Rome: Romeow Cat Bistrot

Romeow was Sylvia's choice.  Most of our time in Rome has been travelling through the nearby Porta San Giovanni to the historic centre of Rome.  We had to travel in the other direction to the Ostiense district to find this vegan cat cafe.  This means a vegan cafe with cats, not a cafe to eat vegan cats, though the website subtitle of "taste the cat experience" might be a tad midleading - or maybe it is an error of Google Translate.

We had booked but it wasn't like our cat cafe in Melbourne, where bookings of 1 hour are essential because they limit the number of people because it is focused on intense one on one time with cats and maybe a cuppa and a slice.  Not only does it have a cooler name but it is more of a vegan cafe with some cats. Our booking was for upstairs but it was a bit darker than downstairs.  More crucially, it seemed easier to eat a meal at a table than at a coffee table, despite the upstairs nook being very cute and cosy.

As we walked back downstairs we were able to watch this cat negotiate the obstacle course and slip into the upstairs area.  If only cats would listen to humans and do some of their cuter acts over and over.  If so I would have been encouraging it to do it again. 

You might notice that the are lots of pins in the cork map of the world lower on the wall.  If you have a really good eye you would see no pins in Australia.  When I paid I asked about this and was told that the map was for visitors to add pins.  I was very pleased to add one to Australia so it is represented.

I liked the downstairs area more upon walking into the cafe than from the picture on their website.  I am not sure that this photo does it enough justice either.  It is so lovely with a light and airy feel from the large windows, lots of colours in the chairs and walls, pleasing paintings and little fun additions such as a piano and cat beds.

This was the table that we chose.  We were welcomed by two cats who spent a lot of the time sleeping near us.

We spied a few other cats.  I loved this cat on their window bed staring out the window.

Soon after we arrived the black and white cat on the window bed stretched, had a scratch on the LOVE cat scratcher and curled up in a cat bed behind the tree.  It would have been nice to have seen the cats more active with all the fun of the trees and steps on the walls made out of books.

This cat was the only one we saw that was playful.  He jumped around a chased a ball but then disappeared.

This cat curled up in a ball near the door and slept most of the time we were there.  As an aside the entrance to the building is quite confusing as they have a double door with a buzzer for each door.  After being granted access through one door, the staff check there are no cats in the entraneway before buzzing you through the next door.

Sylvia gently patted the sleeping cat.  She does this to our cat at home and he has never shown any problem with it.  It surprised us that the staff asked her not to disturb them while sleeping.  They then gave us the rules in English which made this clear that it was a requirement of the cafe.  I understand with so many people about that they need to make sure the cats are continually stimulated.  I suspect if our cat does not want patting, he just wanders off for some time alone.

It seemed like there were more rules for humans than cats.  This cat jumped onto the sunny spot on the table beside us soon after we arrived and slept there most of the time.  The staff removed the table settings and left it there.

However having a meal while there, meant we paid less attention to cats than at our Cat Cafe in Melbourne.  The first offering was a tasty amuse bouche.  It was a crisp bread shell topped with vegan feta and a crumble.  I check if there were any peanuts in this and were told yet there were peanuts in the crumble.  It was disappointing that after we had noted Sylvia's peanut allergy in the booking that she was almost given peanuts.  Once we told them, they were good and brought her a crisp bread with feta and no crumble, and checked about nuts in other dishes. 

I was pleased to encounter a kombucha.  It was rose flavoured but quite subtle and had a nice tart flavour.  I think it is the only kombucha I have had in Rome.  It does not seem much of thing here.

I ordered the Crispy tofu with fondu heart and salad of puntarelle with raspberry vinegar.  The tofu coating was really thick and crunchy.  The rectangle of tofu had been slice and had a slice of cheese slice inserted in it so that every mouthful had soft melty cheese.  I also liked the drops of creamy pink dressing which I think might be cashew cream.  Like the salad they were seasoned with vinegar which was a nice contract to the mellow tofu and cheese.  Together with the slick of tart raspberry sauce it was adelicious meal with great contracts of flavour and texture.

I could not identify the salad vegetable and when I asked our waitress I was told it was a salad of puntarelle.  When I asked what puntarelle was, she could not explain.  But Google confirmed for me that it is a vegetable related to chicory rather than a type of salad.  I had not expected Rome to offer me a new vegetable but was very pleased to make the acquaintance of the puntarelle.  One I knew of it, I seemed to see it on a lot of menus.

Meanwhile Sylvia had decided she just wanted a tiramisu.  She was told that she could not just have cake but had to have a meal.  I think they meant it was lunch rather than afternoon tea.  So with good humour she ordered the Tteokbokki- seasoned Korean rice cakes with mushroom ragu, lemon caviar and marinated ginger.  She was very pleased to try it as she has never had Korean rice cakes before (but we have a packet in the fridge that she plans to try.)  And she loved the dish.  So colourful and well seasoned and mushroomy and those little pearls of lemon were so much fun.

It was ironic that when she did order her (vegan) tiramisu, she could not eat it as she did not enjoy the cashew cream.  (She is not much into nuts.)  So she was really glad she had had such a great savoury dish.

For dessert, I had the Chocolate mousse cake with a biscuit base, a berry heart, chocolate fondant with coconut milk and fresh berries.  This was more like a dense cheesecake to me rather than a light and fluffy mousse cake but what's in a name!  I loved this dessert because it was not really sweet, though the coconut milk in the filling made it quite rich.  The vein of berry sauce throughout my slice gave some relief to the intensity and a slight added sweetness.  The fresh berries on top were lovely, especially the redcurrants which are rare to encounter fresh in Australia.  In fact, I could have had a lot more berries.  Despite that, I really enjoyed this dessert.

I don't usually photograph cafe toilets but this avocado toilet seat was pretty surprising.  Even more surprising was that they had free sanitary products in a shelf by the toilet.  I think it is the first time I have seen this and was impressed.

 

 

This sign on the cat - "all guests must be approved by cats" - says it all about this cafe.  The cats are the highest priority.  Bu the humans can't complain with such excellence food and company.

Before we paid we went to see this big fella, asleep in the sun.  Then we headed to the counter which was as fun and colourful as the rest of the cafe.  I loved the plant in the cats paw vase.

 

 

Then we headed back onto the street to admire this signal box artwork with the cats and cactus and head down to the spot that Google Maps calls "migliori graffiti e arte di strada a Roma".  This last translates into English as "best graffiti and artwork in Rome".  How could we resist! 

 

The part of Ostiense that we encountered lacked the beautiful heritage buildings and frequent historic ruins of the centre.  However if I had more time I am sure there is more to the area than the streets surrounding the train station covered in  graffiti, dog turds and grim.  The first impression were of suitcases spilling out messy piles of clothes on one footpath near the station looked like either donations for the homeless, a mini flea market or sales of unclaimed luggage.  But the street art was angsty and I wish I had known how close it was to the 4th Century Porta San Paolo.  Indeed, the vibrancy of Romeow pointed to some hipster locals with a desire for good food.

Romeow Cat Bistrot
Via Francesco Negri, 15, 00154 Roma RM
near Roma Ostiense Train Station
Ostiense district
https://www.romeowcatbistrot.com/