‘Maid cafes’ still a hit in Hong Kong

The “Maid Cafe” concept came from Japanese video games where cute girls worked in a restaurant. The waitresses wear maid outfits or costumes from characters in popular Japanese anime cartoons. They welcome customers with home-made food and call them “Master” sweetly.

By Karen Li Ka Wing

The Cure Maid Cafe was the first of its kind to open in 2001 in Akihabara, the famous shopping district in Tokyo with computer and comic stores. The cafe attracted hundreds of hardcore gamers and anime fans when it first launched.

Since then maid cafes have swiftly sprouted in Japan a n d t h e U . S . According to The New York Times, the city opened the first maid cafe in America in 2008.

Fried rice in Omlette is the
highlight among all the dishes.
Photo by Café Matsuni

It is no surprise that the maid cafe craze has also hit Hong Kong. Cafe Matsuri is one among many in Mong Kok, which has an average of 50 visitors every day, and most of them are college students addicted to online games and anime.

The maids decorate each dish according to their masters’ desires and guide them in casting a “magic spell” on the dishes by saying “moemoe” ( 萌え萌え), a Japanese slang word invented by video games, meaning very cute and sweet, to make the dishes more delicious.

The owner of Cafe Matsuri said in the official blog that she wanted to bring the Japanese Akibara maid cafe culture to Hong Kong. Young women who are outgoing and addicted t o Japanese m a i d culture are hired and trained strictly to welcome the masters with a sweet smile and act in exactly the same way as those in Japan.

Loyal customers say the maids are the main attraction.

Hin Liu, who visits the cafe at least three times a month, said he felt relaxed when he was served by the maids. “The maids are very cute and I have made friends with some of them who have similar interests as mine,” said Liu.

Despite the fact that more maid cafes have opened in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay in recent years, some people still perceive them as a shameless business. However, the maids said they enjoyed talking with and serving customers.

“I never feel embarrassed when wearing the maid costume. I update my ‘Maid Diary’ every day to share my daily life to my fans in the cafe,” said one of the waitresses in
Cafe Matsuri, who did not wish to disclose her name.