A unique cafe in Chiang Rai, that’s home to many cats!
On our many visas runs to the Mae Sai border we had often driven past the Cat Café sign by the side of the road, yet we didn’t decide to go and check it out until our friend Gill, visited us from England, she’s a big cat lover and so it seemed like a good place to go with her.
Gill meeting the 1st cat!
Turning off the main highway 1 we followed the Cat Café signs, I was not sure what to expect. A load of cats roaming around a public food establishment goes against all I know about food hygiene standards and most restaurant rules, yet pulling into the car park I was pleasantly surprised.
Cat Cafe in Chiang Rai
The Café, officially called Sawasdee Chiang Rai, but more often just called ‘The Cat Café’, is spread over a large area of land with stunning views out towards an organic farm, where they grow the vegetables used in the café.
BUT… Before I write anymore, you have to watch the ‘HILARIOUS’ promo video they have on YouTube that got us interested in visiting the Chiang Rai Cat Cafe in the first place. Seriously this video has me in tears every time I hear the mans voice and I’d love to meet the voice over artist himself in the flesh one day. Take a look and see if you find it as funny as I do 😀
Don’t you think ^ this ^ deserves thousands of views! I absolutely love it 😀 … Anyway back to business, this Cafe is actually pretty special.
Nice Setting
The cats have their own housing area which is staffed and they are watched constantly to make sure they are safe and not wandering into the car park area.
Some of the cats and kittens were kept in their caged rooms, but there were a handful of cute cats that had been let out and were off exploring their freedom, all the cats we saw looked healthy and well looked after.
Cat Cafe Cats!
Apparently if you go to the café in the morning time, the cats are more active and you will find more of them out roaming the grounds before they get put away in their allocated rooms for their afternoon down time.
The café is relatively new and we found it to be a great idea, even if you are not a fan of the feline variety, it is worth going to the café for the food alone. We were there around lunch time and were impressed by the quality of the food bought out to us. This isn’t just a novelty café serving packaged cakes and substandard drinks, drawing customers in with the cutsey cat concept, it is a well-run restaurant with a great menu.
Lunch Time at the Cafe
There was a young girl at the entrance welcoming people as they arrived and showing them to the tables and the staff were quick to bring us menus and take our order.
I went for the tuna salad with hydroponic vegetables, it was presented delightfully, the salad in perfect little rows of each vegetable, with a pot of salad cream on the side. Jmayel and Gill both went for a burger and separate plates of French fries, not realizing that the burger came with fries, so we ended up with extra, which wasn’t a big deal as the fries were really tasty!
Fresh Tuna Salad
They have a good selection of drinks, especially a wide range of flavored teas, blueberry and vanilla for Jmayel and spiced apple tea for me.
Jmayels Iced Blueberry & Vanilla tea
There are both inside and outside seating areas and the covered terrace area make for a nice place to enjoy an afternoon or early evening.
Cat Cafe interior
Overall we had a good experience at the Cat Café in Chiang Rai, putting the café above a few others that we had recently visited, in terms of food standard and service. We will definitely be back again for lunch, and not forgetting a few kitty strokes too, because who can resist!
Peek-a-boo kitty
Sawasdee Chiang Rai Cat Café is open from 10:00 until 20:00 every day.
Cat Cafe Thailand Chiang Rai Map
View Cat Cafe Chiang Rai Map (Sawadee Chiang Rai)p in a larger map
Pet Friendly Hotels in Chiang Rai:
*Other Useful information
The Real Cost of Living in North Thailand – We break down how much we spend in a month
Pet Friendly Hotels in other parts of Thailand? – Looking for Pet Friendly Hotels in other parts of Thailand?
Bringing a dog to Thailand – The ins and outs of Exporting a dog from the UK to Thailand.
Info we have categorized under Pets – Other Posts Related to Edens Dog Life in Thailand. Including cute dog videos and some Pet Friendly Hotel reviews too.
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Jmayel, Sacha & Eden El-Haj
