Ka Pi: Hedgehog Cafe near Minquan West Road
We thought we’d seen the craziest of the animal cafes after the alpaca cafe and the reptile cafe, but Taipei always has something more to give. In this case, in the form of a hedgehog cafe.
Ka Pi is a bright, modern cafe near Minquan West Road MRT Station that has two hedgehogs kept in a clean, spacious tank. The cafe has very strict rules about touching the hedgehogs, but you can always stop by and check out their tank.
The hedgehogs are very cute, but will most likely be sleeping when you visit as they are nocturnal animals. Ka Pi prides itself on being pet friendly (a hilarious review on Google Maps told us that someone even brought their pet snake once — they were pretty surprised by this, but took it in stride) and they love to share their knowledge about hedgehog-keeping. They have books about hedgehogs in Chinese, and offer free advice to anyone who has a pet hedgehog at home.
The well-being of the hedgehogs is Ka Pi’s priority, which is why you may only play with them if you make a reservation in advance, and only during the set hours of 3-6PM. They chose this time because the cafe will be the least busy, and they want to ensure that their hedgehogs will remain in a calm setting at all times. They reason that only serious hedgehog or animal lovers will go out of the way to make a reservation, since most people would be at work or school between those hours. At all other times, the hedgehogs may not be disturbed.
We were very excited to get a chance to see hedgehogs up close, so we called and made an appointment to see them. You might need to have some patience when scheduling the appointment, as the hedgehogs see a maximum of four groups a day, so there will be days when it is not possible to make one.
We showed up ready for our appointment, and ended up waiting a while for the hedgehogs to become available. Seeing them is free, although you must each order a drink while you wait. The staff will then sanitize your hands and the table and bring the hedgehog to you. They will demonstrate the correct way to handle them, as well as supervise your interactions with them. We had about ten to fifteen minutes with this adorable little boy, and were able to ask all sorts of questions about hedgehogs and hedgehog keeping while holding him. After a while, the staff member gently asked if we were done, and ushered him back to his tank. Even though we didn’t get to spend a long time with him, we were very happy to have the chance to hold him, and completely understood the need for short, supervised visits. We definitely prefer that the cafe erred on the side of protecting their animals!
Even if you won’t be able to make the hedgehog meet and greet, you can still enjoy some of the cute drinks Ka Pi offers. Above is their latte ($130), which comes with some adorable hedgehog foam art on top. It was a decent coffee. We also ordered their hot chocolate ($140), which was very creamy and sweet, served with two marshmallows.
We also tried the iced lemon coffee ($120), which we didn’t have high hopes for but ended up being very refreshing. It was well mixed, so the flavours of coffee and lemon actually complemented each other instead of creating a screaming contest in our mouths. Our favourite lemon coffee drink ever is from Summer Savage, but this one was also great.
The final thing we ordered was an iced Irish nut latte ($150), which was delicious. It was creamy, nutty, and tasted ever so slightly of Baileys without the alcoholic kick. We would definitely get it again.
All in all, we quite enjoyed our time at Ka Pi. We had a lot of respect for the way they treated their animals, and how strict they are with their handling policy. Animal cafes are a touchy subject, and for good reason: no one wants to be complicit in the mistreatment of animals. We felt reassured that the hedgehogs were well looked after here, and that they were committed to helping the hedgehog keeping community here in Taipei. Other than that, though, we wouldn’t particularly recommend coming here for the drinks alone. There was nothing wrong with it, but it didn’t impress us as much as some of the other cafes in Taipei.
Check out their full menu down below:
What’s the vibe?
Polished, modern looking cafe with cute hedgehog decorations. The customers are mostly young Taiwanese people.
Worth it?
If you’re not there to visit the hedgehogs, not really. The drinks weren’t bad, but there are better cafes in Taipei. If you make a reservation to visit the hedgehogs, then yes: you will only be able to see them briefly, but seeing such cuties up close and learning about them in detail is very rewarding.
Would you go back?
Doubtful. Now that we’ve checked it out, there isn’t much that would bring us back, unless we were going to take some friends.
Last visited July 2019.
| Ka Pi |
| Chinese Name: 喝什麼 |
| Hours: Mon-Fri 11am – 9pm Sat & Sun 9am – 9pm |
| Phone: 02 2522 3196 |
| English Address: No. 36-1, Minquan West Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City |
| Chinese Address: 台北市中山區民權西路36-1號 |
