Review: Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, London

You’ve probably already heard of the famous Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, which is London’s first cat café! There’s a few cat café’s in the UK, and the idea is basically what it says on the tin: a normal café, but with cats casually strolling around for you to play with. There are quite a few other cat cafés in London now, including Whiskers & Cream which also looks great, so fellow cat lovers are definitely spoiled for choice these days!

Being a massive cat lover, it was the land of dreams for me — or so I thought! I felt incredibly lucky to have booked a time slot for the weekend only a few weeks in advance, as there’s usually a few months of a waiting list. So we’d booked our time slot for 4.30pm on the Saturday afternoon after our shopping trip.

Review of Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, London

We arrived at the café and were greeted in a hot little room where we were told the ‘rules’ of the premises, which was basically not to bother the cats if they are sleeping — which seems very fair to me. We were then asked to wash our hands, paid £5 each as the entry fee, and then made our way through to the main café. I didn’t really mind paying the £5 fee, as it’s not a normal café, and this charge goes towards the care of the cats.

We were kind of blindly led into the café, which already had quite a few people seated, and we weren’t told where to sit or even that there was a basement downstairs with more seating. So we gingerly went and sat at a table for two near the window, although we weren’t sure if this table was already taken. We then kind of sat around for about 15 minutes waiting for something to happen.

The atmosphere was a little bit weird, to be honest. The staff were fine, but their customer service skills could do with brushing up a little bit. There were a few cats asleep in the window, but there were none walking around or playing — but maybe they had had a busy day! I liked the décor of the café, which had a vintage kind of theme to it, and I loved the vintage crockery the cakes came out on.

After a while, a staff member came over and asked us what we would like to order to eat or drink. This was fine, except we hadn’t been given a menu in the first place to pick from. So she went off to find us a menu, then came back again, and then went off again whilst we picked. I picked a carrot cake and a Fentimans lemonade, and my boyfriend requested a Ferrero Rocher cake and a different lemonade.

When the waitress came back again, we made our order and everything seemed fine. She then returned to tell us they hadn’t got either drinks left, so we picked alternatives. She then returned once more to tell us the cakes weren’t available either, so we stuck to a simple Victoria sponge cake and a vanilla cupcake (a bit boring and horrendously expensive — £3.95 for a slice of cake and £2.80 for a cupcake). It was annoying that she hadn’t bothered to check and tell us the stock levels before we ordered, so we had to make a rather rash decision on alternatives, which weren’t great.

So the food wasn’t good, nor was the atmosphere, the price, or the staff. So what about the cats? There is a total of 11 rescue cats living at the café, eight of whom are related. I have read a few reviews where people say the cats seemed unhappy and not very well looked after, but to me the cats seemed perfectly content. They were all snoozing away, and a few enjoyed a little stroke from keen visitors.

They had lots of places to play and rest, and there were also lots of places for them to hide away from bothersome guests. We didn’t get to see too many cats or have much interaction, but I didn’t mind this — you can’t control the cats. I liked having them around, and they were interesting to watch when they were awake. They seemed pretty happy to me! I think we probably only saw about five of the cats in total, even when I went downstairs to find them — they were nowhere to be seen.

Overall, I am glad I went to the cat café because it’s an experience and I’d hate to have missed out. But I probably wouldn’t go again, nor necessarily recommend it unless you’re a crazy cat lady and just want to be around cats. If you’re looking for a nice place for tea and cake, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a more interactive experience with animals, the zoo is probably better. I can imagine a lot of people being disappointed with this, as the cats aren’t always playful and fun — cats like to sleep, so sleeping is what they do!