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Maid cafes 2010/1/11 15:16
Hello, I have some questions on Maid Cafes:
1) Are there 'cover charges' in Maid Cafes?
2) Are women allowed in Maid Cafes? Or are there any which is better for women?
3) What to expect in a Maid Cafe? Dos and don'ts?
4) What are the price ranges in Maid Cafes?
5) Where can I find an inexpensive one in Tokyo? Any recommendations?

Another question: Any suggestions on things to do/places to go in Tokyo city in the evening (7-9pm)? (aside from clubs/bars, as we have an 'elderly' with us, we want to avoid these places)

Thanks so much! :)
by Kat (guest)  

Just from my Experience 2010/1/13 10:51
I work in Akihabara and have been to plenty of maid cafés here.

#1: No cover charges, but you are required to buy at least a drink (even if you already buy food). Some do charge by the hour (about $10 per hour), and you could consider that a cover charge since you do have to pay for the first hour. But if I recall that place correctly we only had to pay the charge as a group, not per-person.
#2: I have never been in a maid café in which there were not female customers as well.
#3: Maid cafés do not have any special rules on behavior. The behavior you use in any regular restaurant will be fine. The girls will usually try to talk to you. Try to keep the conversation clean. Small-time flirting is okay, but will make you look like an ass. They get that all the time and it just annoys them. You can look but not touch. Although they are playing off certain fetishes, if they allowed ANY form of sexual behavior at all they would be completely overrun by creeps, so even though it stems from a fetish, it is best to think of it as a fun and unusual setting and nothing more.
#4: The prices are always high but vary. Even the most basic meal will be around $10. They only go up from there. The average ratio is something like 4 times the price of regular street food. But of course paying a bit extra is okay every once-in-a-while.
The actual food tastes the same, but they will make the dinner fun by having everyone cast gmagich on the food to make it more delicious.
#5: Akihabara is FULL of maid cafés. Any exit will take you to streets filled with maids holding signs advertising their shops.
Best bet is the Electric Town Exit heading towards UDC.
You will see plenty of maids and samurai maids everywhere, and you can take your pick.
They will guide you to the place if you can not find it.





I can not help with your second question. I just go home every night after work.
by Shawn W rate this post as useful

... 2010/1/13 11:23
In the evenings, you could go to high-rise buildings where you can get good views over the city, for example, Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Tower, or even Tokyo Metropolitan Government building (Shinjuku).

7 to 9 PM would be prime dinner time - maybe you could pick a nice Japanese restaurant in a high-rise hotel as well, or any other nice restaurant for that matter.

(This is not a recommendation, but just as reference)
Hato Bus (bus tour operator) has something like these:
http://www.hatobus.com/en/course/night_2010.html
by AK rate this post as useful

Evenings 2010/1/14 02:13
I agree with AK. It would be really nice to go to one of the observation decks in Tokyo, the views really are stunning:)

For dinner with a view hehe, i recommend the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Building. There is a sky restaurant on the same floor (45th if i remember correctly) as the observation deck which looked very reasonable considering its location (i was there in november) :)
by ichigokuma (guest) rate this post as useful

maids 2010/1/14 07:09
to the OP: if you don't speak fluent Japanese a maid cafe will not be interesting at all. Even if the maid spoke English it would be likely very basic and boring too.
by Monkey see (guest) rate this post as useful

Thanks! 2010/1/14 10:14
Thanks for all the replies!

I can only speak basic Japanese, so nope I'm not fluent. Thought of giving the maid cafe a try. Will be going to Akihabara, so will check it out when I'm there.

Thanks for the suggestions on stuff to do at night. Will put that in my list.

Thanks again. :)
by Kat (guest) rate this post as useful

maid cafe 2010/1/16 07:15
hello. I went to a few maid cafes before with friends, and from my experiences...

1) Depends on the cafe. The first two maid cafes I went to were exactly like a normal cafe, where you only have to pay for the food and can have a relaxing lunch. But then I went to a cafe called @home cafe in Akihabara, where we had to pay 700 yen per person just to get in. This cafe was more eventful, though, and was more about interactions with the maids (frequent performances on a stage, rock paper scissors, a membership card given, and other interesting but semi-creepy perks). If you have to pay a cover charge do not expect a nice quiet private lunch, I guess.

2) They are; I am female and I went into a maid cafe without trouble. Went with a group of female friends, too. They will call you ojousama instead of goshujinsama. :p

3) Don't touch the maids, harass the maids, take pictures without permission. One big no-no that was extremely rude that my American friend didn't think of was when we were trying to sit at a maid cafe table and were one seat short for our 5 person group, she tried to drag a chair from another table to make our 4 seater table into a 5-seater. The maids looked horrified and we had to split between 2 separate tables. Don't do this. :p

@home cafe also had a list of cafe rules that you have to agree to before you can even enter. Stuff like when you were allowed to order and how long you were allowed to stay.

4) I went to a cheap one that was about the same as a regular cafe (about 900yen for a full set lunch including drink). Seems they usually charge 200~600yen for a drink. @home cafe was a lot more expensive though.. 700yen entrance fee, 400+yen drinks, 1000+yen food. And yet the entrance line was going out the door, so probably the more popular maid cafes are more expensive?

5) There was a pleasant inexpensive one in Akihabara. I don't remember what the name was; there are so many! @home cafe is one of the most popular but probably the most expensive, so keep that in mind if you see it.

Also if you are female you may also want to consider visiting a butler cafe during your visit.
by mimi (guest) rate this post as useful

Thanks to mimi 2011/3/25 16:04
I haven't been yet to a maids' cafe. Now that you ask that question I was to ask a friend of mine but she didn't have answers too for we are both stranger to a maids' cafe. Thanks to mimi she posted. :)
by dominicgrieg rate this post as useful

.. 2011/3/26 11:22
I disagree with the above poster who said if you can't speak fluent Japanese a Maid Cafe won't be interesting! My Japanese is very very far from fluent, and i took my 2 sisters who were visiting from home, both of whom speak ZERO Japanese, and we all still had a good time. While us foreigners may have a totally different experience (and expectation) to a Japanese person, it's one of those things you can only do in Japan, so I say you gotta try it!
by mollii (guest) rate this post as useful

@home 2011/3/26 12:01
Actually i visited the @home maid cafe too (just like mimi).

I had a fantastic time!Yes it is quite expensive but since i was going to do this only once i thought it was completely worth it.
Even though i was with Japanese friends... their menus had explanations in English so i could understand anyways.
I got my ojousama card and you actually get to choose if you want to play a 1-1 board kinda game with them or take a photo (you get to choose which maid u wanna play the game or take the photo with too). Then they decorate your photo with hearts and lil kawaii stuff.
Also they did lil "magic" and sing a song in order to make ur drinks or food tastier (^_^) and yes you do have to read the rules before entering but that just makes it even more fun :D

Oh and i'm a girl and didn't feel weird or uncomfortable at all!If u r with friends then ull have a blaast!!!!!
Just Enjoooooooy!!!You will loooove the experience!!!


P.S: They actually have a bit more mmm "specific" maid cafes too where the maids treat u really bad and are being rude... i guess there are men that this hehehe i didn't have enough time to go but i WILL visit one of them for sure when i go in October!!!!!!
by Dafy rate this post as useful

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