Hello Kitty Cafe’s decors and desserts are worth a visit

A crown and Instagram favorite are the biskies because of the way they are presented: inside birdcages. Photos courtesy of Stanley Baldwin O. See.

“Wa titty, wa titty!”

Trust me, it’s funnier to hear this from my three-year-old niece and goddaughter Lexine while trying her best to say words Hello Kitty. One of the world’s most famous cats and one of Japan’s biggest icon and cultural export has quite a local following; especially evidenced by the full house when Lexine, her parents, and I visited the Hello Kitty Cafe in Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

Our little companion was just waking up from a quick nap when her eyes instantly widened with mouth agape upon seeing the image of Hello Kitty. After waiting for a few minutes for a table, we were led to the middle of the establishment that not only screams Hello Kitty but also kawaii (cute!) in every corner.

Walls with poster-sized images, multi-colored chairs with gold-rimmed ribbons, and human-sized bird cages instantly amaze most children and transport adults back to their childhood days.

The menu is actually simple, consisting of options for soup, salad, quiche, tartine (French open-faced sandwiches), pasta, entrees, side orders, drinks, and dessert. Having developed an appetite after walking from the Mind Museum to Uptown Mall, the Chicken Schnitzel (P420) with fries sounded interesting to me, my sister-in-law had the Spaghetti Bolognese (P365), while her husband chose the Shrimp Scampi (P440).

All three were good but offered nothing special or new except for the Hello Kitty branding: a literal branding on the bread accompanying the scampi, on the ham sandwich that was included in the plate of spaghetti, and a cardboard cutout of Hello Kitty  sticking in the middle of my chicken schnitzel.

Could shrimp scampi possibly be Hello Kitty’s favorite dish? 

Drinks like the Oreo Mint Cappuccino (P210) and Fizzy Blue (P105) also utilize the same cardboard cutouts. The dessert menu is actually the cafe’s strongest suit aesthetic and taste-wise. After seeing neighboring tables with small birdcage delivery contraptions, I decided that ordering and snapping photos of the sweet treats was too much a good thing to pass.

The signature dessert and bestseller according to the cafe staff is the Mango Charlotte. But after finding out that the price of the small piece costs P520 (large one is P1,995), I passed on cheese cake-ladyfinger cake in favor of the more economical Espresso Biskies (P160) and Blueberry Profiteroles (P70).

Both desserts aren’t too sweet and I personally preferred the profiteroles, which consists of flaky dough, blueberry cream filling, and a baby blue-colored ribbon.

At P70, the blueberry profiteroles, featuring flaky dough and blueberry cream filling, is both delicious and budget-friendly.

Other dessert options displayed in a chiller (and available for take-out) include eclairs (P140 to P195), apple tarte tatin (P260), chocolate tart (small P275, large P1,495), and rainbow cake (P600).

In the end though, it didn’t really mattered what us adults thought about the taste and quality of food; the smile and giggle that the cafe experience brought to our precious three-year-old companion was priceless and the most important measurement.

Hello Kitty Cafe really isn’t for serious eaters or foodies wanting to try something great and delicious, but for serious fans and titos and titas of Manilas who want to impress their niece, this cafe should do the trick. — AT, GMA News

Hello Kitty Cafe is located at 3/F Uptown Mall, BGC. Operating hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.