The Kawaii Monster Cafe…was…interesting…to say the least. A. and I hunted down the cafe with the help of good ‘ol Google Maps. When we arrived at the cafe, we were immediately asked to pay ¥500 each as an entrance fee. Which seemed a little steep just for the privilege of gracing our eyeballs with Sebastian Masuda‘s designs and concept.

Hidden on the fourth floor of a building in the midst of Harajuku, Kawaii Monster Cafe is kinda like if a unicorn decided to barf all over the insides a very average cafe and then decided to charge an arm and a leg for everything inside it just because it was the colour of the rainbow.

The space is fairly interesting and “kawaii“, filled with neon animals and giant-sized candies. The centrepiece of the cafe is a revolving merry-go-around in the shape of a cake. The rest of the space is then divided into four different areas: Mushroom Disco, Milk Stand, Bar Experiment, and Mel-Tea Room.

A. and I ended up in Bar Experiment:

I can’t recall if we got to choose or they just told us that it was the only area available? Nevertheless we were able to wander around the place and check out all the areas!

We decided we would order something to share as a) this place was hella expensive and b) we had just came from our multi-coursed michelin star lunch. The menu is actually very clever and I can definitely see how it would have mass appeal. Also, totes instagrammable.

We didn’t order the food-food but I can’t imagine it being fantastic. Rainbow coloured pasta and sauces that are altered with food colouring just to fit with the theme.

We did what every good adult would do and went straight to the dessert section. For some reason colourful chemically altered sweets are a little easier to swallow. They had super colourful parfaits that I really wanted to order, but at ¥2300 (almost $30 CAD) it was hard to justify. We ended up just ordering a tiny Ramune soda flavoured ice cream to share.

The cafe also puts on a show with their “Monster Girls”, named Baby, Dolly, Candy, Nasty, and Crazy…yup. The girls wander the cafe and takes pictures with people. They weren’t very happy to take pictures with tourists…I say this because if you consider their facial expression when taking said picture with tourists (me) and when they were taking pictures with locals…it was very obvious.

At some point during our time at the cafe, A. and I were corralled to the show stage (merry-go-around) and they put on kind of a dance number to very hyper and up-beat J-POP.

I would sum up the whole experience as…interesting. The interior design was interesting. The ice cream was interesting. The show was interesting. But, would I go again? Probably not.

Though, A. and I think there’s a huge missed opportunity to turn it into a club. I think adults, local or foreign, would flock to this trippy place to drink and dance the night away next to giant lollypops.

Cos I know I would.

Oontz, oontz, oontz, oontz.

KAWAII MONSTER CAFE
Address: Japan, 〒150-0001 Tokyo, Shibuya, Jingumae, 4 Chome−31−10, YM スクエア 4F
Telephone: 03(5413)6142
Hours: Mon – Sat 11:30a – 4:30p; 6:oop – 10:30p | Sun 11:00a – 8:00p