Mačkafé, Cat Café Bratislava, Slovakia

written by Marie Gizelle March 10, 2020

^Aj láv mačky / I love cats (Mačkafé, Cat Café Bratislava, Slovakia)

Bratislava and Vienna are the only European cities that are very near each other. It takes one hour, give and take, to travel there – whether by train, bus, or car. It’s our easiest go to whenever friends visit. We’ve learned about their cat cafe for some time already but never got the chance to visit. This week though, hubby got some time off work so we hurriedly went, despite the coronavirus threat that has been spreading around.

Table of Contents

Location

The café is easily located near Hrad Castle, but a bit tricky to find. It is walkable from the bus station Zochova on Starometska street, and the tram station Kapucinska on Kapucinska street. We took a tram to the next station but went back soon enough after realizing that it was nearer from where we came from. ^_^

The café is at Zámocká 7327/24, Zamocka is an uphill street lined up with little cafés, snack joints, there was even a vintage shop. You’d get a bit short on breath when you reach Mačkafé. A play at the more famous McCafé, Mačkafé is a portmanteau of mačka and café – mačka means cat in Slovak.

Mačkafé

The café has double doors to ensure that the cats won’t be able to go out when visitors come in. There are guidelines by the door and it was annoying to see someone opened the first door (they were coming in) while we were opening the second. This is a standard in most cafés and those visiting often know the unwritten rule. “Make sure the other door is closed before you open the other.”

There are a lot of seating areas in the café, some already occupied by the resident cats. So make sure you look first before you sit down. The cats has towers, wall shelves to hang out, but it was amazing that no cat hairs are flying around as the yleap and jump about.

Mačkafé, Cat Café Bratislava: Cheesecake and coffee

Coffee and Cakes

It is said that “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” And I totally agree, sometimes though I add other things, in this case, it should be coffee, too. Or tea, if you may. The café offers a number of cakes, different coffee concoctions, and both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks.

Before leaving Vienna, hubby and I ate at the foodcourt of the Hauptbahnhof but we weren’t able to drink even water so my throat was quite parched. Hubby got a cappuccino, while I just got black coffee without the sugar. It’s been almost a year that I’ve gone lowcarb, almost no sugar so I just took a bite or two off hubby’s cheese cake.

What we had only cost a little bit short of 8€. Do bring cash because they don’t accept card payments. The cheesecake was leaning to bitter than sweet, but that’s probably my sweet taste buds acting up. I would surely try a different cake next time. Will definitely bring the kids to have them try the other menu offerings.

We would have loved to see cat-shaped cakes but I guess that’s asking too much. 🙂 It has been my dream to have our own cat café, but it isn’t easy to establish one. I remember Vienna’s Neko café took a lot of convincing before finally opening in 2012.

Cats / Mačka

Mačkafé, Cat Café Bratislava: chin rubs

As most cat colonies, each of the cats has a different personality. I wasn’t able to interact with all of them, but this one was the sweetest, allowing me to give him chin rubs, even showing his backside to me and slept nearby.

Most of the cats are tuxedos (2), black ones (2), and mackerel tabbys (3). There was one calico that was hidden at a corner cat tower (photo on slide).

Even the black cats are each different, one was sleeping the whole time and allows being touched while the other kept walking around and doesn’t like being touched.

Another rule to observe is to not touch, all the more wake the cats up when they are asleep. This is the respect that we, as guests, should give the resident cats.

Wait for the cats to come to you, and play. Hoomans play by cat rules. 😉

Visit Cat Café Bratislava Mačkafé and Relax with the Cats

Having owned cats for 3 years now, we know how relaxing having them around is. Yeah, there’s some work to do, money to spend for their health and comfort, but having them around is a joy I wouldn’t trade for anything else. If you can’t have a cat at home, we recommend visiting a cat café near you.