Maids Chika (chinchilla) and Purin (pudding) prepare for the official opening of the new restaurant

A NEW restaurant has opened in Holborn where customers are the “master” of the café, and are served by young women dressed as maids.

But stop what you’re thinking, it’s not sexual.

Maid cafés, which became popular in Japan in the early 2000s and are influenced by anime, are unlike your typical greasy spoons. Although the omelettes they serve might be similar, the service is definitely not.

Young waiting staff are dressed in maid outfits and interact with customers as though they are “masters” who have returned home and serve them food and drinks through immersive role play.

Purin (a Japanese word for pudding), a maid who works at Moonrise Maid Café in Red Lion Street, told the New Journal: “When you step into here, you’re like the owner of this place and I will be your maid here, serving you, because this is your home.

“So, like, you step back to your home, and that’s basically it.”

When reporters stepped inside on Wednesday, Purin provided a bell to call the maids over. We were handed two “midnight fizz” soft drinks and told a “magic spell” could be cast over the blue and purple-coloured drinks by repeating Japanese words that Purin recited.

Moonrise Maid Café

She said: “It’s, kind of like, role play. We talk to them, ask them how their day at work was, do they have any plans afterwards?”

Mina Kirk, the owner, said: “The idea is you’ve been working and now you’re back home. Dinner is ready. The maids are there to serve you, ask you about any worries you have, or interests.

“Lots of customers talk about their studies, their jobs. Maybe they just need to find someone to tell their worries to.

“Here is not a restaurant, it’s your home. You will be the master, queen, princess, prince.”

Ms Kirk said their customers are “random”. Sometimes it’s families, sometimes international students from the University of the Arts London which is round the corner.

She said: “So if a person doesn’t watch anime, or they don’t read manga, they will be quite interested initially. But they might not have enough understanding to get into the experience. But it’s not just a restaurant.

“If you read Manga, if you go to Comicon they will 100 per cent know what this is. Also some of the customers will have maids they like and it’s more like they are friends with them, and will come back to keep chatting with them.”

You cannot touch or take photos of the maids or other masters, but can have a Polaroid snap with them for an extra £5.

Ms Kirk said there is no sexual element to the maid cafés. She said: “Like 80 per cent or 90 per cent, they just think it’s a cute thing. We explain it’s not sexual. In Japan it’s happened before where customers have asked if they do massages and things like that. People might be thinking cosplay is a kind of sexual thing, so that’s why we have the rules.”

Moonrise Maid Café officially opens on Monday.