Edinburgh: Maison de Moggy cat cafe

In Edinburgh we stayed on the West Port just up the road from Maison de Moggy cat cafe.  We had looked at it when last in Edinburgh but Sylvia was too young to go in.  Now she easily passes the age limit and there was no avoiding it.  We passed it so often on our trip and visited twice.  The cats were much more active at 6pm than at 11am.  But whenever we passed, we were able to peek in the windows to see the cats.

Maison de Moggy was the third cat cafe we visited.  Of the three, this one was the most centred on the cats.  Romeow in Rome was really about the food with a few cats about.  Whiskers and Cream in London was both about cats and their afternoon teas.  Maison de Moggy had drinks and cakes but as you can see in the picture, the cat the tables and chairs were positioned around the cat entertainment rather than the other way around.  When we entered we had to take off our shoes and put our coats, bags and brollies in a tub under the seat.

All of the cats have French names.  The tips jar was pretty cute.  It was not spelling Guillaume's name that was difficult but pronouncing it.  It helps to remember that it is French for William and sort of say that with an attempt at a French accent.  (He is named after Shakespeare because he also is from Stratford upon Avon.)  But I never quite got it according to Sylvia (who has her dad's ear for accents).  The staff also called him Gee so I was happy to go with that version of his name.

When we arrived Sylvia made a beeliine for this sleepy black cat called CoCo.  She was quite happy in this basket on the manager's desk and didn't move round much.  Sylvia missed our black cat Shadow and was delighted to have a stand-in of sorts!

I have also had to get help from Sylvia with names because some of the cats were siblings and looked quite similar.  Marcel had a brother called Philippe who had similar markings of the Bengal breed.  We only saw Marcel during our two visits.  The cat door he is sitting next to goes to a private area where the cats can escape if the "hoomins" are too much.  Not all the cats were out in the cafe area the whole time.

At each session, a staff member would introduce all the cats.  They had their evening feed on our first visit at 6pm.  The cats love their food.  There was quite a scrum.  You can see cheeky Marcel here with his paw raised at another cat because he is determined to get the food.

And some cats like Marcel can never have enough.  In this photo you would think he had not been fed, the way he is begging for more.  Here you can also see Fleur, one of the two kitten siblings who were wearing red vests because they had just been spade and were a little sensitive on their sides.  She is watching how it is done. 

Marcel wasn't finished in his campaigning for food.  He came at it from another angle by approaching the staff member from behind by jumping on a ledge.

Fleur had learnt from Marcel and joined Gee in begging for food.  She and her sister Maud were constantly on someone's knee during this visit.  Sylvia had them both on her knee at once for a while.

Pauline is a big fluffy maine coon.  She did not like being patted but she got plenty of admiration as she mostly snoozed in a mass of floof.

Here is Marcel again walking about by the merchandise.

This is Amelie, a fluffy rag doll white cat with a dark face and ears.  She was so lovely and soft to pat.

Gee was my favourite cat because he was so amusing and shameless with his love of cream.  I spoke to another visitor who could not drink his hot drink because Gee was trying to swipe his cream.  Then Gee did the begging stare at the cream beside another visitor's cake that you can see above.

And then he was stretching out to stick his paw in the cream, intent on getting what he desired.  As you can see there is also a restraining hand behind him.  One of the rules at every cat cafe we visited was that no one was to let cats eat the human food. 

Sylvia ordered an apple juice but I had a caramel hot chocolate that was one of the daily specials.  The cocoa paw print next to it on the plate was cute but the hot chocolate was so sweet.  I liked the flavour but am not so into sweet hot chocolates.  And I don't like mountains of cream either .

I had spooned my cream onto my plate before I drunk my hot chocolate but I was more interested in the cats.  So the most attention I gave my drink was when Gee jumped on the table to try and dip his paws in the drooping pile of cream.  As previously he was pulled away but kept trying.  Every now and again he succeeded and then sat contentedly licking his paw. 

Gee sitting at the table to demonstrate he is a human and should be fed human food!  Especially if cream is involved!

Meanwhile Marcel was at another table helping to clean up after everyone.  By now it was time to get our coats and bags from the tubs under the seats you can see in in this picture. 

When we came back a few days later at 11am when the cats were more sleeping but still managed to amuse.  One of the first sights to greet us was Pauline sprawled over a high platform by the door.

Jacques sat at the cat door, still as a portrait, and surveyed the room for some time before sauntering out. 

Sylvia ordered the Amelie Special and I had the watermelon lemonade.  You can see Jacques in the background emerging from the cat door.

The rag doll cat called Amelie has a fluffy white body and a lot of dark on her face.  They say she looks like a toasted marshmallow when she curls up and then looks upwards.  And so she is the only cat to have a drink named after her.  The Amelie Special is a marshmallow flavoured latte served with cream and marshmallows.  Sylvia said it was one of the best cafe lattes she had ever had.

I loved the little cat tv - it would have looked so cute if a cat got in and was peering out of the tv screen.. The closest I saw any cat go to it was when Jacques had his claws on the scratching post.  He then made an attempt to get in the round hole, seemed to think it was too small and left the area.

Gee and Jacques passing on the floor!  Gee is so gorgeous that everyone wants to pat him.  It is also a good way to distract him from trying to swipe everyone's cream.

Pauline looks up while Jacques skulks in the background.  Is that her please-don't-pat me look?

Gee sits up high to watch over the staff member introducing all the cats on our second session.  He is so haughty that you would never guess he is a cream thief!

The twin Oriental shorthair kittens, Fleur and Maud, had their red vests off on this visit. While on the first visit they wanted to be on everyone's knees.  On our second visit they curled up together on a cat bed and slept. 

Amelie was curled up sleeping in her cat bed.  Marcel slept in a capsule at the front window.  They were a sleepy lot.  But because the cafe was more about cats than food, it meant visitors left their tables and mingled more than in the other cat cafes we visited.  Visitors would chat to someone admiring the cat they were patting or would share an observation of a cat doing something cute.

Soon our hour on our second session was finishing.  Yet again we resisted the temptation of the merchandise, got our shoes on and left.  

Although Romeow had the best cat cafe meals and Whiskers and Cream had the best cat cafe hot chocolate, Maison de Moggy was the cafe where we bonded with the cats best.  No doubt this was because we went twice but I think it also helped that the cafe visitor times were staggered so there were 15 minutes for the cats (and staff) to relax and regroup between visits.  It is nice and central in Edinburgh and if you love cats, I recommend a visit.  And "no" to the person I overheard looking in the window of the cat cafe, you don't have to bring your own cat!

Maison de Moggy cat cafe
17 West Port, Edinburgh EH1
Open 7 days a week: 10am to 7pm
www.maisondemoggy.com