I had lunch at 鷹匠茶屋 in town, a place I’d been curious about for a while. It was my first time dining in front of 10 hawks, but their dignified appearance and sharp gazes added an interesting spice‼️ The quiet owner seems to run it alone, but if possible, I think it would be fun if he introduced the hawks. I went out of curiosity, but I didn’t feel like coming back.

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This is a place where you can have tea while looking at hawks right in front of you. It’s fun for people who like hawks, but my strongest impression was that the owner and his wife (?) didn’t answer questions very courteously. (Conversations ended with “Is it ○○?” → “No” / “Do you do ○○?” → “We don’t,” so I got no sense that they wanted to explain things to someone who knew nothing.) The interior is small, so I think it would be full with about 8 people at most. The curry was delicious.

I visited with a friend a few years ago. Above all, the people running the shop were unfriendly. There were only 2 birds of prey, the main attraction, and we couldn’t touch or approach them. All we could do was look at them from a distance while having tea, and I remember leaving disappointed. I became interested after seeing it on television, but apparently those smiles and attentiveness toward the celebrities were just for TV. Considering that people visit after seeing media publicity, I think they should improve their customer service and the quality of the shop.

This is not a birds-of-prey cafe; it’s more like a meeting place for people who already keep birds of prey. There are no interaction services like at a birds-of-prey cafe, nor any hospitality like at a dining establishment. Regulars come in very familiarly, carrying a bird of prey, and put it in the enclosure themselves. It’s a comfortable place for regulars, but for everyone else (even people who keep birds of prey), the whole place felt completely unapproachable. If you search, you’ll find several reports about the shop, but its unfriendliness is described very gently. Reading them, you might think, perhaps they’re just a little unfriendly? But that’s only considerate wording; in reality, they’re harsh.

I enjoyed tea while watching birds of prey from much closer than at a zoo. One bird at the back kept calling loudly, which was also a rare (?) experience. When we stood in front of the glass partition separating the hawks’ space, they all looked at us at once, which was quite powerful.