When a dog person visits a cat cafe
- Aug 8, 2018
- 5 min read
In my recent trip to Bangkok, I've decided to include a visit to animal cafes - my list of considerations were: Little Zoo Cafe (Exotic Animals), Caturday Cafe (Cats), True Love Cafe (Huskies) and Pool Time Cafe (Racoons). Eventually, Caturday was planned on the itinerary despite myself being a dog person because:
1) No entry fee
True Love Cafe costs 500 Baht (approx. S$20) per pax
Little Zoo Cafe costs 350 Baht (approx. S$14) per pax
Pool Time Cafe costs 150 Baht (approx. S$6) per pax
2) You actually get to dine with animals until shiok
In both True Love Cafe and Little Zoo Cafe, the dining area is separated from the animal-interactive enclosure and you have to queue to get into it because the number of visitors in that area is capped and monitored by staff. To me, this beats the entire purpose of going to an animal cafe as it felt similar to eating at any other cafe then going out to the streets to pet a stray animal. On top of that, interaction sessions are capped too. For example, at Little Zoo Cafe, each customer is allowed to be in the animal interaction room for 10 minutes.
In Pool Time cafe, they only have three racoons and the 150 Baht entry fee is what they charge for you to interact with any of the racoons. Since they only have three racoons for the entire cafe, you could very well be paying 150 Baht and not get to interact with any racoon to your heart's content because some other bitch is hogging the damn trash panda. Of course you can don't pay the 150 Baht and dine in the cafe (and maybe get a glimpse of the racoon), the last time I checked, a simple and unnecessarily dyed blue burger costs 300 to 360 Baht (approx. S$14.30 to S$15.30) and a simple milkshake costs 150 Baht (approx. S$6)
If you're familiar with Bangkok, spending these amounts on food or on the entry fee alone is considered insanely expensive. For comparison, having a bowl of noodles/fried rice/or any other Thai dishes in the neighbourhood (I'm referring to areas away from shopping districts like Siam/Chit Lom/Chatuchak), would cost you only around 40 to 60 baht (approx. S$1.60 to S$2.40) and drinks (Thai iced milk tea/iced honey lemon) will cost you around 25 Baht to 45 Baht (approx. S$1 to S$1.80).
The Environment
Before you walk into the cafe, you'll be asked to drop your footwear off and wash your hands with soap. Afterwards, the staff will slide open the glass door and it'll feel like you've entered into cat-land - there are cats right at the door, on the cashier counter, above you, by the wall shelves, everywhere in your peripheral. It's a phenomenal and somewhat calming experience for me, just seeing so many cats being so chill made me chill and gave me a sense of euphoria somehow. Remember, I'm wasn't a cat person but after this experience, I'm really unsure. Oh yes, and I expected the place to stink like my friend's house full of cats but no, there wasn't any smell which was a pleasant surprise.
The layout of the cafe is mostly Japanese style where majority of the seatings (about 80%) are on cushions and low table, so be expected to sit on the floor which I'd rather do so because the cats will just casually walk around you and even, sleep underneath your table. This, to me, is what being in an animal cafe is about, you should be able to get up close and personal (this doesn't mean you get to touch the cats all over) with the animals without time restriction all while dining.
This is a short clip I've taken upon entering the cafe:
Here's a few more instagram stories I've taken to give you guys a sensing of what the environment is like:
Each cat has a name and each table will have a picture of one of the cats with her name on it. A wide variety of species are on site, some are small, some are large and majestic (they look like miniature wild cats and I had no clue house cats can be this huge) and some have flat grumpy pancake faces. My favourite being this white munchkin, I call it the Potato Floof Cat and I'm so amazed such short legs can jump so high up to the podium by the door.
TIP: Because many people were there trying to interact/pet the cats that it can be very overwhelming for them, they'll just escape to spots/places that let them be left alone. So the more nonchalant you are towards the cats, the more likely they'll come resting underneath your table/next to you and that's when you can occasionally pet the cat.
Here are just a few photos/videos of the cats we've interacted with:
Here you see one of the cats playing with our bags, towards the end it bit my boyfriend
The Food
Here, you can expect the standard simple food a cafe would have; pasta, fried finger food, cakes. We tried a serving of fries with three different flavourings (like Macdonald's shaker fries) and a Thai tea crepe cake. The fries tastes pretty much like Macdonald's - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside but I'd like to bring emphasis on the cake because it's fucking delightful.
Your cake will be served with some Thai milk tea syrup that adds depth of taste to the crepe. I was concerned that the syrup will bring overpowering sweetness to the cake (like the Thai milk tea drink you get) but I was delighted because despite pouring the entire serving of syrup on the cake, it has a perfect balance of cream, sweetness and soft fluffy texture. Sweetness wasn't the first thing that greets your palate, but rather, the slight fragrance of tea is.
If you're interested in grabbing more attention from the cats, you can also buy individual sachets of cat snacks at the cashier or order a bowl of cat food from the staff. If you get the latter, you spare no effort in luring the cats as the sight of the bowl will draw cats to you whereas if you were to get individual sachets, you'll have to put in some effort in dangling it in front of the cat.
Overall, we spent 250baht (S$10) for both the fries, the cake and the cats and around 2 hours. We are an exception because many around us left slightly after an hour. I guess we were having such a pleasant time petting the cats.
Location: Just a very short distance from Ratchathewi BTS, right across from Asia Hotel Bangkok (Rating: 10/10)
Price: Food is reasonably priced when compared to Singapore and touristy places in Bangkok and you get to have endless interaction with the cats (Rating: 10/10)
Go there if:
You'd like a place to chill and chat
You'd like to be close to some really pretty cats and you don't mind having your body/belongings covered with cat fur which you have to sweep off later before you leave
You want a overwhelmingly calm experience
Don't go there if:
You just wanna have some basic bitch Instagram photoshoot with the cats because you'll find the cats just running away from you
You envision yourself touching/hugging/playing with the cats the entire day, they're not interested with you. Better chance if you go to a dog cafe.
You can't reach there early at opening hours (11 to 12-ish) because once the cafe is full, you'll have to wait outside under the heat along with many others.
You have children because your kids will freak the cats out with their tiny groping hands and screams
You expect to eat really good food. Who goes to a cat cafe and focuses on food??
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