As soon as I heard about it way back in April, I knew that I had to go and tying Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium into my birthday was just so easy.
After having to slightly rearrange my booking due to the first one clashing with Moon's birthday surprise (the staff were super-accommodating about it), we popped over to Shoreditch for around 11am and were delighted to see two cute cats sprawled out in the main shop window (I might have been a bit more delighted than Moon).
Having read the mixed reviews on Trip Advisor (never a good idea) and hearing first hand from Moon's brother that maybe it wasn't as good as it could be, I went in to Lady Dinah's with an open mind and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.
I feel like maybe the cats weren't as in to me as I wanted them to be but knowing how cats are and being the owner of a fairly nonchalant kitty already, I kind of expected it. It was probably because I was quite excited and there were already quite a few people in the cafe fussing over them, and hey, they're used to it so probably aren't overly bothered anyway.
There are quite a few rules about not picking up or feeding the cats, and I completely understand, in fact the whole process of opening a cat cafe must have been a logistical nightmare. The cats seems very happy living cat life though and are pretty harmonious given that there are 11 of them living together. It's great that they have so much space, with an upstairs and downstairs as well as shelves providing the ultimate cat climbing-frame, Doll would love it. ♥
Even Moon was fishing for cats!
'Time spent with cats is never wasted.'
My favourite cat was probably Wookie, mainly for his face, but also for his ballsiness when it came to begging for food and seeing him cooling himself by sitting on one of the fans.
Speaking of food, it was actually delicious. There's quite a range to choose from, including filled croissants and sandwiches as well as a range of different cakes. Moon and I opted for a cream tea, knowing that it would fill us up and also because it's the ultimate decadence, it was my birthday after all. We also got a cronut to try and are total converts, should you visit, their pistachio and salted caramel cronut is devine. Price-wise it's really reasonable too, even when taking into account the £5 entry fee, I'm alright with that as it's for cat maintenance.
Getting rejected :(
I think if I'd gone expecting to be overloaded with kitty affection, I would have been disappointed but I got to stroke a few cats and it was quite a relaxing, chilled out place to eat, with great music. The food being so good made all the difference and the staff were super-friendly. I'm not sure how likely it is that I'd go back again soon but it would be nice to take the time to visit on a quieter day.
Still, it's completely worth the cat-lady pilgrimage, even if it's a bit weird trying to explain what it is to people.
