The spooky season is in full swing this close to Halloween, and everyone is finding their own unique ways to celebrate. Tokyo has plenty of options for Halloween, including some made especially for otaku. One of the hardest ones to get reservations for is a pop-up café that has come around for a few years now, theDisney Twisted-Wonderlandcafé. And this year, we got in!
Disney Twisted-Wonderlandis a mobile game franchise that released in Japan in 2020, and quickly gained popularity in its target demographic of young women. The game puts you into the story of a person who is transported to a magical university called Night Ravens College. There, you meet many handsome boys who belong to different houses at the university, attending classes and doing battles as you level up the characters and interact with them.
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What setsTwisted-Wonderlandapart from other similar games is that it is actually aDisneyproperty. All the boys in the story arebased off of Disney franchises, and each of the houses they belong to is from a certain movie. The characters have bishounen designs that have become popular cosplays over the past few years. In fact, the game has done so well that it finally had an English release in 2022, and even has a manga for anyone who can’t get enough of their favorite characters!
Inside the Café
TheTwisted-Wonderlandcafé is in four different locations right now - Shinjuku, Nagoya, Osaka, and in Tokyo’s stylish neighborhood Harajuku, where we went. It is reservation-only. You have to get a reservation quickly and early when they open up to accept bookings, due to the café’s popularity. And it is not just any normal concept café, either; it isHalloween-themed, too! Halloween fits right into the dark style ofTwisted-Wonderland, and it makes perfect sense to have the café at this particular time of the year (even though the café is open through December).
The interior of the café was well-decorated. It kept to the theme without being too over the top or cheesy. The ceiling had blue streamers and portraits of the characters hanging from it, and there was an accent wall in the iconic black and gray diamond pattern commonly found in the game. There were quite a fewjack-o-lanternsaround, too, which were the perfect background for pictures, and a life-size cutout of the monster cat Grim.
On the Menu
The menu was small, but intricately themed. There were four main dishes to choose from, each with something related to Halloween. We ordered the Jack-o-Lantern soy meat keema curry plate, and the rice was evenshaped like a pumpkin! There were also pancakes, a hamburger, and cream pasta to choose from. The food itself was not that delicious, especially considering the price (¥1890, or $13USD) but we were clearly paying for the aesthetic of the dish.
While the food menu was small, there were a lot of drinks to choose from. There was one for each of the houses inTwisted-Wonderland, each in their signature color. There was also a cute ghost smoothie, and of course hot tea since Night Ravens College is a classy university! We ordered the Ignihyde drink (from Disney’sHercules), and opted to buy the optional souvenir bottle as well. The drink was ¥790 ($5USD) and the bottle another ¥990 (¥7).
Of course, we couldn’t leave without hitting the store. There were some fun exclusive goods for sale, mostly stationary items, which is common at themed cafés in Japan. There were several tapes and files to choose from, along with some blind bag keychains and pins. One of the nicest items though was a special case for displaying a pin, perfect if you got your favorite character, and it even had the name of the café on it as a special memory.
Overall, theTwisted-Wonderlandcafé was a lot of fun, especially forbig fans of the game. It had merchandise you cannot get anywhere else, and very Instagramable food and drinks. It was a bit more expensive than most themed cafés, and the taste of the food was not memorable, but it was still a fun experience. Plus the Halloween theme made it perfect for this time of the year, and they really went all-out on the theme with the decor and the food.
TheDisney Twisted-Wonderlandcafé is running until the start of December at most locations, and reservations can be made online through the official website. We highly recommend planning ahead if you want to visit.
