Nekoemon, literally from Maneki-Neko, is a cat-shaped Japanese figurine that brings its owner good fortune. 

Nekoemon Cafe is a Japanese landscaped area with a restaurant. I am sometimes a bit sceptical of this type of Japanese hype where it quickly becomes a massive overload of everything Japanese you can think of.

But in my mind, Nekoemon gets away with it. One reason is the high quality of the food. Another is that the garden arrangements are decent attempts to look like their Japanese originals.

The intense sound of cicadas would quickly reveal that this was Thailand, but I still felt that it could have been a hot summer day somewhere in Japan. I got some association that it could have been a fragment of the landscape garden in Okayama. So, a pleasant reality escape to Japan, a country that I have been unable to visit for almost three years now.

Neatly arranged landscape at Nekoemon

Of course, this is commercial and, yet again, a spot where you do everything to get that perfect Tik Tok or Instagram video. There are yukatas for rent. And plenty of chances to pose with a lovely background.

Likewise, I think some restaurant in Chiang Mai overcharges for their Japanese food. That didnt strike me here. Yes, the lunch for the four of us cost about 1600 baht, but then we had one main dish each, two smoothies, other sushi and maki roll – plates. And three kinds of dessert.

There is an indoor seating area and outdoor seating on both sides of the restaurant.

The location doesnt make it a place that we will frequent often. But if we had guest visiting us it would definitely be an option to bring them to Nekoemon. It doesnt come with the plastic, fantastic theme Park feel. It feels more like to owners really love Japan and wants to share their love with us.

Nekoemon is popular for photos, just like all these places.

The location in Google is here.