Mount Austin in Johor Bahru, Malaysia is famous for its multitude of cafés. If you’ve done your rounds and/or want to find something a bit more unique, you may want to check out the famous Shiba Cafe in the area!
I personally had a wonderful experience at Bau House in Seoul, which is a dog café with a similar concept! Unfortunately it’s permanently closed, so I was quite excited to visit this Shiba Cafe.
The café is on level 2 in the middle of a lane of shops, which may make it a little hard to spot. However, you just need to look out for a stairway with an eye-catching shiba inu artwork that leads you directly upstairs.
What to do at Shiba Cafe
Entrance fee is RM22 per pax, which includes unlimited tea/coffee and 1 hour of stay with the dogs.
We went on a weekend so there were quite a few families and couples around. However, it wasn’t quite as crowded as some other reviews claim! Perhaps the staff had taken note of feedback and restricted the number of people who can make reservations.
There’s a fenced/gated area where patrons can interact with the dogs in the café. i counted about 10+ dogs in the café during our visit. Most of them were shiba inus (duh!) but there were also other breeds.
Some of them looked particularly sleepy as it was near their nap time, but they were mostly docile and quite open to you petting them!
Kids can also get up and close to pet the dogs! But of course, with parental supervision.
You may notice some of the dogs wearing diapers. What we understand from the staff is that these may not be fully toilet-trained yet, hence the diapers.
It does help to alleviate awkward and messy toilet situations! But even if they occur, I realised the staff usually got on it quite fast and cleaned it up asap.
That being said, do note that there is quite a strong smell (dog? urine? not sure) in the premises. I think it was fine considering the number of dogs in the space, but you may want to be cautioned beforehand in case you find it rather unpleasant.
If you’re a bit shy and reserved around dogs (aka me), not to worry! The staff are very friendly and happy to teach you how to interact with the canines.
I found the dogs very adorable, especially when they poke their heads through the fence.
As you can see from my photos, there was a good amount of space for both the dogs and patrons to walk around.
You can either get down on the floor to play (dog toys are provided), or else sit on the cushioned seats and watch the dogs go about their lives.
We didn’t have to give the dogs treats for them to respond to us! Some are naturally very friendly and sweet, while others are a bit more reserved and/or sleepy, so you’ll have to observe their temperaments.
Is the Shiba Cafe worth visiting?
If you’re a huge dog lover and want a quality way to spend time in JB with your friends & family, I can’t recommend this enough!
I personally thought this animal café was quite well-run and very friendly to both the dogs and humans. For a start, the fee is quite reasonable. I appreciated that they separated the drinks/food area from the dogs. It certainly keeps things a lot cleaner!
The staff also made our visit very pleasant. They were always keen to share more and answer our various questions, and it’s obvious that they really love the dogs. If you want to hug the dogs and snap some photos, the staff are more than happy to help you out!
DIRECTIONS
Address: No 01, Mount Austin, 12, Jalan Austin Heights 8/4, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Reservations are required! Do call +6011-11939795 to book in advance.
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