There are a couple of themed cafes in Japan that are notoriously hard to get reservations for; one is the Pokémon Cafe and the other is the Kirby Cafe. However I was lucky enough to snag a reservation for the latter on my last trip to Osaka, plus I also dropped by the Kirby Cafe Petit – a take-away only cafe with attached shop.
Kirby Cafe
There are 3 permanent branches of the Kirby Cafe and the one in Osaka is located on the 9th floor of Daimaru in Shinsaibashi — the same floor as the Pokemon Cafe and Center and Jump Shop.
Just like the Pokemon one in Osaka, the cafe isn’t huge, so no wonder reservations are hard to get, but the theming is very cute. There’s a photo op at the front with both Kirby and Waddledee and oversized cutlery, where the staff take a picture of you before you go to your seat. The main attraction in the cafe isn’t actually Kirby, but Whispy Woods; a huge tree that’s a boss from the games and luckily he didn’t drop any apples on me while I was sat underneath! The theming is cute, with little models of Kirby and friends dotted around the restaurant. It’s worth taking a look round after ordering or after eating to spot all of the little details and artwork.
The menu is similar in price to the Pokemon Cafe, but I think it has a few more options. There are always some standard items, like the burgers and pizza, but they also have a rotating seasonal menu too.
I ordered the okonomiyaki mini burger (unique to the Osaka location) with a bun that looked like Waddledee. The scaled down okonomiyaki comes with a mini fried egg underneath too and the Waddledee bun was wearing a little scarf, due to it being winter at the time. It comes accompanied with soup in a tomato pot (this changes seasonally), potato wedges, pasta (the sauce changes seasonally) a star croquette and some broccoli. I actually really enjoyed this meal and for a themed cafe I thought the food was decent quality, plus I love that they give you themed cutlery.
I also ordered the Green Greens drink which comes with little red apple-flavoured boba-style pearls at the bottom to represent the fallen apples underneath a blue sky. There’s a little floating apple star on top too. This was actually delicious and well worth the price. With every drink, you get a coaster and mine was Kirby! They are cardboard, not laminated, so if you want yours to stay pristine, don’t put your drink on it. They offer a range of other fun themed drinks, but also café-au-lait with your choice of Kirby art on the top or with cream and a little marshmallow figure.
There aren’t many dessert options and the famous Kirby car dessert is more expensive than any of the main course options, so I’d honestly recommend waiting and head to the Kirby Cafe Petit for dessert instead (or to the nearby Cheese Tart Pablo for an exceptional take away dessert).
After you’ve eaten, there’s a shop next door full of Kirby goods, both general and themed to the cafe, which is definitely worth a browse. They have plushies, stationery, home goods, keyrings, food and more.
Kirby Cafe Reservations & Branches
The Kirby Cafe currently has permanent locations in Tokyo, Osaka and Hakata. To get a reservation, you need to be on the website at 18:00 JST on the 10th of the month prior to the month you want to reserve for. For example, if you want to reserve for the 25th of July, you need to reserve on the 10th of June.
Kirby Cafe Petit
Kirby Cafe Petit is take-away only and sells breads, small desserts and drinks – everything is super cute and well themed.
The tiramisu come in souvenir mugs so they’re slightly more expensive, but there’s a nice range of things to try. Due to the big Kirby car being overpriced in the main cafe, I opted to go and try a mini one at the Petit. It’s basically a layer of sponge cake covered in strawberry blancmange shaped like Car Mouth Kirby and it’s honestly so well done. But, for me, the dessert itself was just okay and was definitely more style over substance. It was fun to explore the shop though and check out the merchandise and I think if you can’t get into the main cafe, then this is definitely a fantastic alternative, plus there’s a much wider variety of desserts here than in the main cafe. I’ll probably go back and try more desserts on my next trip and maybe a drink too.
Kirby Cafe Petit Branches
Kirby Cafe Petit currently has permanent locations in Tokyo Station & Osaka’s Tennoji Mio Main Building (just make sure you go to the correct part as there are two buildings). Reservations are not required, but get there early or during quiet times if you want to be sure of trying a specific snack.
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