I went to a Maids Café in Bangkok | Are you ready for cute girls, food, and craziness?

Find out what bizarre things happened when I visited a Maids Café in Bangkok called Maidreamin…

Have you ever wanted to connect with your inner child? I’m sure you have and I was no exception when after a busy day in front of my computer screen, hammering out my latest article, I felt the need to go out and let off some steam (or should I spell it Steem) and what better way than to visit Maidreamin.

To enjoy this unusual dining experience, you must go to the 7th floor of the huge Mahboonkrong shopping mall – or as the locals simply call it MBK. This huge monolith to consumerism is right in the heart of downtown Bangkok and so it's very easy to get to.

Unlike the other eateries found on the 7th floor, Maidreamin is quite different because it’s what’s known as a Maid Café – and, as far as I know, the only one in Thailand.

Maid Cafés first originated in Japan – the home to many of the weirdest fads – and because of this, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect...

Upon reaching Maidreamin we first looked through the menu displayed on a stand in front of the entrance. A girl dressed in a cosplay version of a French maids outfit beckoned us to come in, and so we did.

Upon entering we were greeted by the other maids before being seated at a table which had a surface decorated in large photos of their Japanese counterparts. This is because Maidreamin is in fact a large Japanese franchise with, as far as I can tell from their website, 15 branches mostly in and around Tokyo. It’s obviously something which is very popular over there and I soon started to see why.

The café was decorated with pink and cream colours and on the walls hung posters of presumably the franchise’s ‘star’ maids. Some of these posters had been hand signed by the maid herself and often a cute message had been added.

The room felt very much like a cross between a young girl’s bedroom and the set for a toddlers TV show, with a slightly razed podium in the center of the room on which the maids occasionally perform – more about that later.

A small shelf ran around the side of the room upon which were placed a few cuddly dolls and the occasional framed photo. These photos weren’t of family loved ones, but instead were of items of food, but each with a unique twist to them. This dinky food had become a substitute to a child’s much-loved pet because each one had been decorated with a cute animal face and little ears.

In one corner stood a clothes rail with a selection of small maid’s outfits. This was so a young customer could wear her very own maid’s outfit if she desired.

A maid came over and introduced herself in an exaggerated child-like voice. Her name was Airi and she was dressed like all the other maids in a cosplay version of a French maid’s outfit. This style is known in Japan as Moe Moe, Kyun, which according to the Urban Dictionary is defined as:

A phrase used to describe something, or someone that is uber cute and/or adorable.

Even though the maids were Thai, they had adopted Japanese names, such as Inori and Kayoko, and luckily for us, their levels of English were quite good.

Airi gave us our menus.

The food selection was a mixture of Japanese, Thai and a bit of Italian. Because of my sweet tooth, I was glad to see there were quite a few deserts, milkshakes and fruit juices to choose from.

Like the framed photos around the room, much of the food pictured in the menu was decorated with smiling tomato ketchup faces as if it was as if the food was going to be given to a toddler. The pricing for each item was a little higher than what you would pay elsewhere in Bangkok, but then you were paying for the whole maid experience.

My friend ordered a Puppy Parfait and I ordered a special combo, which consisted of a Cat Parfait, an apple juice, and a photo with one of the maids.

Now, it should be pointed out that you aren’t allowed to just take your own photos of the maids. Instead, you must pay 100 Baht for the privilege, or as in my case, buy one of the combo choices on the menu, which includes the opportunity to take one photo. You aren’t allowed to use a standalone camera in the restaurant, but mobile phones are allowed. If you don’t want to use your mobile, then there is the option to have one of the maids take it with a Polaroid camera and so you receive an instant print.

I chose to be photographed with a maid called Kaorin and so I was led to the small podium in the middle where we stood together while one of the other maids took our photo with my mobile.

While we waited for our food to arrive, Kaorin came over to our table and gave us each a pair of fluffy bunny ears to wear. I put on my ears and admired my friend who was now sporting his pink ones and looking very much at home.

Kaorin also gave us a Dreamin passport each.

This was a small card which allowed us one free live show should we return within the next six months.

Kaorin then told us that she was going to light the magic candle. She then placed a small electric candle on the table and asked us to join with her in casting a magic spell. We followed along as we repeated both the geeky child-like words to the spell and the hand gestures to accompany it. Finally, we counted down in Japanese – three, two, one. Kaorin blew on the candle and it magically lit up. The magic had now begun…

We were then given what I thought was another menu, but instead turned out to be a folder containing a profile of each member of staff. This even included the kitchen staff, who I should add, according to their profiles and website picture, are also dressed cosplay style.

I’m sure that unlike any other kitchen where they would normally be flipping the chicken in sizzling oil and spitting fat, here they probably wave a magic wand while saying the magic words and in a puff of pink smoke the food magically appears ready for the maid to carry out to the customer.

As I looked through the profiles, which could only be described as bizarre, I came to Kaorin’s. It said as follows:

Place of birth: Rainbow Forest
Birthday: March 21
Blood type: Rabbit Pink
Favorite color: Rabbit hair ~ soft ~ ~ !!!
Favorite Food: Meat! Rabbit is a carnivore !!!
Specifically like: Rabbit Lover ~
Talent: Is a strong rabbit!
Hobbies: Eat & Sleep

I must point out that her choice of hobbies is actually what many Thais will tell you are their real hobbies, so I wasn’t quite sure if she was being funny or not.

As we waited for our food to arrive, I looked around to see what types of customer come to such a place.

The restaurant was actually fairly empty while we were there. That is, apart from in one corner sat a husband and wife and their two young daughters. To me it looked as though they were probably celebrating a birthday and whatever it was, they seemed to be enjoying the proceedings and the attention their daughters were receiving.

Behind my friend sat a school boy in his upper teens. He seemed oblivious to the goings on around him as he listened to his big set of headphones, while his attention was fixed firmly on the table in front of him. Maybe he was doing his homework or maybe he’d been to the restaurant so many times that it had all become normal.

It wasn’t long before another customer arrived. He was a lone man, who I would say was probably in his early to mid-thirties. He sat down at the table directly behind me and was soon being waited upon by one of the maids.

Our food arrived and before we could tuck in, we were asked to first perform a magic spell to make it taste delicious. Again, with the help of the maid we chanted together the child-like words and waved our hands around in unison. As we did so I noticed my friend was being especially enthusiastic with his casting and I could only put this down to his large appetite and enjoyment of eating.

We finally finished the spell with our hands forming a heart shape over our chests. Then we were ready to eat…

Each of our Parfaits was decorated with a cute animal face. My friend’s had a puppy’s face and mine was made to look like a cat’s. For a moment, I felt like I was five-years old again.

We didn’t try it, but if you should order something from the menu, such as an omelet, then the maid will draw the animal’s face onto your food in front of you using a squeezy bottle of ketchup. I’m sure when you were very young your mother probably did this for you, and now you can visit Maidreamin and have it done once again.

Here’s a Japanese video showing how this is done. It’s then followed by the magic spell to make the food delicious:

We both eagerly tucked into our desserts and they tasted as good as they looked. I think the magic spells really had worked!

As we ate, I could hear the man behind my performing his magic spells with the assistance of the maid. He seemed to be relishing every minute of it and when she left his table, I could hear him strangely singing to himself. I thought to myself that there was no way I could ever come in here alone to do this – I would just feel too weird, and maybe even a little creepy. But this man behind me wasn’t bothered at all as he unashamedly tapped into his inner child and began letting it all out.

I was luckily given the opportunity to take another photo – so this time I chose Airi.

Once again I posed on the small podium, but unlike the previous photo, I was wearing my bunny ears.

Each maid has her own page on the Maidreamin website, so you can read about them and look at their photos. At the top of Airi’s page is a welcome message in which she simply says:

Hello〜I’m Airi. Come and play with me, pleaseeee ♥ ^ Δ ^ ♥

Then below her bio is a selection of professionally taken photos of Airi dressed in various outfits and in different poses. It also seems that Airi might be a bit of a maid ‘superstar’ because there’s a link to her Facebook page which currently has 1,050 followers. I wonder how many of these are children or could they possibly all be adult men?

From her photos, Airi seems to really relish her role as a Moe Moe, Kyun maid and this is both at work and at play.

One thing I can say about Maidreamin is that the company is extremely good with all aspects of their marketing and nothing is left to chance. From the design of their website to when you enter the restaurant, everything about their marketing strategy has been meticulously thought out. This is Japanese innovation at its best.

After finishing our desserts and feeling suitable content, I gulped down the last bit of my apple juice and requested the bill.

Sadly, our timing when visiting the restaurant didn’t coincide with one of their performances. This was because they follow a set schedule and we had arrived between performances. The exception would being if a customer had used their Dreamin passport to request a special performance.

…So what are these performances?

These performances consist of one or two maids dancing together on the podium while miming to the vocals of one of those high-energy Japanese pop songs which so often are characterized by girls singing in geeky child-like voices. Here is an extract from an official Maidreamin video in which you can see the girls in the Bangkok restaurant doing this.

Our bill arrived, but sadly there was no magic spell to help pay the costs.

Kaorin then came over and cupped her hands over the electric candle. She asked us to recite the magic words and we followed along like children at the end of a birthday party. We all had to say the word ‘delicious’ in Japanese together and then, just like magic, the electric candle went out. The magic had ended.

A we made our way back out into the world of grown-ups and all their seriousness, I looked down at the display case by the door which was full of souvenirs. Here you could buy pictures of the maids on badges and drink coasters; there were cute fluffy animals to tuck up in bed with and the electric candles, should you want to relive the magic. For the maid connoisseur, there were even CDs of all the favorite songs which the maids themselves perform to. These CDs had titles like Maid in Tokyo or the broken English You May Dreamin!! Vol.1.

As we stepped back into the real world, I had to embrace my inner child one last time, so I posed for a photograph outside the restaurant with two cardboard cut-out maids to the bemusement of passersby.

If you ever plan to visit Bangkok, I would definitely recommend adding this unique slice of Japanese culture to your itinerary. I doubt you’ll probably experience anything like this again, and from the glowing reviews it’s received on Tripadvisor, others have felt the same way. Just be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone and let the proceedings carry you back to that secret childhood place you’ve always secretly longed to be.

As I made my way out of the MBK shopping center, I was carried down on the escalators past the crowded floors selling fake watches and designer jeans, when I was momentarily struck with a sudden panic attack. Quickly I raised my hands up to my head and anxiously felt around.

“Oh, no!” I thought to myself, “Have I forgotten to take off those fluffy bunny ears?”

Until next time…

Sources

The official Maidreamin (Thailand) website:

http://maidreamin.co.th/maidreamin2016/en/

The official Maidreamin (Thailand) Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/MaidreaminThailand

The official Maidreamin (Thailand) YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/MaidreaminThailand