The future of cafes
Have you heard of a robot café? I thought a robot café is a place where only robot geeks or tourists would go but “Pepper Parlor” in Shibuya was different. Pepper Parlor is a café that offers mostly western café menus, such as salads, fried chickens, and desserts, including sweet waffles which is nothing more special than other cafes in Shibuya. The most unique thing about this café is that both waiters/waitresses and robots work together to serve customers in the café. Once you enter the café, the robots take your order. You would still have to pass your receipt to a waiter or waitress at the counter to have your food/drink served at a table, but once you are seated, the robot by your table will entertain you (not all the tables come with a robot that entertains you) by talking to you or asking you to play with the screen that Robot holds onto.
Relaxing or Tiring?
It was actually surprisingly relaxing and entertaining to be served and talked to by a robot while enjoying a cup of coffee. The café itself is very spacious and comforting with no geeky atmosphere. It was interesting to see that waiters and waitresses who work there also look a bit relaxed as they had enough help from robots, which may be a future model of cafes.. On a side note, the café is produced and organized by Softbank Robotics. If you are in Shibuya, this café, which is located inside the Tokyu Plaza mall (right next to the Shibuya station), may be a good place to stop by to see what the future café may look like!