stopped so that everyone can enjoy the encounter. You cannot take pictures with the pokemon, though (you may of course take pictures or videos during the entire visit). You should bear that in mind when you plan ahead you 90 minute visit – meeting Pikachu is about ten minutes.

Maybe also as a result of the reduced menu, the service at Pokemon Cafe Tokyo is really quick. Even the entree orders took less than ten minutes to be served. All the staff was very friendly and spoke good English. You pay (what is quite typical in Japan) at the central cashier. Before you go there, you can also grab some additional items in the souvenir store. You may also pre-order souvenirs. I pre-ordered a Chef Pikachu plush which was not available in the store any more at our visit – so you might keep that in mind. You add (and pay) these items during the reservation process. Some meals also optionally include to take the glass or mug home with you. In that case you get a voucher from the server and receive a new one at the cashier.

 

Pokemon Cafe – My View

First of all: the Pokemon Cafe is not a gourmet place. You get solid food. The value for money is in the experience. You need to feel enjoyment when you receive Pikachu-shaped pancakes or have your favorite Pokemon as chocolate powder on top of your latte. If your heart beats faster when Pikachu is dancing during your dinner, you will love this place. The organisation and service is great, everything is working smooth and you have a mentally relaxing lunch or dinner.

 

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