Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Little Zoo Cafe

First up. if you haven't read about my awesome experience with Analog Hostel for my 2016 Bangkok trip, do check it out HERE.

And so for our 2016 BKK itinerary planning, the 5 of us decided to each come up with 1 place of interest we would really like to go and plan the overall itinerary around them. Needless to say, my google search keyword included animals, pets and cafe and Little Zoo Cafe immediately popped up!

It's a little tricky to get to the cafe, but you may either catch a cab from Mochit BTS or book their shuttle van on their website at just 100 baht per pax per round trip. The shuttle pick up point was simply stated as Exit 1, which caused a lot of confusion among patrons. Well, the real pick up point is actually a short walk away after you came out from exit 1. Just follow the road (towards Chatuchak Weekend Market) until you come to the junction, cross the road and you will see their local police station. The shuttle van pick up point will just be in front of the police station. 

We took the earliest shuttle pick up time of 945am and reached the cafe at barely 1015am and had to loiter around the cafe as they do not open until 1030am. 

But they let a yoga meowster out to the 'holding bay' of the cafe to entertain us while we waited around for the 15 minutes or so, before we were asked to change into their slippers and wash our hands and allowed into the cafe. 

Some shots from my vantage point. Haha, we were given the tables up on the loft, which was a little scary to climb down at first.

But oh well, it's really not that scary after all. For you big feet ladies (like yours truly), just remember it's easier to go sideways than risk tipping your feet over the ridiculously narrow threads. 

The cafe seemed a little too small at first but there's actually level 2 (via the white stairs at the back) with raccoons, more cats and a snowy white owl.

I was hoping to be able to interact with the raccoons, but they were caged all the time we're there. 

Back to level 1, apart from the free roaming cats and a Yorkshire Terrier, there's also a separated room housing the meerkats and fennac foxes. 

The meerkats were just so adorable! They seem to have an obsession with our rubber slippers as they kept pulling them off our feet sneakily and trying to dig through them. Gave us a lot of laughter with their comical actions indeed!

There's three fennac foxes in total, 1 male with 2 females and just so happened that the male fox was in heat when we visited, so he was a little aggressive and protective over one of the female fox (we presume is his mate).

Fortunately for us, the other female fox was so sweet and tamed! They're really tiny and their fur so soft and smooth. 

Still managed to steal a selfie with the aggressive male fox... from a safe distance. 

And now, back to their food! I have to say, we were all blown away by the quality of their dishes!

Though seriously lacking in latte art, their hot latte was still pretty good and I could easily drink it without any added sugar syrup.

 Lava Egg Set

I wasn't too focused with the food ordering (was preoccupied with the animals) but I definitely heard "egg", "lava" and "set". Slightly tricked by the name of 'egg lava' we all thought the bulge in the middle is some oversized poached egg and even video-ed down the slicing process, only to find out it's just fried rice contained within. 

Nevertheless, this is still some tasty "seafood omelette fried rice".

 Fish & Chips

We had a unanimous reaction at our first bite of the fish. 

"Mmm, this is good!"

The fish fillet tasted really fresh and solid, not like the usual thin and flaky type of fish that has more batter than actual fish itself. The batter was also perfectly done; crisp and flavourful yet overly thick. And those waffle fries, how can anyone find fault with them? 

 Waffles with Bacons & Eggs

The waffle was pretty well done, crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside and slightly sweet. But those eggs were so raw we really do not understand the rationale of not cooking them longer. Who eats egg whites raw (see that translucent blob of uncooked egg white there)? Would have been an enjoyable dish if it weren't for the almost raw eggs on top. 

I highly suggest that you make a special order for more well-cooked eggs if you were to order this dish. 

 Ham & Cheese Sandwich

This is definitely a decent ham and cheese sandwich, but simply pales in comparison to the other dishes, especially the fish and chips and the pasta. Or perhaps by the time we got to the sandwich, it has already turned cold so the toast wasn't as crisp as I would like it to be and the cheese not as runny as I would have imagined them to be. 

Crab Meat Spicy Garlic Pasta

This is just heavenly. If you do take spicy food, YOU MUST TRY THIS. I know the blacken pasta (squid ink?) looks a little funky, but I can assure you it wouldn't stain your teeth black. Savoury, spicy and with bits of crab meat and ebikko (shrimp roe) within, this pasta is just bursting with flavour with every bite. 

Price wise, it's pretty reasonable. It's definitely not as cheap as the street food, yet significantly cheaper as compared to the cafes we have in Singapore. A dish typically cost about $15 SGD or so. There's no entrance fee to the cafe, but I do believe all patron has to make at least 1 individual order each. 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: True Love Cafe @ Siberian Neverland

Other than cute furry felines, their nemesis, the handsome fluffy canines are also one of my biggest love. 

SIBERIAN HUSKIES!

(such a cute happy face!)

True Love Cafe is not a cafe you can just stumble upon, for it's located deep among the residential areas with the nearest BTS station a good 20 to 30 minutes walk away. As I was expecting a dog cafe, I didn't even realise I've found the cafe until I took notice of their husky signboard for it looked just like an exceptionally big house with their gates opened. 

True Love Cafe have fixed sessions for interaction with the huskies, so you can't just pop by anytime you like and expect to be welcomed by a hoard of hyperactive puppies. There's 2 sessions (12:30pm and 3:30pm) on weekdays and 3 sessions (one more session at 6:30pm) on weekends. So make sure you drop by around the time each session starts to avoid disappointment. 

It's 350 baht per entry and each ticket is redeemable for a drink and a dessert (cakes or ice cream). If you're feeling exceptionally hungry, you can also get hot (western) food at the cafe at pretty reasonable price.

Iced Mocha

Well, not the best mocha you can find but they'll still make a nice drink with a decent mix of chocolate and coffee. There was a alarmingly large amount of ice there so try not to leave it standing for too long unless you'll like a washed-down tasteless mocha. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Although the chocolate taste is rich, and the tangy raspberry sauce paired up nicely with the chocolatey flavour, the cake layer itself is a little too dry and the generous layer of whipped cream in the middle didn't save it much. 

Taste wise, still good. But it could really be better with a slightly moister cake. 

Oreo Cheesecake

Didn't try much of this, but a special point to note is that the crushed oreo base of this cheesecake wasn't all that crushed after all, as you can see from the picture. You can still see large pieces of the oreo biscuits that's layered upon each other to form the base. 

If you're really a huge fan of huskies, you might want to grab a husky stuff toy or other items like cups or even a tee with their mascot printed on it. 

For hygiene purpose, other than having to queue up to wash our hands with the soap provided, we were also given these ultra-fashionable, super-trendy sky blue plastic foot wraps to wear in place of our shoes when we enter the huskies' interaction area. 

BTW, do you know the pups go crazy over sliced carrots? 

The interaction session kick start with the huskies' snack time and you'll be surprised to find that their 'yummy treats' are actually just ice! 

This greedy pup definitely doesn't want to share as it hogs the entire bowl of ice. 

And right after their icy snack time, it got pretty chaotic as the pups started their rowdy play-fight. And when they got engrossed in playing, it was like a "I don't care if you're in the way human, I'll bang you away!" 

Apparently, huskies are also intelligent enough to say, "you know what, I don't feel like doing this right now." so don't except a lot of affection from them nor expect them to crave for your attention. If you're really desperate to take a selfie with them, do take not to not lean in too close to their jaw for they might not really enjoy having your face that close to theirs. 

 And so, after a few rounds of rowdy play-fights, the pups finally calmed down one by one. 

Some got pretty bored...

 And some just mad happy!

And I finally managed to take a selfie with another grinning pup (after 10 failed tries)! Yay!

 Some started chilling at a corner in style....

Or maybe, not that much style?

Other than 20 over huskies, there's also a handful other cute dogs that aren't of the same breed. So, meet Momo, the Pom x Spitz! 

There's also two handsome Australian Shepherds mingling around with the huskies, which I didn't manage to snap a nice shot of them. 

To get to True Love Cafe, take the BTS to Ari station and go to exit 1. Go down to the Shell Gas Station side of the street and walk a little bit further along the traffic to Soi Paholyotin 7 then turn left into the Soi and you'll get to a tuk tuk station. Most of the tuk tuk drivers will know the cafe really well, for after every session, the cafe will help all patrons to call for a tuk tuk ride back to Ari station. Each tuk tuk ride should cost you about 30 - 40 baht.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Caturday Cat Cafe

One keyword I searched for while planning my Bangkok itinerary was: PET CAFES. 

So here's my review of the first pet cafe I've visited while I was in Bangkok, the Caturday Cat Cafe located conveniently near to my hotel beside Ratchathewi BTS station (nearest BTS station to Pratunam area).

(taken later in the evening when we left the cafe)

Getting to the cafe is really easy as it's located in the cluster of hipster eating places right beside Ratchathewi BTS. Just walk down along the main road towards the car park and head straight in.

With just an adorable cat-mascot with its fellow minion meowcots lying around, you definitely cannot miss it. 

There's a name list hanging by the door at the waiting area, be sure you head there to jot down your name first before you grab a seat to join the queue. 

And look who's there to snatch our seats join us while waiting in queue! 

 Cuteness was already oozing at the shoe-rack area with a wall of patrons' instant photographs taken with their resident cats and a meow-meow train. 

Even the tap and basin looks so cute! There's a cat perched on the tap! 

The cafe, stuffed not only with pretty furry felines, is also full of cute motifs and decorations. The place is also pretty small, hence always crowded. We reached at 4 plus 5pm and had 3 tables waiting in front of us. 

First page of the cute menu shows us the best faces of all their pretty cats. In the pretty small cafe, there's really a handful of cats roaming/napping all around. 

Caramel Hot Milk 

 Couldn't help but snap a picture of the mug. It's too cute!

The caramel left a strong after taste and made the drink a little too sweet, but still pretty good if you're a looking for something sweet and comforting. 

 Thai Iced Tea

The tea was really sweet, even for me, and T had a pretty tough time with it. 

And both our drinks came with such adorable coasters! 

Rainbow Crepe Cake with Raspberry Sauce

 The sauce is tangy and slightly sweet, making the crepe cake taste much lighter and refreshing (the infinite layers of cream is always daunting to me). The crepes are also very soft and smooth. It's no wonder it's one of their popular dessert choice. 

The motif of their meowscot drawn with cocoa powder added even more cuteness to the entire dessert, making this a truly instagram-worthy dessert. 

 Baked Pasta

You can't go wrong with a piping hot, cheesy baked pasta topped with pieces of ham. I didn't even know what exactly I was eating (T ordered it) but melty cheese, fusilli pasta and ham put together can't be bad, can it? 

And we also bought some tuna treats for the cute kitties! We didn't even need to get the tuna out to attract two very greedy kitties. 

 "Are you feeding me now?"

"Hey, I came first!"

"Then, I'm 3rd in line, right?"

"How about giving me a bite too?"

"Hieck, perfect vantage point. I'm gonna snatch them all while they're not looking!"

"Human, I demand that you feed me first!"

"FEED ME NOW. MEOWWW!"

"Nom Nom Nom..."

"It was so yums, meow!"

"What, you mean she ate my share?!"

"Hah! I knew this will happen that's why I didn't even bother to queue!"

"Heh, me too!"

"Okay, I'll go catch that pretty pink pen instead."

All the cats were simply gorgeous and have the softest fur. However, most of them are pretty aloof and doesn't enjoy being pet or play with you much. 

And if you really love the cuteness of their meowscots, you can also bring home some coasters, mugs or phone cases at pretty reasonable prices.

So, if you're a fellow cat lover and ever drop by Bangkok, be sure to check Caturday Cat Cafe out! 

For more information, visit their Facebook HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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