Yadorigi Cafe: Tokyo Sendagi

Advertised as Japan's first Italian cat cafe, Yadorigi serves Italian food and coffee as well as wine, craft beer and cat-themed cocktails. They're a rescue-cat cafe, so most of the dozen or so resident cats (numbers may vary) are ready for adoption. There's no entry fee or time limit, but you are required to order one food item and one drink item from the menu when you visit.

The playroom-dining space is set up more like a regular cafe than a cat cafe, although there is a box-filled play area at the front of the room, and a long, narrow overhead catwalk that runs the length of the cafe, ending up in a private break area in back. The cats tend to make themselves at home on visitors' coats, bags and laps, so prepare accordingly. The residents all seem to get along pretty well, with lots of social grooming and minimal hissing. You'll find the usual fishing-pole toys if you want to play with them, and cat treats are sold for Y500.

There are separate menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner items, although you can order from any of the menus at any time of day. Lunches like lasagna, other pastas and panini sandwich plates start at around Y1000, and ours was prepared by a young chef who recently moved to Tokyo from Italy. The dinner menu tends more towards wine-friendly snacks like cheese platters (including freshly made burrata) and assorted prosciuttos. Desserts include tiramisu and biscotti.

Tea and espresso beverages are priced at around Y380-750, and French and Italian wines start at Y3500/bottle, Y880/glass, and Y2220/decanter (450ml). Several unusual bottle-conditioned beers from an Italian craft brewery (32 Via dei Birrai) are available at Y2900 for a 750ml bottle. If you're feeling adventurous you can try the Cat Breeze and Cat Lagoon cocktails, or the white-chocolate cello and pistachio cello liqueurs.

animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
animal
Yadorigi Cafe
03-5809-0864
Tokyo Sendagi / Cat cafe
Open 9am-9pm daily.
Purchase one drink and one food item per person
Average visit time: 30-90 minutes
Taito-ku, Yanaka 3-15-1.
6 minutes from Sendagi Station (Chiyoda line); 5 minutes from Nippori Station (JR Yamanote line)