Die Katze - The lack of joy of an English tea in a German Cat cafe in Japan!

Tokyo Japan 

Address: 202 Sunmall No.7 Bldg., 1-19-8 Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo

Website: www.tea-a.gr.jp/shop/shop_info/die.html

Delighted to welcome our next guest blogger - Sue Collins . As well as accompanying me on many delicious afternoon teas over the years, Sue and her husband go on some really exotic trips and have a collective very sweet tooth - so I am delighted to welcome her to the blog - and hopefully this will be the first of her many posts from near and far flung places !  

Tokyo, Japan.  April 2014

Named after the German word for cat, the manager of Die Katze is the adorable cat, Koenig. The café is located right by Shinjuku-gyoenmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, and on a nice day it’s a lovely stroll from Shinjuku. There are over 30 varieties of tea on offer as well as baked sweets like scones and brownies. Special lunch sets, which of course include tea, are also available. (Time out Japan)

This photo of Die Katze is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Nearing the end of our 2 week trip to Japan we were dying for a good old pot of English Breakfast tea and some ‘English’ cake, served with grace and in an elegant setting.  Or even a cream tea!  The many bakeries we had come across sold the Japanese equivalent to our cakes and biscuits – wagashi – made of red bean paste and glutinous rice, and often brightly coloured.  Green tea, on first tasting had a ‘creamy’ pleasing taste, but later started to turn my stomach!  So the hunt was on for a tearoom or cafe tucked away, with as the Japanese are fond of some novelty value.   What better than to discover that Tokyo has a couple of cat cafes, that do a mean pot of tea and slice of cake.  Being a lover of felines I was sold!  

Die Katz, named after the German word for cat, is in the Shinjuku region of Tokyo, tucked away round the back in an area of local housing and businesses.  We nearly missed the cafe, as there was no signage and it was upstairs above another little business.  We met 3 of the resident cats, and enjoyed stroking them and generally making a fuss of them – free to do if you order food and drink.  Otherwise you could pay by the half hour for the privilege – note to self could possibly think about doing this with my dogs if things get desperate!  

The actual cafe was a bit like someone’s front room with a counter and some table and chairs.  Stuff everywhere, including wine to buy, but cosy.  A strange menu, not a sandwich in sight, but you could order spaghetti and then have scones and cake.  We passed on this and went straight to the scone and cake option, both having rather a sweet tooth.  There was a wide choice of tea, all served in proper pots, with fresh milk, tea strainers and cups and saucers.   However I have never in my whole life had such awful cake or scones.  Totally stale.  So dry that even with the dollop of cream provided they were inedible.  I can’t remember the time I have ever been out for tea and not even finished one half of a scone or one slice of cake.   Not cheap, but average for Japanese prices.  Such a disappointing tea and one I will never forget for various reasons.
Sue Collins



Wow - fascinating ! Sounds odd to us that you would have cats in a cafe- not entirely sure I would like to go here but sounds like an experience for sure !