Swallowtail
So, as it was made apparent before, on Friday December 11th, we went to the legendary Swallowtail butler cafe in Ikebukuro.
Just making the reservation felt epic... I mean, you get to choose how they greet you and how they send you off! *picked ojousama since everyone was a sophisticated young lady* We decided to dress nicely for the occasion because it is not everyday we get to experience something like this. I'd seen a video from Swallowtail how it was about 3 years ago, and I have to say, it seems they've upgraded the interior quite a bit...
But let's take this in order. We were supposed to be us four exchange students, but sadly Sally had part-time job and she didn't want to cancel it. anna_chiba was amazing and introduced us to her friend Toki who came as the fourth person. And it was good because she had been there before and she speaks fluent Japanese so we didn't feel quite as lost as I'd feared. |3 We met at the cafe and waited for our turn to come, meanwhile we were greeted by two butlers.
In suits, with long black coats. Really, think of Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji. I think at this point, my brain started to slowly blank out. I can't help it, I've got a weakness for those coats. <.<;
We got shown in, and there was red carpet EVERYWHERE. The head butler greeted us and introduced us to "our butler" but I have to confess the names completely went over my head. XD They took our coats and bags and showed us to our table. It was in the back of the dining room, and the dining room was... Something I'd only seen in movies. Really. It was luxurious. Toki helped translate the rules of the place as the butler explained them, they did speak some English but it was nice to have a good Japanese speaker with us. ;w; ♥ The butler also described the menu items to us. I decided to have the Victoria Afternoon Tea Set. And I let the butler decide what kind of tea would be nice with milk. =3=
The butlers do everything for you... You can't pour more tea yourself, you have to ring the bell. If you need to go to the ladies' room, you need to ring the bell to get the butler to show you there. And they'll show you back to the table, too. I think we all got to ring the bell, Brittany said she felt "like a God" when it was her turn. XD Aino practically demanded the bell when she needed something. I was surprised just how heavy the bell was when I rang it on my turn. It made me kinda giggly... x) If you do something wrong or inappropriate, the butlers will gently scold you. o////o
There were a LOT of butlers there... Ours was quite good looking, but Brittany homed in on this short, really young one. Think Ouran Host Club. Good. Now think Honey-sempai. See what I mean? She literally spent most of the time there staring starry-eyed at "shota-boy" and saying she wanted to do *CENSORED* to him. I hadn't seen anyone actually be starry-eyed before but now I know what it looks like. XD My brain just couldn't process all the butlers in those delicious suits and acting so fine and I was trying hard not to stare...
The food, even though expensive, was very delicious, the tea was tasty and just the experience of being pampered like that was worth every yen. I am really glad we went there and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did!
After the cafe Aino and Brittany had to leave because they had Disneyland trip for the whole day on Saturday. Me and Toki continued on to Akihabara, to Sweet Pool Cafe at Queen Dolce.
TL;DR: Swallowtail is something every sophisticated lady should experience.