Claris
Otaku Bar Review
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Rating /5
Review
A new one in Umeda, seems to have opened in late 2023. It seems to fancy itself a "maid cafe", but the staff aren't too "maided up". Like Mofuru, but a damn sight more bar-like (they have karaoke, and a bunch of people at the one tiny table were playing a TRPG or TCG).
Anyway, I went in and the one woman behind the bar just stared at me deer-in-headlights fashion. A customer had to ask if I knew about the "system" (the charges), so I said yes, and then it was OK. The guy's "girlfriend" turned out to be one of the staff, she went back behind the bar after he left. Another woman showed up, spent ages in the toilet, came out in much the same clothes, was behind the bar for about 5 minutes, was in the toilet for another 10 minutes, then disappeared. Maybe she joined the TRPG group, I wasn't paying much attention.
Anyway, between karaokes they were playing Tom and Jerry (newer ones, where the non-human characters speak, it feels so wrong) or HunterXHunter. I had one beer, asked for another, and was told they had RUN OUT. A BAR! RAN OUT OF BEER! AT 9:30ISH ON SATURDAY NIGHT! Crackin' organisation there. I downed an oolong tea, paid up and sodded off to Rock Bar Star, which is awesome.
Getting There
It's in a bunch of bars "behind" the big red ferris wheel in Umeda. The building is called TM17. There's several shotengai and one of the two branches of Mandarake down that way, too. It's just across the road from Lapis Lazuli and Frenzy.
See the other one called "Marmaid", with the anime character? That's almost certainly a maid cafe, not an otaku bar (though with much crossover audience), so I won't bother reviewing it.
Details
Soft drink "nomihodai" (all you can drink) is ¥1000 per hour, alcohol is ¥1500 per hour. Actually a pretty reasonable price, compared to the other otaku bars nearby, anyway.
In Conclusion
Offputting. It was one star, but I went again just because I was in the area and it was the "cheapest" otaku bar. It was a tad better the second time, as in the "main" mama tried to talk to me and take orders, rather than just staring in horror. Also they didn't run out of beer.
Useful Stuff
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