Taiwan has a lot of novelty cafes: On my first visit to Taiwan I ate good shit at Modern Toilet Restaurant; and I have Taipei’s animal shelter, capybara, and reptile cafes on my radar.
But for now, here in Kaohsiung, I finally visited Miáo To Go (外帶一隻貓) – a cat cafe 30 minutes’ walk from my apartment:
Miáo To Go is on the corner of two quiet side streets, in central Kaohsiung.Outside the cafe, this Haruki Murakami quote translates to “All the troubles, it will be better to have a cat.” (Fist bump!)Here’s the door handle.There are seats outside, but it’s better to eat indoors because……Indoors, there are cats!My friend and I were the only customers when we arrived, half an hour after opening. From the doorway, we saw three cats sleeping to the left.One of two ‘Mercedes-Benz cats’ (賓士貓) was sitting behind the counter, in front of its painted likeness. In Taiwan, cats with this black-and-white facial pattern are so-named because the brand’s logo has a very-slightly-kinda-similar shape.We started by ordering food and drinks. This was the default (Chinese) menu……And here’s the English menu I used. The tea and coffee prices were higher than at most local cafes, although the food prices were fine. Minimum order was NT$100 (NZ$5), with a two-hour time limit.We had a look around while waiting on the food. This door led to the basement……Where there were cat-themed decorations……A new take on The Great Wave off Kanagawa……And this private function room, complete with overhead pathways for cats.Our food was cat-themed, too. I had the cat-shaped vegetarian pizza toast.My friend had pork curry in a cat-paw bowl.The cat-paw brownies and cat-paw cookies were excellent.Some cats were more active than others. One climbed this cat-sized spiral staircase……To watch us from above……Before coming down to watch the world go by……With focused intent……Then returning to the bed……To eventually fall asleep.This Mercedes-Benz cat also slept a lot, in this under-chair hammock. But when awake, it was the friendliest cat by far. Although, over time it became a little too friendly when—as I ate my cat-shaped vegetarian pizza toast—it started licking the sweat off my legs.Meanwhile, when it wasn’t guarding the cutlery……The black-and-brown cat was resting alongside it. Like all the cats that weren’t licking sweat off my legs, it didn’t actively seek attention……Except from Mercedes-Benz.This was the only other (low-key) interaction I saw. Otherwise the cats ignored each other, and the humans too.Having said that, this one was constantly on alert. Although it still tolerated (and possibly enjoyed) light petting.Later, it kindly feigned shock and horror when we got up to leave. (Either that, or it didn’t want a photo from this unflattering angle.) Two hours passed quickly. I’m sure my blood pressure lowered by at least as much as the cat-shaped vegetarian pizza toast raised it. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. The drinks were expensive but good. The cats were friendly enough. And the merch was cool. My rating? 8 out of 10 cats.
