If you don’t know how to evolve one of the most popular Pokémon species, you might not get the food you want.
Last month, Detective Pikachu joined the menu at Tokyo’s Pokémon Cafe, but there’s still plenty of source material left for the eatery to adapt. Since its opening last year, the Pokémon Cafe has been periodically introducing new types of Pocket Monsters, and next up are some very special species from the Johto region, as seen in the second generation of Pokémon games, Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Starting things off is the Espeon Teriyaki Chicken Burger (1,598 yen [US$14.70]), featuring an elaborate bun with a cherry tomato embedded in the Psychic-type’s forehead, and accompanied by a cup of vegetable soup and a basket of French fries. However, if you want to order the Espeon sandwich, you’ll have to comply with the Pokémon franchise’s lore/gameplay mechanics.
See, you can’t just go out and catch a wild Espeon. You have to evolve it from an Eevee, and specifically you have to evolve the Eevee during the morning or night. Because of that, the Espeon Teriyaki Chicken Burger is only available for breakfast/lunch, and orders for it must be placed between 10:30 a.m. and 5:59 p.m.
So what happens to Espeon’s spot on the menu at night? If you’re a true Pokémon Master, you can probably see where this is going, because evolving Eevee at night turns it into…
…Dark-type Pokémon Umbreon, represented by the Umbreon Fried Chicken Burger (1,598 yen) which can be ordered after 6 p.m.
▼ Thankfully, the fried chicken is slathered with tartar sauce, and not Umbreon’s poison sweat.
Moving on, there’s also a new curry plate made with saffron rice in the shape of a smiling Pichu (1,598 yen), the often-overlooked but still adorable pre-evolved version of series mascot Pikachu.
And while at first glance the color of the Chikorita Green Pancake Sandwich (1,706 yen) might make you think they’re flavored with green tea, the special ingredient is actually spinach, with ham and potato salad nestled inside (though green tea pancakes are delicious, and super-easy to make).
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Japanese cafe without some sort of dessert pancake, and that role is filled by the Smeargle Drawing Pancakes (1,490 yen), which gives you a chocolate pen with which to create your one-of-a-kind artistic masterpiece on a Pikachu pancake canvas.
In further keeping with standard Japanese themed restaurant operating standards, once the Johto food and drink lineup joins the menu, there will be a new batch of six coasters, one of which will be randomly given to you with each drink order, and every diner will get one of 278 new stickers.
The new menu items make their debut on June 8. The Chikorita Green Pancake Sandwich wll only be sticking around until July 19, but the Espeon and Umbreon sandwiches will be offered until September 6, and the Pichu Curry and Smeargle Coloring Pancake look to be new permanent menu items, meaning you can fuel up with them before heading to this summer’s Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama, just a 30-minute train ride from the Pokémon Cafe.
Restaurant information
Pokémon Cafe / ポケモンカフェ
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi 2-11-2, Nihonbashi Takashimaya S.C. East Building 5th floor
東京都中央区日本橋二丁目11番2号 日本橋髙島屋Ｓ.Ｃ.東館 ５階
Open 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Website
Reservations
Source, images: Pokémon Cafe
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he says Umbreon is the best Eevee evolution.