[leisure] Cat cafe anyone? An afternoon at Toms Cat @ Hongdae, Seoul

I LOVE CATS. I ADORE THEM. LIFE IS SO MUCH BETTER WITH THEM AND MY LIFE WOULD BE PERFECT IF I WERE A CAT. With that in mind, I went to Toms Cat Cafe in Hongdae in search of some consolation for my sad life. The cats were gorgeous. They were super clean and their fur soft as finest silk. But there was something… off about the atmosphere. Most cats were lazy and bored. They ignored you, but not in I-am-a-cat-and-I-am-better-than-you manner, but it was an i-am-trapped-here-i-am-annoyed-so-stop-bothering-me ignorance. I still like them so much, but I do wish I that they had more space and more fun like a cat should have.


You don’t need to pay to play with the cats, but you have to buy a drink. The cheapest one is a tiny cup of lousy drinkable fluid (tea, orange “juice”, americano etc.) for 7000KRW. Coffee, frappe, juice, soda, smoothie and other drinks are available but I didn’t bother. I ordered hot tea.
Before entering the cafe you have to take off your shoes and wear the shop’s flip flops, your hands must be cleaned, and read and understand the sign of not TRYING TO DISTURB THE CATS IN ANYWAY WHATSOEVER (namely if the cats do not want you to touch them, don’t touch. If they are in your embrace and they want to walk away, don’t try to hold them back). Cats matter, you are nothing. But of course :D

There were like 30-40? cats there and they were really really pretty. They were ranked in different levels of friendliness: some are very approachable, most are cold, a few are exceptionally grumpy. I remember that there is a cat which looks exactly like Hitler and it is ranked as exceptionally grumpy. Makes sense.

Now onto photo spam:
Black kitties were quite friendly but some slept like crazyyyy.

What’s up bro?

Keep your hands off me:

Wtf do you want from me?

Melancholy kitty:

I mean kitties:

Wondering about life and death…

Or maybe some just want to get out :(

Some are less philosophical. Apparently, sleeping is much more important:

Some are busy posing for curious cat fanatics:

If you’re lucky, and I mean, VERY lucky, you can take a picture with them:

How many kitties can you count?

Kitty with dangerousness level 1:

It was quite chilled playing with the cats. But it was saddening too. Cats, in my opinion, should have much more space and freedom, because they are such free, independent, and proud creatures.

Toms Cat, 1m -> 11pm, Noon -> midnight (weekend). Hongdae station exit 9.

• cat cafe
• hongdae
• korea
• leisure
• seoul