On June 24 London tourist attraction The London Dungeon hosted a popup “Rat Café,” similar to the popular Japanese Cat Cafés only, y’know…rattier. Guests were invited to dine on rattucinos, black forest rateau, and car-rat cake.

I’d like to meet the marketing people at The London Dungeon. They sound like a hoot.

The Dungeon’s press release notes that the rats involved were its “very own family of rats;” apparently their entrance queue includes a rat walk where guests can watch friendly rats at play. (The Dungeon also has cockroaches, so that’s nice.) It also stresses that the rat meet-and-greet and dining portions of the event are separated by compulsory hand sanitizing.

There are a number of additional photos here;* the event was so popular that the Dungeon is now considering making it a regular part of their “eccentric things to do” calendar.

As a big fan of rats as pets, I have to say that this is an intriguing idea. You wouldn’t want them tromping through the cupcakes–they’re clean animals, but not that clean–but a friendly encounter with a vintage wire cage full of “plague rats” would certainly enliven a Halloween party. (It should go without saying that you wouldn’t want to go out and purchase live animals for the sake of adding ambiance to a party, but if you’ve got a few of the little monsters already, you might as well make ’em earn their sunflower seeds.)

*The page is on the Daily Mail site; the shortened URL is courtesy of Do Not Link because I’d prefer not to give the Daily Fail any additional traffic.