Lifestyle Review: London Cat Village, Shoreditch

London Cat Village review
In my 25th birthday post I mentioned that I visited the London Cat Village in Shoreditch and so I thought it was about time I finally shared some photos. Please be warned, however, this post contains several images of unbelievably cute felines...

London Cat Village in Shoreditch
**UPDATE - May 2019** The London Cat Village is now permanently closed

You'll have to forgive the light on some of these photos but, as you can imagine, kitties don't like flash or bright lights going off in their faces. I had to make do with very little lighting - but anyway! For those of you who have never visited a cat cafe, it's exactly how it sounds. It's a cafe, with cats in it. 

Having been made popular in countries like Japan and France, the cat cafe has started making waves across London, in particular, quiet streets in Shoreditch. Billed simply as a 'cafe with cats', the London Cat Village is a quiet cafe, offering an assortment of cakes, hot and cold drinks and, of course, cats. Having been on my list of places to visit for a while, I figured my birthday day out would be as good-a-time as any to pop in and meet the cafe's feline residents. 

Bengal kittens sleeping
London Cat Village cats
Each reservation includes a one hour slot priced at £5 per person. As you enter the cafe, you'll be asked to remove your shoes, sanitise your hands and acknowledge some basic house rules to maintain the well-being of the kitties. Of course, it's important not to upset the cats in anyway and so feeding them, picking them up for any reason or disturbing them while they're sleeping is a massive no-no. However, I heard that recently the rules have changed, meaning you cannot touch the cats at all. This seems strange, no?

As soon as we walked in, we did notice the smell - understandable given it has around 15 cats living there. It's not particularly a bad smell but it is noticeable and I did wonder if this was normal for a cat cafe? Having also visited Lady Dinah's cat cafe which was very clean and had no smell, I did wonder. Despite the musk, we were super excited to get inside and get downstairs to our table where we checked out a menu with a very small selection of cakes, muffins and macaroons. It was pretty hard to concentrate on food, however, when there were so many cats just waiting to be schmooshed. 

We did wait an awful long time for rather disappointing food and drink. Being sat downstairs also, we had a front row seat to the kitchen which consisted of one very stressed looking employee trying to rustle together whatever they could. In all-in-all, a very expensive hour spent with the cats who seemed pretty bored.

Although I wouldn't recommend visiting purely for the food or service, the London Cat Village was definitely unique birthday experience. I do worry slightly about the cats as they seemed to have very little to play with, although each cat really was very entertaining watching; seeing them strut around and get in little scraps with each other. 

One cat in particular seemed to find great amusement in winding up the other cats while they were sleeping. If you're a crazy cat lady, like me, I would say it's a good way to spend an hour or so in Shoreditch. There are also other cat cafes dotted around London but I'd recommend making a reservation way in advance and they get booked up for six months at a time. The London Cat Village also does movie nights every Wednesday which I thought was pretty cool.

Well, that's it for my cat cafe review. Have you ever visited a cat cafe? What do you think about the idea of them? As always, I love reading your thoughts so please do leave me lots of lovely comments below.

Until next time fellow crazy cat lovers,


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15 comments

  1. I've never visited a cat cafe but really looking forward to do so!!!

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    1. If you get a chance and you love cats, I'd totally recommend it! It was a lot of joy for me haha xx

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  2. haha i would LOVE to visit a place liek this, my bf not so much as he has horrible allergies :P
    Pam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥

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    1. Haha oh no! Maybe you could dose him up before hand or take me instead. You'd love it I think :) xx

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  3. I would love to go here! So funny! I love the last cat photo, that is so me as a cat haha!
    Fix Me In Forty Five - A Beauty & Lifestyle Blog
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    xx

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    1. Haha omg he was amazing - he was just so chilled out and didn't care at all. I loved them all - I want in to grabby hand mode haha xx

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  4. This is so rad! I didn't even realise there was a cat cafe in the UK. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else either - particularly if that mischievous cat is around! One of my best friends adores cats so this is definitely somewhere I will be keeping in mind :-)

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    1. Yeah there's a few I think! There's another place called Dinah's Cat Emporium that's supposed to be mental I think? Aw you should go together, you'd absolutely love it xx

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  5. I'm still thinking about getting a cat. For the time being, places like these are great. As you noted, it's really important to follow house rules about interacting with the cats. For instance, if a cat doesn't know you, looking into its eyes can be taken by the cat as a sign of aggression.

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    1. Aw that's good - you should go for it. I'm desperate to get a kitten but our landlady won't allow it and I also would would want to wait until we get a ground floor apartment not near a main road. It makes me sad I don't have one at the moment though haha I miss Rosie so much but see her at my parent's house every week :) Go for it!

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  6. Wow :)
    This is an incredible collection of ideas!
    Waiting for more helpful pieces.
    You would amazing to read a similar one here-
    Toppetlovers

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