Saturday, April 2, 2011

Meidolls Cafe: Tokyo Maid Cafe

I don't watch anime, and I am never enamored by women in skimpy skirts that flaunt like Vegas sirens. The closest thing I have ever watched was Sucker Punch, which is technically not anime but essentially just some teen age girls in Sailor Moon-inspired outfits kicking ass against a barrage of fictional enemies.


But I am a sucker for "mecha" though– robots, androids and artificial intelligence with positronic brains and perform human functions, and more. I still have my childhood affinity with Astroboy, Mazinger Z, Silver Hawks, Voltron, Diamos, Macross, and of course, the champion celebrity of the all, Voltes V. I even had 1foot-tall Gundam Wing action figure. If they will be counted as part of the anime culture, so then I partly love it.


And perhaps, it's that indefeasible fondness is what brought me to the Philippine's first Tokyo Maid Cafe, Meidolls Cafe, at the suburbs of Cainta. It is a cosplay cafe, with attendants dressed in an elaborate French maid costumes with curly blonde ringlets touching their shoulders like anime characters. Their tables and chairs also Japanese-derived, the short-legged chabudai and zabuton.


Their Lasagna Roll is not available so I ended up ordering Chicken Katsudon Sandwhich(Php80 + 10% SC), Meidoll Pesto(Php95 + 10% SC), and a cup of Cappuccino(Php95 + 10% SC).


While it is a fresh and promising concept for a cafe, I honestly think it needs some improvements. For one, they have to be on a right location, perhaps in a more urban landscape. Second, they have to work on their menu. Their Chicken Katsudon Sandwhich is good but their Meidolls Pesto literally tastes bland and you can't even slightly taste the strong tanginess of the pesto and olive oil. Provided that it is their maiden launch and that their area is just temporary which will eventually expand soon, they should have put a good airconditioning unit. The place is a bit hot especially during the afternoon. I should know because I am sensitive and allergic to non-airconditioned places.


However, kudos to their attendants. They really have done an excellent job to make your experience really good. They have power up gesture that is supposed to energize your dining experience. They even have dance numbers too. Beat that Cebu Pacific attendants.


I spoke Tagalog to the attendant who served me but to my surprise she can't understand it. I asked if she was a Japanese, she said she's Korean. Now that is close to authenticity.

12 comments:

  1. hanep! buti di ka tinawag na danna-sama!

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  2. @LadyE: they want their masters to dance with them, but i am always two steps ahead. i am in table number 1, so ako yung pinakaharap. when they start announcing that they're going to dance, i pulled out my camera agad and went at the back. bwahahaha. yung table number three tuloy pinasayaw.

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  3. I like cosplay! Kodus to this brand new concept. Gotta try this one of these days.

    The Cuisineuer

    Romepedia

    Cruiseuer

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  4. @Rome: yes, you might want to try this one out. the first and only anime cosplay cafe in the philippines.

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  5. I've been wanting to go to this place for a long time now but no one would come with me. :(

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  6. @Bea: sayang, you didn't tell me. kaso don't expect too much in this cafe ha.

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  7. @Michelle: medyo malayo but it's worth the trip. just don't expect so much from the food, given its price.

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  8. 1. My apologies on the airconditioning. Initially we bought an aircondition good for 30sqm. only, since our first shop was only 30sqm. We didn't expect na mapapaaga ang paglipat namin sa bigger venue. We are only three months old. Right now, we are doing our best na makaipon for better aircon good for 50sqm. na.
    2. Indeed this is a dismal, but we are doing our best right now to fix this issue. It is indeed alarming but we are working it out right now na hindi na kami ma-out of stock as much as possible.
    3. Location. The distance adds to the charm. But hopefully soon makapag-branch out na kami... we'll see. :)

    Then again, thanks so much for your nice review. And hope to see you again. :)

    -MeiDoll Reia

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  9. And I am really sorry you were disappointed with the food products you ordered. Though admittedly the Pesto is not our best product, but I would certainly recommend you try our lasagna, curry carbonara (a japanese inspired pasta esp. in meidolls only), our famous FRIED sushi rolls, bread rolls, cake pops, and for our rice variants please try our omurice (our bestseller) and fishkatsu. We take pride in our own recipe of the aforementioned products, they our bestsellers and our personal favorites that I will definitely recommend to our patrons. If you do dropby again I hope you will try those and maybe change your mind about our menu.

    Hope to see you back soon. :)

    - MeiDoll Reia
    MeiDolls Cafe Proprietor

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  10. @Reia: actually, i ordered firs the lasagna but it wasn't available. when i'm in a resto, i always make sure that i order the best sellers. the korean girl said it is not available. along with some of the entrees.

    be thankful because your meidolls servers have really done a good job in making the customers' dining experience better by serving them top notch quality(with matching pa-cute moments). at least, the service they provided compensated some of the cafe's inadequacies.

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  11. @cafemobility and @meidoll reia my friends and i are frequent visitors of Meidolls cafe. For us Otakus (Japanese pop culture afficionados) we really appreciate the cosplay cafe's theme but I must agree that the food really needs a lot of improvement. I also agree with John that the service is so wonderful. I'm sure it's very hard to find waitresses who fully understand and appreciate the whole point of a Maid cafe. By the way, we love the butler! I thought he was Korean but it turns out he's Pinoy! LOL

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