Niconico is Japan’s biggest video sharing website – apart from that other one – and this week sees their unique café and creative space re-open in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
The new nicocafe aims to bridge the gap between the online and offline worlds with its online interactive ordering system, which allows viewers watching at home to order items to be delivered to the guests at the bar!
We’re not sure how happy you’d be to actually receive some of these menu items, though…
Nico nico honsha first opened in Shinjuku in 2010. Despite the name – ‘honsha’ meaning “head office” – it’s not actually a space for niconico employees, but a general all-round hang-out space, with studios, a shop, live radio booth, and of course that swanky café with its brand new menu.
▼ Looks pretty swish.
So what’s on the menu?
Well, there’s this ‘raisu teishoku‘ set meal with fish, soup, pickles, and rice. All made out of rice.
It does come with furikake, if you want to add some flavour kick. I think I’d add furikake to four of the rices and leave one rice-flavoured.
There’s MANGA MEAT! This is nicocafe’s version of the primeval meat-on-the-bone that’s been captivating Japanese manga fans for generations. Unlike some other more paltry attempts, this looks appetising and a decent size.
But it’s that unique prank-style ordering system that’s really got us intrigued! There is a live broadcast bar counter, which invites nightly “special guests” (i.e., minor celebrities), as well as regular paying customers.
A live stream of what’s going on at the bar is broadcast on nico nico, and they offer a special service called ‘achira no okyaku-sama kara‘ meaning “from the gentlemen/lady over there”. Watching along at home, you can send the guests at the bar such delightful treats as: half an umaibō!
Umaibō, as every kid in Japan knows, are 10 yen snacks that are basically giant sticks of puffed corn. They’re available in approximately one million flavours, all of which taste like sawdust. But I digress.
At nicocafe, you can send that special someone half an umaibō; a teeny-tiny portion of rice in a bowl that looks no more than 4cm across; or, a bowl with three peanuts in it. And you can have them wash it down with a “Salty Dog-style” cocktail that consists of pure salt water.
▼ This lucky person has received all of the above!
When you’re done taunting the bar guests with minuscule food and undrinkable beverages, it is actually possible to order some real-looking food. Niconico assures us the following items are legit, with no surprises in store, but we can’t say we’re completely assuaged of doubt just yet.
There’s this weed-strewn pizza, sprinkled with laughter (the letter “w” being Japan’s “lol”):
And this tomato pasta, on which rests a piece of ham branded with niconico’s mascot terebi-chan. It says a lot about a restaurant when one of the most normal things on the menu is topped with a piece of cartoon TV ham.
Nicocafe opens to the public this Saturday, October 25 in its new location in P’Parco, the Ikebukuro annex of Parco. Take your friends! Or, send your enemies and make them drink saltwater. That sounds even more fun.
Sources: Naver Matome, goo, nico nico honsha
Featured image: nico nico honsha (edited by RocketNews24)