- 5 days ago

Cute Cafe Days Sept. 2024 - Sanrio, Pokemon, and Coffee Zingaro!

One of my favourite things to do while visiting Japan is check out collaboration cafes that are happening! Sometimes, making a reservation to access is easy. But sometimes, you have to wake up very early before actually arriving in Japan to try and get a spot! (You can check out last year's cafe experiences here!)

POMPOMPURIN CAFE

The Pompompurin Cafe is a permanent character cafe on Takeshita Street! Out of all the years I have been to Japan, I never actually went. So this time, I figured I should go to check it out! Of course, all the Sanrio collaboration Cafes I have been to are SUPER CUTE!!

I ordered the combo plate because I wanted a little bit of everything. It came with mini omurice, small portion of curry sauce, mini hamburger steak (which was his hat!) 1 tempura, mini salad with star shaped potato hashbrowns, and mini spaghetti. Taste wise, it was pretty good for a collab cafe! It was nice because it came with a small dessert too (a kiwi parfait with a chocolate friend on top) so I didnt even have to order one separately haha~!

Of course, there were Pompompurin plushies everywhere (one was even sitting with me!) and there was a small merchandise corner as well.

POKEMON CAFE

Finally I was able to return to the Pokemon Cafe for food! In 2019, I went there but I only got a drink! Ever since, I was trying to see if I could go back, but the reservation system has become even more difficult to get a spot. One morning, I checked to see if there were any cancellations, and there just so happened to be one, perfectly timed before I worked at 6%DOKIDOKI for the day!!

There current promotion featured Pawmi! 3 special menu selections were themed around Pawmi and with every drink order, you receive a special Pawmi coaster at random!

I wanted to get my time's worth, so I decided to order 2 drinks, a main dish, and a dessert (that way, I dont need to return back to the Pokemon cafe for a while LOL) The food itself was pretty tasty and it was SO CUTE! There were 3 options for the curry plate I ordered, each with the 3 main starters Bulbasaure, Charmander, Squirtle. Since each of them came with a different side, I chose Charmander because I wanted the small cutlet and pumpkin salad LOL. Same thing goes with the drink. I ordered the melon soda with Sprigatito, but Quaxly is my most favourite.

(His drink had coconut jelly in it though....) Its ok because I love them all LOL The dessert I ordered was a parfait arranged like Fidough and an Eevee themed milk tea. The parfait had mochi, whipped cream, cake, and strawberries. It was.....a lot, so I unfortunately did not eat it all. But regardless, it was very yummy! After all the food was served, Pikachu came around to all the tables to say hello and do a little dance! Every seating has a different Pikachu I've noticed (from others' photos) There are 2 colours Pikachu wears: Blue or Red! (first time I went was red) There might be another colour, but Im not actually sure! (Every time I am in Japan and go to the Pokemon Centre or, in this case, the cafe, I am always reminded of how deeply I LOOOVVVEEEEE Pokemon and Nintendo!!!)

HELLO KITTY 50TH ANNIVERSARY CAFE

This was a small pop-up on the basement floor of Shibuya 109! I didn't take too many photos because I was distracted with my new friend who I finally got to meet in person (She is a DJ and created a special mix for my Otakuthon Fashion Show!)

There were lots of apple motifs, since that's Hello Kitty's favourite food~ I got a coronation chicken sandwich and apple soda, both were SO SO GOOD! We took some purikura afterwards and it turned our eyes GIANT!

COFFEE ZINGARO

This cozy and retro themed cafe is located in Nakano Broadway. Not like the other cafes I shared, but definitely a good one! I love Murakami's artwork, specifically his iconic happy flower of course! There weren't too many options to pick from, but they had a sandwich option, some CUTE muffins (which I might go back for 1) and the pancake with the Murakami flower imprinted on it! I obviously got that haha and it was tasty~ I got a matcha latte to drink, which usually, I don't like drinking matcha too much. But this one was a perfect balance of sweet and a little bitter matcha flavour.