Pokémon Cafe in Nihonbashi Tokyo ~ A short guide

Pokémon Cafe in Nihonbashi Tokyo ~ A short guide

Sep 4, 2018 | Travel, Travel Reports | 1 comment

This year a new and permanent Pokémon Cafe opened in Nihonbashi (Tokyo) in the Takashiyama east Building (5th Floor).
Pokémon already hosted several pop up cafes(limited time) in the last years. But due to conflicting time schedules I never had the chance to visit one.

The Pokémon Cafe in Nihonbashi was opened this year with a new Pokémon center, which is directly next to the café.
If you want to get a place in the café, you have to reserve online beforehand or hope to get a free seat of someone who canceled or didn’t showed up last minute.

The reservation can be made online:
You can reserve 31 days in advance. The slots are open at 6 pm (Japanese time).
If you are a bigger group I would recommend you to book early. You can cancel the table for free a day before till 10 pm (by phone!).
They have A-C seats and D seats. D Seats are the seats at the counter (long table in the middle). If you are alone you have to choose a D Seat, if you are a group from 2-4 persons, you can choose any other seat.
For more than 4 people you have to reserve 2 tables.
A Seats are directly at the window and B and C seats are located in the inner seating area.
We booked some A seats to get a better view of the whole café.

D Seats

B and C Seats
Entrance


When you arrive at the entrance of the café, there are 2 lines.
1 for the people who have reserved (you just line up there 10-15 minutes before your reserved slot) and another line for people who try to get a free spot without reservation.

Starting from a certain time you can get a slot for a certain time of the same day. You might line up at 3 pm for a slot at 5 pm.

It is really inconvenient and the café is super popular so I really would recommend to reserve.

We just lined up and a staff member got us to our seats (you just have to tell them your reservation name).


You have 90 min time and can order everything through an iPad.


The iPad provides an English version of the menu, so it is pretty easy even for foreigners to order tasty Pokémon stuff.
You are allowed to run around and take pictures freely, which is pretty uncommon for theme cafes in Japan.
The ordering pad
The Coasters
For a certain amount of orders you can win coasters. The Staff walks from table to table and you just choose you favorite Pikachu. Randomly you will get a certain coaster.


The food is real Instagram material and super cute and beautiful. Nearly a waste to eat it.
They have dessert, main dishes, drinks and you also can order exclusive souvenirs from the Café.
The price range is approximately between 500 to 3.000 yen. Compared to normal restaurant pries the café is a bit above average, the food taste ok but I think we are aware that you are paying for the feeling and the satisfaction of your nerdy needs. J
With the food you can also order the plate or the cup for an extra 1.000 Yen. But no worries, they will get you a new and clean one at the check out.


At every slot Pikachu will come over for a small dance and photo session. The mascot will dance for you and visit every table for a short picture and “meet and greet”. It was super super cute.

After finishing you just go to the cashier and the exit and pay. They also hand you the plates or cups, in case you ordered some.

At the opposite of the cashier you can buy more souvenirs, which are only available at this Pokémon café.


My opinion:



I really loved this experience and if you are a Pokémon fan this is definitely a must go if you might visit Tokyo. The staff is accustomed to foreigners, which makes the visit for English speaking visitors pretty easy.

Unlike to other cafes you are allowed to make pictures, which I really appreciated. I really loved how the food looks and loved Pikachu’s small visit (it was really damn cute…).
The food is a bit pricy and not the tastiest but still the atmosphere and experience was amazing.

If you are tight on budget just go there for a drink (btw 1 order per person is required) and enjoy the atmosphere.

Informations:


Name:
Pokemon Café


Address:
〒103-0027 Tokyo, Chūō, Nihonbashi, 2 Chome−11−2; Takashiyama east bld. 5F
Access:
JR Tokyo Station (Yaesu north exit 5 min walk)/ Nipponbashi Station (Exit B2 4 min walk
Opening hours:
10:30 am – 22:00 pm (last order food 21 pm)
Price range:

Drinks from ~ 800 Yen (cheaper with food)
Food from ~ 1.500 Yen
Dessert from ~ 1.100 Yen

webdesign

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Okonomiyaki recipe (German fry pan style)

Okonomiyaki recipe (German fry pan style)

Apr 5, 2018 | Cosplay Tutorial, Travel, Travel Reports | 0 comments

Okonomiyaki:
Okonomiyaki is often described as a Japanese pizza. It can be filled with various Ingredients like fish, cheese, bacon, ricecake or different vegetables.
Normally its made on a hot plate (Teppanyaki), but because I sadly live in Germany I developed my own way to make Okonomiyaki in 2 fry pans.
You can change the filling to your liking, although cabbage is more or less the filling you will found in nearly every Okonomiyaki.
I love noodles, this is why I went for a Yakisoba base. You can also skip the Yakisoba part and go with a plain egg base. ^_-
Ingredients (6 portions)

For the batter:

1,5 cups fleur
2 cups water
1 small bag of Dashimoto
oil

Filling:

Pizza Cheese
1/2 cabbage
Champignons
Bacon stripes (12)
6 eggs
3 packs of Chuuka soba
Okonomiyaki sauce
Mayonnaise
Yakisoba sauce
Bonito flakes
Nori flakes
As for the Yakisoba/ Okonomiyaki sauces: I like to use the brand “Otafuku”. I tried out various brands and just love the taste of this sauces. You can also make the sauces by yourself.
Preparations:
1) Cook the Chuuka soba and mix the soba with the Yakisoba sauce (like instructed on the package).
2) Chop the vegetables into small pieces.
3) Mix the Dashimoto, water and fleur until the lumps
disappeared.
Now we can start!

1) Pan 1: Fill some batter into the pan, wait a bit and top it with cheese
Pan 2: Fry the bacon until its crispy
2) Pan 1: Top the Batter with Cabbage, champions. Add some batter on the top and afterwards the bacon.
Pan 2: Fry 1 egg
3) Pan 1: Flip the whole thing (if some cabbage drops out, just push it under the batter after flipping). Wait until the cabbage is more or less cooked (to your liking).
4) Pan 2: Put the egg onto a plate. Top the egg with the prepared Yakisoba.
5) Pan 1: Take the batter and put it on the yakisoba.
6) Decorate it with Okonomiyaki sauce, Mayonnaise, Bonito and Nori
Enjoy!
Some hacks:
1) If you don’t like raw cabbage, fry it before adding the cabbage to the batter
2) If you use 2 pancake turners, its easier to flip the Okonomiyaki
3) Press the Okonomiyaki with the pancake turner in Step 3) from time to time in the pan.
Also press the Yakisoba on to the Egg after step 3). If you flatten it out, its easier to eat afterwards and don’t look like the tower of Pisa.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.


And no worries this will not become a cooking blog.
Im not good at cooking at all. Actually Okonomiyaki is the only food I can make. XD