COCONUTS HOT SPOT – To me, “cat people” have always seemed a little strange. When someone says they’re into cats, I imagine an old lady holed up in her house with a protective retinue of felines. Purr Cat Café Club on Sukhumvit 53 varies only slightly from this image, the chief differences being that the “cat lady” is a young and good-looking socialite, and the cats are Persians that can cost as much as THB50,000.
This trendy café focuses on cat-themed coffees and desserts, but the real draw is the opportunity to eat your treats in the presence of a dozen perfectly groomed, show-quality cats. Patrons aren’t allowed to pick up or hold the cats, but they can pet, play with, and more generally engage them.
Café Club serves up coffees and lattes, along with a selection of desserts. The “Purr cat brownies”(THB120) come in the shape of their namesake felines, along with scoops of vanilla ice cream. The faces on the cat brownies are drawn using chocolate syrup, one of the staff’s many successful attempts to spruce up their wares with cat-oriented details. There’s also a host of cakes to choose from: New York cheesecake (THB150), blueberry cheese pie (THB95), strawberry short cake (THB150), happy Mongo cake (THB130) and tiramisu (THB150).
The café is built with a typical cat’s lifestyle in mind, which means that while enjoying your cake you can expect to see cats migrating around the room via cat stairs and bridges, or taking time out to play with one of the café’s many scratching posts. Catfights break out on occasion, but the overly attentive staff quickly intercedes in these cases. The women behind the café are named Ploy and Petch – a set of twins who embody the “jack of all trades” model of Thai celebrity. They’re actors, singers, models, product presenters and (of course) cat enthusiasts.
Aside from the cats, Café Club also boasts many of the features endemic to a quality coffee hangout. Fast Wi-Fi, ripe fodder for people watching, good coffee, and the absence of annoying bossa nova all help Cat Café earn its right to the second half of its moniker. Even someone like me, who isn’t particularly thrilled by cute felines, will find novelty in the act of consuming a latte while surrounded by THB500,000 worth of cats.
FIND IT:
Purr Cat Café Club
Sukhumvit 53, near the dead end side of the soi
Still haven’t gotten your cat café fix? Check out Coconuts’ write up of Cataholic Café for more of Bangkok’s feline dining options.
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