It’s been just about a month since the city’s first permanent cat cafe opened, right on the heels of Momofuku Ko’s relaunch in a swanky new space on Extra Place. When they first hit the scene, their calendars were jam-packed with reservations, scaring off many a would-be cat cuddler and caviar connoisseur. Are they any easier to get into these days? Let’s take a look!
First, Meow Parlour. The hype has died down since we first visited, but when we looked at the calendar yesterday at 10am, the earliest availability for an “experience” for two adults was on March 9. (Your chances are better if you’re going with a kid under 10 during “children’s hour.”)
When we checked again that night at 9pm, March 9 was all filled up but a slot had opened up for Feb. 7.
But by today at 10am, February was fully booked again and the first availability was on March 10.
So how does a wait of almost two months compare to the one at Momofuku Ko? With David Chang plastered on the cover of New York magazine last week, you’d think this would be a tough table (Ko only accommodates walk-ins if it happens to have for-reservation seats free, so resys are essential). But reservations for Ko 2.0 are considerably easier to snag than they were when the original first opened, instantly becoming the nation’s second hardest table to book (this is a larger dining room, after all, and a higher price point). The key here is to hit the reservation system at 10am, when a new day of tables becomes available for 10 days out (that’s as far forward as you can book, versus 60 days in advance for the cat cafe). As you can see, when we did this yesterday there was some availability: one slot on Jan. 15 and a half dozen on Jan. 22.
When we checked again that night at 9pm, the situation wasn’t quite as inviting. Just one table left.
This morning at 10am, all of the Jan. 22 tables had vanished but six tables for Jan. 23 opened up.
Within five minutes, four of the Jan. 23 tables were gone, but a table for Jan. 22 opened back up.
The takeaway: look for new tables in the morning and check back often for cancellations — they do occur. And make friends with a seven-year-old if you want to get into the cat cafe anytime soon.