Small Business Spotlight: Kawaneko Katsu and Coffee

Tell us a bit about your business?

We are a Japanese café that has a small but tasty menu of food inspired by Teishoku culture which translates as set meal. Most food places in Japan provide a set meal which is both affordable and fairly healthy. All our meals (either sando - Japanese for sandwich or bento which means rice) are served with potato salad, cabbage slaw, Japanese pickles and a rolled omelette. Our main dish is Kastu, a breaded and fried pork loin. As far as I am aware we are the only people who sell kaki fry, which are breaded oysters. 

If you have any space left then we also have a sweet menu that should satisfy any sweet craving!

We aren't a typical Japanese restaurant in that we don't sell any sushi or sashimi.  

What makes your business unique?

We LOVE cats!!! We have a cat theme with our mascot being the lovely Mojo the beautiful black cat who at 20 years of age sadly passed over the rainbow bridge last year but who now lives on every day in the café!  t

We always wanted to run a café that also sold a range of unique gifts.

We sell a lot of cat themed items and a range of Japanese gifts, cute cat gifts and a great selection of manga and cool Japan inspired t-shirts, kimono tops, bags and anime figurines.

Describe your typical working day.

We come in about an hour before opening to set up the café and switch everything on. We will then hopefully spend the rest of the day cooking for and serving customers. We get a wide variety of customers and I think that because of our cat theme many people are very chatty about their cats!! We are always happy to hear about people's pets..... yes even dogs! 

Why Leith?

Leith has always been a favourite place for us and we felt that Leith offered the perfect balance between affordable and cool and quirky. Businesses in Leith come in all shapes and sizes and we felt that our business was a perfect fit for Leith. It is a fairly laid back and unpretentious area and people are happy to try new things. I have always been happier going out in Leith that going uptown so thought it would be nice to stay a part of that!

Name three fellow Leith businesses you love to visit.

Bon Bon, 12 Triangles and PCY Chinese supermarket.