Japanese Themed Restaurants and Cafes

I'm sure you've seen at least one article about a wacky cafe in Japan. Cat Cafes, Owl Cafes, Maid Cafes,  Prison restaurants, video game-themed restaurants. It seems Japan is always coming up with some bizarre or wild themes to go with your dining experience. Sometimes they are themed for a super-fan, so if you don't know much about the franchise, the experience might be lost on you.

I felt like that at the Biohazard (Resident Evil) themed cafe. Don't get me wrong, the place was outrageous with props displayed in cases, neat lighting, and even a short show of young ladies in short-shorts dancing with guns as a Nemisis replica is in a large lit tube trying to escape. Oh, and they danced to Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life".... Yeah, in fact, a lot of the music playing while we ate were 90's pop. It was super surreal. The food we ate was also sub-par and overpriced, but that's what you get with a tourist attraction, which is generally what these are. Otaku tourist traps. So if you're into the fandom, I recommend trying out a fandom-themed cafe!

This next trip I'm hoping to give the Final Fantasy Cafe, Eorzea, a try! You do need to buy tickets to get in, so thankfully they have this site that shows you how to obtain them through Lawson's. You even get a free drink doing it this way!

If they don't cater to your fandom, maybe try out a Cat Cafe, Owl Cafe, Rabbit Cafe, or whatever animal-theme you're into. If it's cuddly, they probably have a cafe for it!

What if you want adorable humans with your overpriced food? How about a maid cafe? These cafes come in all types and themes too, from your normal lolita-esque maids, to traditional kimono and hime maids, to even cross dressing men as maids. It seems some places have a table charge, and you also can't take pictures of the maids. I've never been to a maid cafe, so I'm unsure if there's much of a language barrier. Their cute sayings and flirtings may be lost to one without much knowledge of the Japanese language.

And if cute animals and maids aren't your thing. Looking for something darker? How about going to prison? Last time I was in Japan a friend took us to this brilliant restaurant called The Lock Up.
It was great and the food was good too. We played sushi roulette (one piece was entirely filled with wasabi), and they had some really good nachos! CNN made a list of the Top 5 Strangest Theme Restaurants.

Go try one of these bizarre food experiences. I hope it's a good one!