Koneko Cafe - New York City

 Koneko Cafe Review

• 9 AM to 9 PM (excluding mon&tues)

• Affordable pricing

• ✩ 4.4 stars ✩

https://www.konekonyc.com/

Koneko Cafe is a cat cafe located in New York City. The first half of its name, “Koneko”, means kitten, meaning a direct translation of their name would be “Kitten Cafe”. Koneko Cafe is described as being a “Bright, upbeat cat cafe offering espresso, Japanese snacks, pastries & sake + adoptable felines".

The cafe has a brick exterior but is outlined in black adding a touch of modernism. It is located in between a smoke shop and a closed shop that used to provide refrigeration services. Across from it is a boba shop and it is overall located on a busy New York street filled with other cafes and restaurants. The interior is well lit and has a modern aesthetic with the primary colors being black and white.

Cat spaces are labeled: The sunlit Upper Cattery, the warm and cozy Lower Cattery, and Catio.

The area that houses the cats maintains the black and white theme but with pink and red accents, adding pops of color and making the environment feel more lively.

 This cafe has a wide variety of customers but seems to skew towards a younger audience. Those who visit the cafe tend to treat it as an outing usually coming in groups or at least pairs. Despite this, there are still those that choose to come alone. The environment is often described as welcoming and the staff is friendly. Though it is often busy and a reservation, which costs $20, must be made to interact with the cats. While on this topic, it is important to mention that this location acts as both a cafe and a shelter and the cats are all up for adoption. Their cats are those who were on the city’s “at-risk” list.

If I’m being honest, pet cafes aren’t really known for their quality coffee. They usually focus mostly on pastries and tea. Koneko’s coffee selection is quite good when compared to other animal cafes. I wasn’t able to identify what coffee they used on their website aside from them saying they source it from Stumptown. They state they change roasts often and encourage customers to come in to see what they’ve got. The reviews seem to praise both their drinks and food with only a few expressing their displeasure. According to the reviews, this location is often busy and quality sometimes does decrease depending on the number of customers.

 Reviewed by Ani Lubin