Pyeongtaek Cat Cafe South Korea

I have wanted to visit a cat cafe since I first heard about them years ago so this was pretty exciting for me! Kyle was pretty interested too.

Info:

For reference to those interested in visiting, the hours for the cafe in Pyeongtaek are noon to 10pm.

Getting there:

I am not sure why we found it difficult to find, because it is really not far from Pyeongtaek station, but so far that has been the case for us with almost everything. We had the first part down: walk to metro station, take it three stops down, leave AK Plaza on the pinky “finger” side. Outside of the station there is a five-way intersection.

Some people refer to the different roads as fingers (e.g. go down the middle finger to get to x restaurant.) To get to the cat cafe you go down the pinky finger. You should pass a cafe called Topresso on the right. Across the street you should see a building with red and white symbols reminding you of Target with a sign “Daiso.”

The cafe is down the street to the right of this building (if you are facing it.) The cafe is on the third floor and there is a yellow sign with a cat on it outside of the building. You walk up the stairs and the cafe is at the top on the left. I think these instructions are better than those of other bloggers who really ought to have mentioned the target-looking building.

The wall near the top of the stairwell:

Once There:

A woman working there instructed us to take off our shoes and put on the house slippers and then told us a couple of the rules: “No pick up cat. No hug cat.” Then she gave us each some hand sanitizer and let us through.

Next, she showed us more rules on a sheet of paper (they gave us the English version) which tells you not to give the cats human food and things along those lines. After this, we ordered. The cafe has a variety of teas, coffees, and smoothies to choose from. I ordered a blueberry smoothie and Kyle chose a strawberry smoothie.

The way the cat (and dog) cafes generally work is that you are required to order a drink which is a little more expensive than a regular coffee/tea/smoothie place but then you are free to sit and drink and play with the cats for an unlimited amount of time. At this cafe the drinks were KRW7000 (currently ~$6.20). For children it’s KRW5000. The woman also gave me a white bag to put my purse in but when I tried to ask why she could not understand me. Luckily, I got to keep the bag with me.

Loveable Kitties

In the dining area there were both regular western-style tables and more traditional seated areas. When we first arrived we sat at a regular table for a few minutes because I saw this beautiful fluffy gray-white Persian that I wanted to sit next to and pet. I petted her (the male cats wear bow-ties) for a little bit and then we moved to a sitting table.

Everyone else there (all Koreans) were sitting at these tables so we figured we ought to as well. Plus, we saw two kitties (including one kitten) under one of the open tables and we decided to grab it. We actually prefer sitting on the floor anyway and in Korea they heat through the floors so they were warm.

Delicious Drinks

Not too long after we sat at the sitting table, one of the women working there came and delivered us our smoothies and a little basket with some cookies inside. There were four little cookies which said they were “caramelized crackers” and they were good. Our smoothies were tasty as well. I often see people complain about the quality of drinks/food at these cafes but I thought it was all good.

Fun Games

Everyone else at the cafe was playing board games and seemed to be most interested in that aspect of the cafe (though they also appeared to enjoy interacting with the cats when they visited them.) There were many board games to choose from but there was only one that had any English on it (Clue) and it still looked like the rest of it was in Korean. We were more interested in the cats anyway.

Some of the kitty residents:

My friend, the super fluffy gray-white cat that I initially sat next to is the type of cat that will just sit there, but really it wishes someone would come over and pet it. After we had been sitting a little bit on the floor I went up to her and pet her again and she jumped down and started rubbing against things, going to other people, etc.

The cat and its mother-like friend under our table. At first both of these adorable kitties were just sleeping so we took care not to bother them (you are not supposed to disturb sleeping cats) but whenever one would open their eyes I would give them a little pet. A little later the slightly older cat gave a bath to the kitten and it was really cute.

The orange lap cat. This cat jumped up to the area and then crawled right into Kyle’s lap and made herself at home. She slept there, purring for a little while until she got up to get some food and went onto the next lap.

A nice gray cat.

There were also two fluffy white cats. I saw one kneading and climbing onto one of the owners/workers and really wanted to pet it but it mostly just hung around them. The white slightly less fluffy cat visited our area. This kitty was pretty nice. There was also a siamese, several black and white cats, a plain gray cat, a mixed cat, and more. I think the siamese wanted more attention but I did not really see it until towards the end.

Well Designed with Cats in Mind

There were lots of scratching posts and some different things for cats to climb up on and inside at varying heights. There were food and water bowls placed a few different places. We did not see any litter boxes but assume they must be in a more remote area that is accessible to the cats.

All in all, we had a great time!

Cat hammock!

~B~