Japan’s maid cafes are basically themed cafes where the waitresses are dressed as (usually) French maids, you know the outfits, a black dress with white trim. Ruffles perhaps. Half a white lace ruffled apron. And a headpiece or a bonnet. They’ll call you master. Or mistress. And serve you cute omelets or ice cream. And sing songs with you. If that all sounds kind of weird to you, then you’re in the right place. It sounded super strange to us, so, we decided to go and check it out for ourselves. Here’s what we learned about Maid Cafes in Japan, where to find them, what to expect at a Maid Cafe, and our Maid Cafe Akihabara review and experiences.
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We very nearly didn’t go to a Maid Cafe in Japan. I mean it felt kind of strange right? Young women dressing up as maids, serving you potentially weird food and calling you master and mistress. It definitely sounded like it was going to be weird. And potentially a bit icky. Or sleazy. But there must be something to them as the first permanent maid cafe opened its doors in Tokyo in 2001 and they’ve positively boomed in recent years. So we decided to go on our recent visit to Japan. It was fun. Unusual to us, yes, but fun. And on this trip, we were looking to check off some very unique Japanese experiences.
EASIEST WAY TO VISIT
Enjoy a Japanese pop culture maid cafe experience at Maidreamin in Tokyo. Play games, sing songs and eat cute food.
Don’t miss out on this fun experience for all of the family.
Japan has a whole host of themed cafes. Pokemon Cafe? Harry Potter Cafe? Vampire Cafe? Animal cafe? Yeah. Japan’s got them all. And while you might think they were designed for you the tourist, they actually came about because of Japanese culture. And a specific element of it called “Otaku Culture”. Otaku generally means those who are deeply, deeply interested in a particular element of pop culture – specifically anime, manga, and other forms of Japanese (or East Asian) culture. Under the veneer of the fun kitsch is that these cafes allow those who frequent the cafes to escape into a fantasy world for at least a time.
Maid Cafes have been traditionally associated with the Akihabara district in Tokyo, which is famous for its anime and manga stores as well as electronics. Akihabara is generally a place for Otaku to visit and themed cafes were built around them as clients. Today Akihabara’s Maid Cafes are popular with foreign tourists as well as Japanese domestic visitors. (On our visit, we were the only foreign visitors in the Maid Cafe!)
What is a Maid Cafe?
Maid Cafes are a type of cosplay restaurant that you’ll find most of in Japan and Taiwan. Cosplay is performance art. And a cosplay restaurant or cafe is, well cosplaying and delivering food and an experience for the paying customer. The term cosplay is a combination of the words “costume” and “play” and it means “dressing up as a character from fiction”
At a Japanese Maid Cafe, the waitresses dress up in costumes, based on the outfit of a French Maid or a ladies’ maid from the Victorian era and early 20th century. They act as servants, treat customers as “masters” or “mistresses”, they’ll chat with you, sing on a stage (it is performance art after all), and serve you drinks and food, that they’ll decorate with “cute” designs.
What Happens at a Maid Cafe?
All Maid cafes are pay-to-play. So there’s a minimum amount that you have to pay – the entry fee. And this entry free to the maid cafe covers you for a set amount of time (usually an hour). In addition, there’s a minimum spend on food and beverages for each time period that you’re there. When you’ve reached the end of your hour, or the time period that you’ve paid for, then you will charged for another time period if you want to stay longer. There are different prices for adults and children (children are cheaper, but there is still the requirement for a minimum spend on food and beverages). Even if you don’t want anything to eat you’ll have to pay the minimum food and beverage charge.
There are usually different prices on an evening if the maid cafe that you’ve chosen is open on an evening.
Where to find Maid Cafes in Tokyo
The district of Akihabara in Tokyo is where you’ll find most of the Maid Cafes – and you’ll definitely spot the maids in the streets, advertising the cafe that they work for. You can take your chances and go with one of these, but just because they’re out touting for business for the Maid Cafe, doesn’t mean that you won’t have to line up when you get to the cafe. Remember, in Japan, it’s always best to prebook.
And as the maid cafes also support a domestic market, you’ll want to go for a maid cafe where you know they’ll speak English.
The first permanent Maid Cafe in Akihabara is the Cure Maid Cafe in the Gatchapon Kaikan on the 6th floor. It’s been there since 2001. And unlike the flouncy maid uniforms of the Maidreamin team, you’ll find these maids wear much more prim and proper Victorian-style outfits. If you’re looking for classy rather than kitsch, then this is where you should come. There are more details on the Cure Maid Cafe here.
If you’re looking for unique experiences in Japan –don’t miss staying at a ryokan, be sure to go and see Sumo practice, go on a Toyota factory tour, make your own cup noodles, see Cherry Blossom and stay in a Capsule Hotel. There are definitely more unique things to do in Japan, but these are a great start!
Best Maid Cafes in Akihabara for English Speakers
The Maidreamin chain of Maid Cafes are the best Akihabara Maid Cafes in Tokyo for English speakers, where you’ll get to experience the eccentricity that is the cosplay cafe lifestyle, but also be able to (mostly) understand it.
Maidreaming Maid Cafes
This is one of the largest maid cafe chains in Japan. There are 20 cafes in Japan and there are more than 500 maids employed at them. The first Maidreamin cafe was opened in 2008 in Akihabara. Maidreamin cafes are generally recognized as the best maid cafes for foreign visitors. Each of the different Maidreamin stores is decorated slightly differently, which basically means that the color schemes are different, but the general experience is exactly the same.
Klook.comWhat to Eat at a Maid Cafe
Most maid cafes in Japan serve a (small) variety of main dishes and desserts. One of the staples (and I must admit we’d been looking forward to this) is omurice – an omelet filled with rice. All the food is decorated, personally by your maid with ketchup if it’s a savory dish. This isn’t the extraordinary culinary experience of Japanese Food that you’ll get if you have a meal at a ryokan (read about our ryokan experience here) but it is good fun. In a slightly hysterical way.
The menu for most of the maid cafes is pretty similar. You’ll usually be offered a combo deal that includes an amount of time in the cafe, and options for drinks and food. The savory options on offer at maid cafes tend to be
- Omurice aka Omelette Rice
- Omelette with gravy or curry sauce
- Japanese Curry with rice
- Hamburger with rice
- Animal ice cream parfaits – ice cream and creams shaped into bears, bunnies, or cats.
We opted for one omurice with Japanese curry, which was decorated personally for me with ketchup and one ice cream parfait. The food isn’t haute cuisine, but it also wasn’t bad. You can see menu options for Maidreamin in Akihabara here. Note that if you pre-book your tickets you don’t have to select your meals when you book, you pick them when you arrive.
Our Maid Cafe Akihabara Review & Experience
Pre-booking experiences and accommodation is not just the cultural norm in Japan it’s also required, especially if you’re traveling in high season. If you don’t pre-book experiences like a Maid Cafe in Akihabara, then you can expect a wait time of about 2 hours. And when you’re visiting Japan there’s so much to do and so many unique experiences, you really DON’T want to add waiting in line for two hours unless you absolutely have to!
We pre-booked our Maid Cafe experience in Akihabara and were able to walk straight in for our 13:00 appointment time. Space in Japan is at a premium, and so the Maid Cafe was on the third floor, up some less than salubrious stairs, or an elevator that we avoided. And into a smallish room with about 20 tables, mostly for two people, but some for four. There’s a kitchen serving area and a stage.
Klook.comOur table was set up waiting for us. And we’d pre-booked a combination food and drink deal. You generally pay for a set period of time in a Maid Cafe, and sometimes it includes food – this ticket does – and if you decide to stay longer, then there’s an additional charge. After all, you’re paying for your maid’s time and your time at the table as well as the food and drink that you consume.
And our waitress.
We were welcomed by the maid who’d been assigned to us, she chattered away mainly in Japanese with the occasional English phrase, and our opening ceremony of welcome ended with clapping and chanting that we were encouraged to join in with (you end up just following along). And to be honest, as soon as you realize that if it does feel ridiculous, no one cares, everyone in here is invested in it and it’s actually fun.
Our tickets included a main dish or dessert, a soft drink, glow sticks, which we gave away, several lottery tickets, and a photo with a maid of your choice. Generally, in Maid Cafes you’re not allowed to take photos of the maids, as this is something that you have to pay for. So in Maidreamin, we were able to take photos of the food, and the menu if we wanted to, and at the end of our timed experience we had several photos (our lottery had come up as a winning ticket, which gave us a photo with all the maids).
You can choose whether to take (a single) photo with your cell phone or have the maids use their Polaroid camera, which they’ll instantly print and decorate for you. We opted for one of us to have the Polaroid and for the other, we used my cellphone. But I’ve skipped ahead, let’s get back to the food. And the experience.
There was singing. The lights were dimmed slightly and the top maid took to the stage in a karaoke-esque show that lasted for two songs. The audience (including us) clapped along enthusiastically.
Then our food arrived, and the omelet rice with Japanese curry was pleasant, and decorated especially for us. The ice cream parfait was good too. But before we were allowed to eat it, we had to join in a chant with our maid – “Moe moe kyun” we said. And then we had to heart symbol with our hands. Apparently, this was supposed to make our food taste good. I guess it worked..although who knows, it might have tasted the same if we hadn’t done this.
It seemed like every 15 minutes or so there was a chant happening, there were cute little hand signals, and more fingers in the shape of hearts.
Our experience lasted just over an hour. There was the chance to stay longer, more chants, more heart symbols, and more singing would have ensued. We were the only Western visitors in the Maid Cafe for the entire time of our visit, there was a mix of Japanese folks in, and apart from one guy, all were in their teens or 20’s. All having fun, there was a birthday party going on, and there was a mix of people there by themselves, in twosomes and one group of six girls. It wasn’t what I was expecting.
Any awkwardness we felt was entirely on us. Primarily because we didn’t know what to expect and I did feel slightly hysterical at times, when I was doing the chants, making the hand gestures, and generally clapping along. But hey. When in Rome and all that…
Frequently Asked Questions about Maid Cafes in Japan
Do you have questions about Japan’s Maid Cafes? Or want to know something specific about the Maid Cafes in Akihabara and we haven’t answered your questions? Check out our frequently asked questions about Akihabara’s Maid Cafes below, or ask us yours in the comments.
Are Maid Cafes sleazy?
We didn’t feel that the maid cafe that we went to was sleazy at all. It was strange, kitschy, and definitely an experience, but no, not sleazy. And we didn’t see any sleazy behaviour from customers while we were there.
What’s the clientele like in Maid Cafes?
It’s a real mix. We were the only foreign visitors during our time slot. All bar one of the customers was younger than us, lots of both men and women in their teens, 20s and 30s. A big mix of couples, singles, and one group of six.
What’s the food like in Maid Cafes?
It was more fun to look at than it was superb cuisine. Think omelet with rice or an omelet with Japanese curry and fancy ice cream parfaits. Definitely edible and we finished it all.
Are Maid Cafe’s kid-friendly?
Yes, maid cafes are kid-friendly.
Do Maid Cafes serve Alcohol?
Yes. You can buy alcoholic drinks in Maid Cafes.
Can you take photos in Maid Cafes in Japan?
Yes, but there are rules. Usually, you cannot take photos of the maids, without their express permission. Depending on the maid cafe that you go to, you can take photos of the food, of the menus and as part of your package, you can usually take one photo with your phone or camera of you and your maid.
Travel Tips for Exploring Japan
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- Get online immediately with an eSIM for Japan
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- Download and install a VPN BEFORE you travel to Japan > discount coupon here
- Read our guide to the Japan Rail Pass here
- Buy your Japan Rail Pass before you arrive in Japan
- You can buy JR Passes from Klook > check details here
- Or buy JR Passes from JRailPass here with delivery in 24-48 hours (including to your hotel in Japan)
- Book the best tours and guides in Japan on, GetYourGuideand Klook
- Want to know what its like at a Maid Cafe?
- Read about experiencing Sumo Practice in Japan
- Read about staying in a Ryokan town in Japan
- Learn to cook Japanese food in Chef’s kitchens in Japan
- Read about ATM fees in Japan here.
- Save money in Japan with a Wise debit card
- Find the right accommodation for you via Booking.com
- Book an incredible ryokan experience in Japan
Final Words on our Maid Cafe Akihabara Experience
Kitsch, funny and weird. But we’re really glad we went. I’d expected it to be a bit sleazy and definitely weird. And yes it was weird, but not sleazy at all. Going to a Maid Cafe in Japan is definitely a fun experience, but you have to throw yourself into it and join in. This isn’t a spectator sport. Join in, go along with it and you’ll have great fun. I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time we were there.
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