Fancy Trying Something New For Dinner?

Ninja Akasaka.

Ninjas – along with pirates – are an interesting phenomenon that have worked their way into the hearts of every man, woman and child on this planet. Why? Simply because they are pretty damn awesome. Just as it says on the t-shirt, ninjas outperform pirates in just about every capacity imaginable, and the restaurant business is no different.

The restaurant itself is entirely ninja-themed, right down to staff in full ninja regalia surprising guests by jumping from the ceiling, simultaneously offering to take them to their seat whilst launching a projectile weapon into their face (the latter may or may not actually happen). The outing itself is on the whole a pricier night out than most, but customer reviews of the “experience” rate it as extremely positive, both in terms of the ninja aspect and the quality of the food, which itself arrives in a variety of ways, from the salad hidden inside an eggshell, to a dish being covered in dry ice, invoking a “mysterious” atmosphere and even the menu is ninja-tastic, being written entirely on a scroll. On top of all this, one particular dish involves the recipient removing a sword from the container, only to have dry ice gush out. They also have a branch in New York, for those living less locally to Tokyo.

Modern Toilet.

Suddenly, toilets, hundreds of them.

A delightful name for a chain of Taiwanese restaurants with a delightful theme. Exactly as you could probably guess from the name, Modern Toilet has its customers sitting on toilets and eating food from even more – hopefully very, VERY clean – toilets, all coming in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles. As you can see from the pictures, the coup de grace could perhaps be seen as the dessert: delicious soft-serve ice-cream shaped like an irresistible mound of fecal matter, placed lovingly inside its squat toilet-shaped container. Truly appetizing.

Dans le Noir?

With several branches around the world (with the largest of its type being in London), chain Dans le Noir? (meaning “in the dark” in French) offers customers the unique sensory experience of being able to dine in total darkness, thereby heightening the sense of taste as one is deprived of sight. The theory behind the experience is that we rarely experience total darkness, as there’s usually moonlight or a streetlight nearby from which some small glimmer of illumination can be seen, but at Dans le Noir? The room is in utter and total darkness, through which you are guided by a number of waiters/waitresses, all of whom are blind. The menu itself is kept secret in order to further create an air of mystery and surprise about what exactly it is you might be dining on, with a selection of “set menus” to choose from. For an interesting experience in which there is literally nothing to see, Dans le Noir? is most likely the obvious choice.

The Clink.

If the name of this particular restaurant invokes prison imagery, then the setting and location won’t surprise you. The Clink is a restaurant that is situated inside an actual prison, the H.M. Prison High Down in Britain to be precise, and is staffed entirely by the prisoners there.

The idea behind such a unique locale is to enable the inmates to have an opportunity to be rehabilitated and to earn qualifications which would enable them to start anew via the work they perform at The Clink.

Another interesting aspect to The Clink is that it’s not only for the residents. The restaurant itself serves up to 1000 meals a day for the staff there, anyone visiting inmates, as well as traditional commercial customers. The appeal of such a restaurant is surely leaving people actually wanting to go to prison for prison food, for a change.

Cabbages and Condoms .

Not actually the name of a bizarre sexual practice, but rather the unusual title of a restaurant in Thailand, whose mission it is to promote awareness of family planning by using condoms. Lots of them. With the reassurance that their food is “guaranteed not to cause pregnancy” the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant decorates pretty much anything and everything with the things (even their staff, who wear them on their heads. No, their other head), such as the walls and carpets, with entire statues being made from them. Customers at the establishment can also expect a complimentary condom instead of an after-dinner mint.

D.S. Music Restaurant.

Taipei plays host to all manner of interesting restaurants, with one of them being entirely medical-themed. Staff dress as nurses and doctors and administer their patients with drinks suspended from IV bags. The décor consists of crutches on the walls, with a liberal sprinkling of wheelchairs and other associated paraphernalia.

Dick’s Last Resort

Any restaurant that claims to have “smart-ass funny” staff is bound to be a shoe-in for a list like this. Famous for its “unique” atmosphere, the Dick’s Last Resort chain goes out of its way to insult everyone and everything that steps through its doors and it might even insult your dog, but that’s probably because your dog deserves insulting in the first place.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, then the idea for Dick’s Last Resort stems from the owners’ original intention of opening a marketable fine-dining establishment, only to have it fail and subsequently go bankrupt. After this, it was then decided that they would take things in the opposite direction by teaching their staff to be irritating, have unappealing décor and label items on the menu in a “wacky” fashion.

Dick’s Last Resort is for those that feel they can take a barrage of insults whilst simultaneously being placed in awkward situations. Patrons of Dick’s might even be rewarded for their bravery with an insulting hat designed to look like a condom.