Tokyo is big on character cafés serving meals and desserts that look too cute to eat. While many of these themed cafes are permanent, some operate as pop-ups to celebrate special occasions. This month, the Harry Potter film franchise is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first film, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, with a special limited-time café in Omotesando.
The menu features four bento boxes (¥1,980) themed after each Hogwarts house – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each box has sandwiches with fillings representing each house colour, and you can get a cup of soup and wand-shaped breadstick on the side for an additional ¥1,000.
Other savoury dishes include a salad (¥1,100) with a mandrake pot in the middle.
There’s also a hearty shepherd's pie (¥1,320) with a Hogwarts logo.
The sweets are based on iconic moments from the first film, including a replica of the birthday cake (¥1,100) Harry receives from Hagrid.
Plus, there’s a multi-tiered parfait (¥1,650) that looks like the golden snitch.
There will also be two additional desserts based on the Fantastic Beasts films including a suitcase chocolate cake (¥1,870).
And for fans of the magical beasts themselves, an orange tart (¥1,540) decked out with the adorable platypus-looking creature, Niffler.
If you’re here with a friend, it's worth ordering the snack plate (¥2,860) which comes in an afternoon tea-style three tier stand. The bottom tier has egg sandwiches made to look like Hogwarts admissions envelopes, the second tier has cupcakes that look like the snitch, and the top tier features an owl cake.
The drinks are where the café gets really creative. You’ll find four different smoothies (¥990) themed after each house, a Hogwarts Express latte (¥1,100) topped with white cotton candy made to look like the steam coming out of the train.
Or opt for tea and coffee (¥660), which both come in specially designed cups (which you can buy separately for ¥1,980).
The café will also be stocked with exclusive merchandise like stickers, keychains, tote bags, T-shirts, letter sets and more.
The Harry Potter Café will be at Omotesando Box Cafe & Space from July 22 to September 12 from 10am to 8.20pm daily. Walk-ins are welcome, but we recommend booking a reservation in advance since themed cafés generally fill up quickly and this is a seriously popular franchise. If you book in advance through the website you’re required to pay an additional cover charge of ¥715, but you’ll receive a souvenir when you arrive to make up for it.
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