Best 6 Maid Cafes in Shinjuku
Maid cafés are taking Japan by storm. Most of the maid cafés are found in Akihabara, but Shinjuku also has some of its own.
Maid cafés give patrons the opportunity to sit back, enjoy some good food and be treated like a true master or mistress. Waitresses are usually dressed in French Maid outfits and are often giggly, cute and shy. Many of the visitors to the cafés are considered “otaku”, lovers of all things anime and manga, but these venues are quickly becoming popular with tourists from all over the world.
The maids are always friendly and each café has quirky aspects, making each one unique. Some maid cafés are themed, and others just follow the traditional maid café formula. The food varies from each maid café to the next, but it is usually good, and if you are lucky your maid will decorate it with cute pictures at your table.
Take some time to visit one or two of the maid cafés in Shinjuku when you are next in town, there is a maid café for each taste!
Rules when visiting a maid café
Most maid cafés run by the same set of rules. While the smaller and more informal cafés might bend the rules slightly, you should always find out what you are allowed to do before just doing it. Following the rules will help you have an enjoyable and fun experience.
Do not touch the maids
The waitresses/maids are there playing a role, and they do it really well. Touching them or trying to pick them up is considered highly disrespectful and it will not be taken lightly by management.
Do not snap photos
Most maid cafés do not allow for photos to be taken, even of yourself inside the café. If photos are allowed, you should always ask for permission before taking a pic. The cafés are very strict on this rule, and believe you should pay to experience the vibe first hand.
Do not ask for the maids numbers
The maids come to work to work, not to find love. While it is a fun experience and the maids become quite involved in their role of serving you, it is not a personal role and it is really important to remember this. Keep up the happy and friendly atmosphere, but do not cross this line.
Maidreaming
Maidreaming is one of the more popular maid cafés in Japan. The waitresses wait for you in puffy maid dresses, adorned with cute little cat ears or frilly headpieces. They greet you hello and get you to participate in a little chant and ‘opening ceremony’ in order to kick off your maid café experience. It is quite an overwhelming welcome, but it is as true to the maid café culture as you can get.
The food is good, and you can even order curry which comes served in the shape of a teddy bear. Your waitress or maid will decorate your food at your table, drawing hearts or cats with a sauce. There is no table charge, but in order to visit the café you will need to order at least a drink.
Maidreaming will give you one of the most comprehensive maid café experiences out there. They tick all the boxes and the maids are all giggly, cute and ready to serve. There is usually a time limit to the tables, but you can pay more to be able to stay longer if you want.
Not all the maids can speak English, but there is an English menu and they do make every effort to communicate with English speaking guests. The maids sometimes put on little performances consisting of cute dances and clapping, so hopefully you will catch one during your visit.
Maidreaming | Address: 3-22-10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0022 | Phone: +81 362 723 263 | Website: https://maidreamin.com/multilp/
ItaCafé
This maid café isn’t like the rest. Here, the waitresses are dressed in Russian maid attire. It is a heavily themed maid café, and the maids follow suit. Instead of cute, upbeat Japanese pop music, the background is filled with symphonic opera music, which sets the tone for this unique dining experience.
The owner of the restaurant is well known cosplayer Anastasia Rezinkova (Nastyan), who wants to use the restaurant to introduce Japan to traditional Russian food. She says that Russian characters and culture are becoming prevalent in Japanese pop culture, and uses the Russian figure skater in Yuri on Ice as an example. She saw a gap in the market, and hence came the Russian maid café.
All the food on the menu is considered to be traditional Russian family cooking, and if you catch it on the right night, you will be treated to vodka shots and pickle chasers later in the evening, along with a Baltika beer. This completes the vibe of the restaurant and really helps locals or even tourists immerse themselves in Russian culture and cuisine, but from the comfort of Shinjuku.
The café is a great mix of old-school Russia and modern day anime. It is a break from the usual maid cafés and offers up a unique and memorable experience. With anime becoming more inclusive of outside influences, it is a perfect modern mix of old and new.
ItaCafe | Address: 101-0021, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 4-6-10| Phone: +81 070 5013 7600 | Website: https://www.itacafe.com/
Cure Maid Café
Cure Maid Café is the mother of all maid cafés. It was the first to open back in 2001, kicking off the phenomenon. The maids dress in more traditional costume, with Victorian-era styled costumes, this is quite different to the bright and frilly costumes other maid cafés use. What is different about this café is that the maids remain reserved and quiet. They will check up on the patrons but are not loud and obtrusive as maid cafés have become known to be. You are allowed to take photos of the maids at Cure Maid Café, but you do need to ask permission first and they do check the photo before you leave.
The food is quite good and there is a range of options to order. You will be able to enjoy your food in a relaxed, classy and calm environment.
Cure Maid Café offers you an authentic, original experience. If you enjoy the Japanese Otaku pop-culture, but sometimes find the other maid cafés to be too much for you, then the distant and old-fashioned service at Cure Maid is perfect for you. It also gives you a great chance to see where all the maid café culture kicked off!
Cure Maid Café | Address: 3-Chome – 15 – 5 Sotokanda, Chiyoda | Phone: +81 3-3258 3161 | Website: www.curemaid.jp
Schatz Kiste
This might not be the name of a maid café you would expect to find in Japan, but maid cafés are full of surprises.
The theme takes a while to wrap your head around, it is a mixture of a German tea house, an American games room and a home-library. Inside the café is a fairly well stocked library, with books shelved along the walls and board-games for the customers to play. What makes this such a fun café to is visit is that all the customers who have come to visit are looking to socialize. You can pull out any of their board-games and ask other patrons to join in the game.
The maids are more traditional than other maid cafés. They wear long black dresses and crisp white aprons, along with a pretty white lace headpiece. The maids are not in your face and as frilly as other maid cafés, which may be a bonus to some.
You will need to pay a basic table charge of ¥500 for 30 minutes at your table, and you are not allowed to take photos of the maids or café. There is a new a special wing of the café that can act as a gallery space, where special artworks and anime pieces will be exhibited.
Schatz Kiste is a little bit of German culture, a little bit of American culture and a little Japanese pop-culture mixed into a quiet, elegant space where patrons can enjoy a board game or two, and still be treated respectfully by the maids.
Schatz Kiste | Address: 6-5-11 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021 | Phone: +81 03-5818 4095 | Website: http://schatz-kiste.net
Wonder Parlour Café
This is another café where the maids are dressed in a more subdued, traditional attire. They wear long black dresses, frilled white aprons and matching headpieces. The café is themed on 19th century England, and is complete with all the frills and fittings.
Upon entering the café, you will be greeted respectfully by the maids. There is a comforting and warm feeling to the café, and there is always classical music filling in the background. The menu is quite diverse, you can order a range of pastas, or enjoy a traditional Japanese curry rice dish. After this you can enjoy a large choice of teas, cakes and deserts.
There is also something special for the ladies who visit Wonder Parlour Café. There are male waiters who dress up in authentic Victorian butler outfits. It is one of the few places where women receive special treatment, and this is an experience that any lover of maid cafés should try. It is a break from the usual loudness of other maid cafés, and transports you back to the Victorian era, all while eating some Japanese curry!
Wonder Parlour Café | Address: 3-9-15 Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku | Phone: +81 03-3989 8224 | Website: http://wonder-parlour.com
Shangrila
This maid café gives you a very different take on the usual maid cafés found around Tokyo. Here, the maids are all well-rounded, heavier set women. The café isn’t run by skinny cosplay maids, instead it promotes a positive body image, often called ‘bositive’. The café wants to help women and men, learn that you don’t have to be skinny to be cute, and that the stigma that being overweight is bad, is not okay.
It is a breath of fresh air into the sometimes stagnant culture, and it is giving those who may have felt left-out because of their weight a chance to be included in all things otaku and cosplay. It might be a little bit outside of Shinjuku, but it deserves to be visited.
The food served at Shangrila is all fresh and organic, and is prepared by an Italian chef! He uses a brick oven to prepare the food, and the café is well-known for its amazing tasting healthy pizza! The healthy menu goes with the body positive image, and reinforces the fact that no matter what you look like, you deserve to take care of yourself and you deserve to take part in anything you want.
As for the maids, they all look super cute in their pastel pinafores and headpieces, and sometimes love to wear little cat ears as well!
Shagrila | Address: 3-1-15 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku | Phone: +81 03-5577 5994 | Website: http://shangrila-akiba.jp
The Best Maid Cafés in Shinjuku
Tokyo is the epicenter of maid café culture. There are so many different cafés to choose from, but most of them fall within Akihabara. You might be able to find one or two walking around the streets of Shinjuku, but if you are looking for the real and authentic maid café experience, you might have to travel a little outside the city lines.
Whether you become a frequent visitor, or are just looking for a quirky place to catch lunch on your way through Shinjuku, a maid café will definitely keep you entertained. Fulfill your dreams of being referred to as master or mistress and be surrounded by cute and quirky maids, or respectful, quiet maids – there really is a café for each taste!
As much as the cafés are there for the entertainment of the patrons, it is important to remember that most maid cafés run by a certain set of rules, break them and you won’t be allowed back!
