Trying new and interesting things when visiting a city or country for the first time is always an experience. It’s part of what makes travel so much fun. When choosing restaurants, you can not only try foods you’ve never tasted before but also enjoy something out of the ordinary by selecting an eatery with a unique theme. Quirky dining establishments are popping up all over the globe to attract both locals and tourists looking for something different. Here are five restaurants offering bizarre dining experiences.
Vampire Cafe – Japan
Fans of horror will have a ghoulishly good time dining at Tokyo’s macabre Vampire Cafe. Elegantly decked out in red velvet, the eateries’ gothic decor features skulls, spiders, and crucifixes illuminated by candelabra mood lighting. Wait staff dressed as vampire maids and butlers serve drinks garnished with fake blood and dishes plated on coffin-shaped platters while baroque music plays. The attention to detail also extends to the food itself, as it is said to be high-quality and flavorful.
Cell #9 – Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
Though real prisons are notorious for the less-than-desirable food they serve, Cell #9 is said to offer a menu of tasty, quality grub. This oddly-themed eatery, which features bars, chains, and prison cells, probably won’t be a top choice for those who actually have spent time in jail. However, many have flocked to their restaurants either for the sheer novelty of it or to try one of their criminally delicious meals. Menu items include Extortion Sliders, Reeper Chicken, Arson Fries, the Predator Chicken Burger, and more.
Modern Toilet – Taiwan
Most people want nothing to do with bathroom imagery while they’re eating. Perhaps that’s what makes this concept one of the most bizarre on the list. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s Modern Toilet has become so popular, it now has three locations. Patrons are seated on actual toilets instead of chairs, surrounded by plungers, shower heads, and poop-shaped decor. Instead of a table, diners eat on a real bathroom sink. The food–much of which is also made to resemble feces–is served in bowls that look like toilets and bathtubs, while the drinks come in mini urinals.
Heart Attack Grill – Las Vegas
While many of the world’s most bizarre dining experiences can be found in Asia, this one is right in the US. What’s more American than a burger joint offering greasy grub and encouraging overeating? The hospital-themed Heart Attack Grill prides itself on its extremely unhealthy food. Huge in portions and high in fat, sodium, and cholesterol, one might indeed clog their arteries gobbling down heart-attack-inducing items like the half-pound Chili Coronary Dog, Butterfat Milkshake, or 20,000-calorie Octuple Bypass Burger. Here, customers weighing over 350 lbs. get their meals free of charge. Eat with caution, however. Staff may be dressed as doctors and nurses, but they are not medically trained.
Absurdities – Singapore
Experience multiverse dining as you eat your way through a variety of different settings at Singapore’s Absurdities. Here, you’ll dine on absurd dishes from each of these different themed “worlds” in a six-course omakase meal. If you’re not familiar with the term, omakase is a Japanese word used to refer to a meal in which the dishes have been chosen by the chef. After each course, you’ll walk (or crawl) your way through a portal leading to the next environment. The six courses come with two alcoholic beverages and promise to be fun and exciting with interesting textures. Absurdities’ location is kept secret, only being revealed to those with a reservation 24 hours before their scheduled time.