Unusual Restaurants Archives

Unusual Restaurants, Cabbages and Condoms

23 March 2024

Cabbages and condoms, as restaurants go, this one not only has an unusual name, it had an unusual beginning. Originally a small vegetable stall in Bangkok on some office premises of the PDA, a community development association concerned with family planning.

The outfit used to sell vegetables, lace panties, t-shirts, condoms and oral contraceptives! Somehow I doubt we will ever see a similar portfolio in Burger King or McDonalds.

The chairman of the PDA Mechai Viravaidya called the shop cabbages and condoms. The catchy sobriquet it seemed tended to amuse passers by, and drew people into the shop. In the seventies, a small restaurant was added serving Thai dishes.

The cuisine gained a following due to its quality, and eventually it developed into a full restaurant.

Expansion Abroad

The chain now has restaurants in Japan and England. More precisely Bicester in Oxfordshire, though I don’t think the decor etc is quite the same, being more of a vanilla style Thai eatery.

We offer a range of noodles and such like, though sadly without the condoms, for that you need to stick with cabbages and condoms.

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Catering, Event Planning, Unusual Restaurants

Unusual Restaurants, La Bodega Negra

9 March 2024

Ever fancied a stroll down Soho. That side of London that was renowned for its seediness, that eventually morphed into a sort of coolness.

Whilst you are there, what about popping into the establishment below!

No, we haven’t just turned into some sort of cheap Only Fans knock off. This fine frontage is actually the entrance to one of London’s best Mexican restaurants. Oh and they make a fabulous tequila cocktail.

You walk in only to be met with a an interior exactly like you would expect a sex show to present. I have to admit, it is quite daunting, trying to figure out if you have just brought the wife to an actual Mexican restaurant. Or if you are going to have to spend the night convincing her you weren’t actually trying to drag her into a peep show.

Happily, once through the next door, you do actually find yourself in an actual purveyor of food and drink, rather than pleasures of the flesh.

If you want something a little less daring but with a touch of fabulous gourmet catering check us out.

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Catering, Equipment, Fun Story, Unusual Restaurants

Unusual Restaurants, Dinner In The Sky

10 February 2024

Dinner In The Sky, another in our series looking at some of the more unusual eating establishments around the globe. This one is different because it is situated around 150 feet in the sky!

This one is present in around 60 countries. Starting in Belgian in 2007, David Ghysels who owned a marketing company and Stefan Kerkhofs, a bungee jump organiser partnered to create an aerial based dinner for the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe association.

This led to them being contacted by people from around the world who wanted to replicate the experience. They decided to go down the franchise route.

By 2009 Dinner In The Sky they were operating in more than a dozen countries including China and Canada.

Permanent Location

Michael and Janeen Hinden discovered the concept at a trade fair in 2008. They tested the concept at a New Years party, and eventually put the plans in motion for a permanent location in Las Vegas. Costing $4 million the location was to have a ground based restaurant as well as the high flying set up.

We can take to new heights with our gourmet catering options, but admittedly not 150ft dinner in the sky.

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Catering, Fun Story, Unusual Restaurants

Unusual Restaurants, Dans Le Noir

22 December 2023

Starting in Japan (where else would a totally quirky theme start), the concept of a ‘blind restaurant’ saw a non profit organisation called SIEN, and Higan-ji, a virtual Buddhist temple created by Japanese monks join forces at Ryokusen-ji, a temple in Asakusa to introduce a blind or ‘black’ restaurant.

The concept is, that dining is carried out in complete darkness. The theory being that with the lack of sight, your other senses are heightened, and becomes more of a sensual experience.

Dans Le Noir

Translating as In The Dark. This is a chain of restaurants spread through Europe and also with some locations in Africa and New Zealand. They offer the experience of dining in the dark, with your serving staff being blind or partially sighted.

The food is typically higher end fare, think 5 star rather than local café. Another benefit is the relationships with your dining companions. You have no idea who you are talking to, so the conversation tends to be without preconceived notions.

This is definitely on our bucket list to try.

In the meantime if you need food you can actually see, then check out our gourmet burgers.

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