Yes, you read that right, the Kitty Cafe located in Birmingham’s New Street Station is a CATastrophe. (Sorry for the pun). I went to the cafe on September 2nd with a very open mind, having not been to a cat cafe before I didn't know what to expect, however I was not prepared for the experience that I was going to have.
When we arrived at Kitty Cafe, we were informed that we both had to pay the adult price of £6 each as a compulsory "donation". This "donation" was more like an entry fee, it was NOT optional and without paying we would not have been allowed in. This wouldn't have been an issue if this was presented to me before actually arriving at the cafe. Nowhere on the website does it include or mention a "donation" fee, nowhere on our booking confirmation does it include a "donation" fee. This was sprung upon us as soon as we arrived and I feel that this should be mentioned before having made the journey down. Some people may be on a very tight budget and may not be able to present the immediate £6 adult or £4 child fee. Bit of a con.
After paying the entry fee and reading over the rules of the cafe which included; no feeding and picking up the cats which is understandable and which we adhered to, we got into the main area of the cafe. The first thing I noticed was how awfully miserable nearly all of the front of house staff looked. I know you cannot be happy and smiling all of the time but the staff looked like they absolutely hated being there and their jobs, apart from about two members of staff who were lovely. All the others were wandering around lost as anything.
The lady at the front said for us both to have a walk around the cafe area for a little bit and look at the cats as our table was being cleaned. She said she will come find us when the table was ready. We got back to the entrance we came in after a minuet look around, however a mother and daughter that came in through the entrance door after us and were seated immediately before we were. Thanks for that!
We ordered our food off a sticky menu; a tomato and cheese panini, a speedy gonzales quesadilla, wedges on the side, red velvet cake and two diet cokes. Our food came along with a waitress telling us that there were no wedges left. I felt that they could have told us before all our meal came out that there were no wedges, rather than presenting it to us without them. She asked if we would like another side we said no and asked if we could take a cake away with us instead. She boxed the rocky road cake that replaced our wedges only for it to be squished into a pizza box. After having actually left the place, my other half then realised that his quesadilla didn't have any guacamole in, which on the menu it says should have. As for the taste of the food, the Red Velvet cake was absolutely gorgeous however, my panini was bland and disgusting. It tasted like it came out of a vacuum sealed wrap and shoved in a microwave. I've had better aeroplane food.
As for the cats, the poor buggers. Every cat looked on edge, hiding behind sofas, in dark spaces, running away from everything that moved. They refused to be touched and I don’t blame them, children were running at them and bothering them constantly. They seemed stressed and scared with anyone that tried to approach them and many people around us were not abiding to the do's and don'ts of the cafe. Feeding them, picking them up, no wonder the cats seem sombre. I feel that it should be a no touching, no running around environment, if the cats approach you then you’ll be able to give them a little bit of attention like other cat cafes have as I've read.
Overall, I feel that I should have just got up and left and asked for my money back and had a good old strop at the manager, but in the moment I just didn't and I don't know why I didn't, maybe it's just me being too polite? I felt deep down I wanted it to somehow get better, hoping the food would be good or the service pick up, but it just didn't. I will never be returning to the Kitty Cafe again the atmosphere was awful and I do hope that there are some rules put in place in regards to the constant badgering and chasing of the cats. They pride themselves on the welfare of the cats and the cats seem scared. There needs to be customer service training and food improvement. You are marketing yourself as a cafe so be one. A real disappointment.
Also, after visiting I didn't feel great about going. I felt bad in some way for the cats that they don't have any outdoor space and they are in a very hectic environment. It made me question the ethics around cat cafes as a whole. As a cat lover myself and having a family cat I feel that I would be heartbroken to see my own cat in that environment. I don't think I will visit any cat cafe again.
But staying PAWsitive it was really clean and the decor was amazing!
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