Praise the sun - the Dark Souls Cafe is all I hoped it would be...

Feb. 2, 2014

Praise the sun – the Dark Souls Cafe is all I hoped it would be…

Praise the sun – the Dark Souls Cafe is all I hoped it would be…

“Thou who art undead, are chosen, in thine exodus from the apartment – maketh pilgrimage to the land of the Dark Souls cafe. When thou ringeth the Service Bell of the Waiter, the taste of the undead menu thou shalt know.”

Wow. As a true Dark Souls fiend, I can honestly say that the Dark Souls Cafe is WELL worth the visit. So much so that I have been twice already and have a third visit planned hah!

The Cafe is located 10 minutes walk from Roppongi Station, in Nishiazabu.

Usually the place is know as Oz Cafe, an Australian bar and restaurant, but until April the place has been completely transformed, littered with Dark Souls paraphernalia in every nook and cranny. I must say that as I approached the cafe for the first time, my heart was aflutter with serious Dark Souls obsessive excitement! As I swung open the door I was greeted by Great Grey Wolf Sif’s theme from the Dark Souls soundtrack booming – yes, I. HAD. ARRIVED. I quickly rested by the bonfire to save my progress.

Opposite the bar there is a bonfire on display, surrounded by trinkets, weapons, a chest (which you can place your feedback card into), as well as a chalkboard with which you can leave future undead messages – “Don’t eat the dung pie”, “Imminent despair” etc! Right next to this stands the COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN – a life size, Dark Souls II statue of the protagonist featured in the trailers and art for the upcoming game. This thing is EPIC, and super formidable. This would look great in my house… now how to get it out of here unnoticed?

Also on display was the Collectible that comes with the Japanese special edition of Dark Souls II – a velvet lined wooden chest containing highly detailed replicas of weapons featured in the game. I can tell you that without a doubt, I will pre-ordering this edition along with my Western Collector’s edition for these replicas alone. Worth ￥14,220? Yep, every single yen, in my opinion. The replicas themselves look fantastic, and the case looks AMAZING!

There was all manner of Dark Souls goodness spread through the cafe – summoning signs on the floor, amazing Dark Souls II concept art on the walls including a HUGE map of the Dark Souls II world, barrels of weapons and bucklers, a huge display above the bar showing Dark Souls II trailers and footage – this is Dark Souls heaven.

After wandering around in a stupor for 5 minutes taking photos of everything, I sat down and checked out the menu. The menu itself was fantastic, a velvet covered tome with gold embossed logo. It felt hefty, much like a tome you might find in The Duke’s Archives. Unfortunately the menu is in Japanese, which can be a problem if your Japanese isn’t up to par! However, there are small pictures next to most items, so you can see what Dark Souls item the drink or dish correlates to. I immediately ordered an Estus flask, as I needed to replenish my HP after the long and harrowing journey (the Estus flask was a citrus and beer cocktail – very delicious!)

For my second trip I partook in some jolly cooperation with my girlfriend, so was able to try more items! We also tried out the cursed Sealed Sun (or 封じられた太陽) tequila cocktail and the Soul Spear soda cocktail (or 乱れるソウルの槍). I was kinda limited on the food side of things as I am vegan, but did try the Healing Dark Beans or 闇豆の丸薬 (originally created by Elizabeth of Oolacile – temporarily boosts your abilities) and the Sweets of the Darkness or 闇菓子 (made by the dark powers, if you eat them, you will be able to contain the black flames inside of your stomach – haha!)

There were also some nice bonuses – I got given a fantastic Dark Souls II poster and complementary coaster – there are 6 to collect so I will be back!

It was time for me to depart into the despair outside. My visit to the Dark Souls cafe was brief, but being surrounded by other weary travellers (or fellow Dark Souls maniacs) for a spell was a much needed respite. As I departed, I heard the all too familiar,dread inducing sound– an invader – and a familiar one at that! I knew I would be back at the bonfire in no time – minus my humanity…