Cafe Review #1: Cat U House
Bad day? These adorable cats and coffee can definitely cheer you up.
Cat U House is a cat cafe located in BKK. Its main attraction is, of course, fluffy feline clouds that you can play with:
There are four cats in a little room with cat towers and toys, and this makes the cafe particularly paw-pular with young people, as we tend to be suckers for this kind of thing.
One of our initial concerns was how the environment would affect the cats. Having been to cat cafes where the cats were depressed due to being petted and coddled all the time, or where the cats were drugged so that they would be more complacent, Cat U House seems to have none of that. The cats were lively (when they weren't sleeping) and seemed to be in good health.
The cats have names! And apparently, they respond to their names if you say it nicely enough. If you sit quietly they might come and sniff you.
The cafe also offers a diverse and original range of drinks you won't be able to find in most cafes in Phnom Penh as well. You thought that Heekcaa was the only place to get cheese tea? Guess again. Our only complaint is that there is a lacking of cat puns in the menu (Catpuccino? Meow-ca? Please). Most of the drinks are good, but we really don't recommend their soda coffee drink, unless you enjoy the spine-tingling taste of battery acid.
We did note, though, that the service and drinks tend to take quite an unpleasantly long time to be served to customers. Whether the drink is worth the wait is up for you to decide.
We ordered food, too.
Their fries were thick and undersalted and we do not recommend it. The chicken nuggets were alright, though unremarkable. But then again, we weren't there for the food - we were there for the cats, so we can forgive their disappointing fries.
The cafe itself is very cute! The interior design panders to the average Instagram user, and even without the cats, Cat U House is very much an Instagram cafe. There's a hanging ball chair, a chaise lounge, and aesthetically pleasing chairs and tables. On the way up to the first floor, there's a backdrop of pastel roses that you can pose at. On the first floor, there appears to be what we assume is a princess lounge, complete with pink walls, stuffed animals, and a bathtub ball pit.
Which, while cute, smelled somewhat musty, so step in with caution.
The whole cafe seems to understand its customer base - the wifi is fast, the drinks and food come in cute containers, the whole place is Instagrammable, and the large glass windows ensure that there is good lighting everywhere. Heck, even their bathroom is aesthetically pleasing:
There's even a balcony where there's - wait for it - even better lighting!
We highly recommend coming here with a friend and a camera ready. We highly recommend leaving your self-consciousness at the door as well if you want to take as many pictures as possible.
What we don't recommend, though, is coming here with the intention of studying. The cafe's lively atmosphere is maintained by its blasting of pop music, which makes it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything. Disappointing, right? No, not really. Brown is just five minutes walk away. And then after that, there's a Starbucks. And then a Costa. And then another Brown. So sit back, enjoy your drinks, and enjoy your cats.
