CatPawCino Cat Cafe — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

We enjoyed our visit to the cat café, and the staff were very friendly, but we didn't quite think it did justice to the money we spent there. The cover charge of £5 a person felt like a lot for the 4 of us and added to the light lunch (toastie, drink and tray bake each) we had there, we came away having spent £53(!) which made it an expensive outing for our family.

The cats were lovely (there were 8 of them the day we went) and most of them were happy to be petted. They were all in excellent condition and the long-haired ones were gorgeous to stroke, however they mostly kept to themselves and dozed in the many cool cat beds that were in the shop (or on top of the café diary in one amusing case) This is what I'd expect from regular cats, but I'd hoped for cats that might be a bit more interested in people in a cat café.

Overall, the cats didn't add that much to the café experience other than being really laid back and beautiful ornaments (that occasionally rearrange themselves) with the usual worship-me attitude that cats have. And of course they could be petted, although, be careful, there were 2 that were touchy and took a swipe at me when they were bored with being petted.

The one cat who really interacted with us and our children was a foster kitten with loads of attitude, and she injected some much-needed life with her antics. She was all over the shop, waking up some of the others occasionally, and our kids had fun with her. They regarded their time there as a good experience, and I'm glad we went, but would add, a bit sadly, that we can't...

I see most reviews very positive so maybe I'm just an old grump! But didn't find this experience the high thrill of a lifetime. The entrance fee is £6 per person : fair enough as cats need to be cared for. The cats are all beautiful and very well cared for, but they are clearly over it! They looked vexed and bored by turns (actually that is cats all over). Some didn't come out atall, and one spent all her time on a high shelf. The tables and chairs were rather rickety. The service was very slow. We were they last people in, but there are only 6 covers. My coffee when it finally came was REALLY NICE, but a small cup. I ordered a rocky road for my granddaughter for £3 but the portion was rather small. On the other hand she got a very large glass of milk (£2). The two young women running the place were very pleasant but very quiet. And you only get one hour in the cafe, then...

There are cats here but the positives end there. Firstly we were let in 10 minutes late but made to leave on time so lost 10 minutes of our booking. Whilst we were eating we were brought our bill and rushed out of the door.

We ordered two mozzarella, tomato and Basil toasties, a caramel shortcake and a brownie.

The toasties has no basil in and not much of anything else in them.

We saw one of the waitresses return with a Tesco bag after we had ordered and we were then served 5 small brownies and 5 small sheet cakes, despite seemingly ordering one large one. The waitress had run to Tesco, bought a box of 20 of each for £2.50 each, and sold us 5 for £3.00 and £2.50 respectively.

Don’t eat here. If you want brownies go to Tesco and get 20 instead of 5 for the same price....