A Day Out at the Line Friends / BT21 x Artbox Cafe & Boutique

The Artbox Cafe & Boutique has changed their theme again, for the first time since lockdown, so we all really just had to go back! This cafe, if you don’t know, changes the theme of the characters, the menu, and all of the merch inside the boutique every few months, providing a new experience. These themes all based around Japanese characters and shows, showcasing cute and colorful creatures that bring a fantastic feeling to the place. Previously, we’ve seen the Pusheen theme, the Gudetama theme, and the spooky Gudetama theme, however, BT21 and Line Friends were new characters for me! Let’s get into what was on the menu. As always, we went with Claire who also write up the cafe on her blog, and this time she brought along her partner David!

Drinks

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When it came to drinks, I went for a Apple and Peach Punch – a fruit juice that had a strong peach flavor, with some sugar around the rim. It was refreshing and perfect for the hot day! Dann on the other hand went for a hot, spiced tea – which had notes of cinnamon and cardamom, though he felt it needed a bit of sugar (we do have sweet teeth after all). Along with our drinks, we got some collectible coasters to bring home. These coasters came in 7 different designs, and our waitress offered to swap out any we had for new ones, which was a lovely touch.

Savory Food

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Dann and I ended up going for the same main, which was a Japanese vegetable curry with some cute rice in the middle. This curry had lots of chunks of veggies and some quite flavorful sauce. It tasted like you’d imagine a curry tastes – quite classic, and there was a perfect amount of rice in it. Claire and David, got the same meal too, the vegan hot dog, with fries and a salad on the side. They seemed to enjoy their hot dog, and this time it came with a tiny “protein” shake which is a callback to the character the dish is inspired by. The tiny drink was very cute and they both said it tasted a lot of strawberry!

Sweet Treats

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When it came to sweet treats, I went for the Mang Vanilla Pudding, which was very interesting – it had so many different things going on. The cookie itself was nice, in the shape of a heart like the character’s nose, and tasted good. The ice cream was cotton candy flavored, with fresh berries on top – very sweet and delicious. The pudding itself, which is meant to be the star of the show, was a bit of a let down. The bottom of the pudding was solid – like I couldn’t break it apart with my spoon, where it had dried up. The pudding itself was really dense and didn’t taste of much. The frosting was overly sweet and compensated for a bit of flavor, but over all, I wouldn’t order it again. Claire and David got Shooky Choccy Waffles which looked really impressive! they were chocolate waffles with chocolate sauce, cookie crumbs, chocolate chips, chocolate ice cream, and mini cookies – looking like the character itself. They both ate theirs up quite quickly, and seemed to really enjoy it! It also came with a small bottle of white chocolate for drizzling, which is adorable. Dann got a lovely looking Space Sundae with TATA on top. This sundae had strawberry, blueberry and banana ice cream topped with sprinkles, pocky, heart gummies and an orange macaroon. It was refreshing and very fruity!

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Over all, we really enjoyed our food! When it came to our service, however, there were some issues. With previous visits, we’ve actually never had a bad time at the ArtBox Cafe, however, this time our waitress seemed to go on break or something, and nobody seemed to be assigned to look at our table. We had finished our entries and had the plates sitting there for over 20 minutes, empty, waiting to order dessert. Normally, this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, however there is a limit to one hour when it comes to eating in. Several times, in the empty cafe (we were the only table) we spoke loudly about wanting to order desserts, about being done, and about the time, but the other waitress seemed to be busy cleaning tables and didn’t come over. Eventually, we just called her over, and she stated we would need to hurry as they needed the table back, and hinted at us needing to have ordered before – something we would have done if someone had checked on our table. We ended up having enough time to eat our desserts, but it was a stressful rush and a bit of a shame. As always, the ArtBox cafe has a small boutique at the front, which has tons for different merch and a takeaway ice cream counter if you are looking for some ice cream. We did take some time to explore and found loads of different items, all for fans of this show!

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!