The toilet is so clean, you can eat off it

After helping Angie move to her new place, we went out to eat. Earlier in the day, we were talking about the various gimmickly-themed restaurants, such as the one decorated like a Taiwanese classroom in Rowland Heights (I forgot the exact name), and as we finished our dinner and were heading back to the car, we passed by another "themed" restaurant. Once again, the decor was the gimmick, but the food wasn't that great.

This then reminded me of some photos that have been circulating on the Internet for several years--a restroom-themed restaurant, where the plates, the seats, and the food, are made to resemble... you know. I promised her I would find those pics and email them to her. And in my search, I've learned that there are now at least two such restaurants in Taiwan. One in Taipei (named "Matone," is apparently the first one, judging by the date of the article), which is in the northern part of Taiwan, and one in Kaohsiung (named "Marton"), in the Southern part of Taiwan.

As I obviously haven't been to these restaurants, I cannot say if the food there is good or bad, although the above linked article and these pictures seem to indicate that, unlike the restaurants we had been discussing, it's not just the gimmicky designs of the restaurants that help make them successful--they actually have good food! I would think that should be the first rule to operating a successful restaurant.

The above video is rather short, but if you pay attention, you'll notice that all the patrons of the restaurant are sitting on toliet-shaped seats, and the walls are lined with ceramic tiles (like in the public restrooms).

Below is a longer video, which shows food being served in the special plating, but without audio.

These restaurateurs in Taiwan are apparently not the first to use the scatological subject as their theme. According to the linked article above, they've seen pictures of the same theme coming from Japan. "Matone" seems to be the first one in Taiwan, as the article was written back in 2002, after photos had been circulating the net. The blog entry about "Marton" was written in 2005, providing a link to a now defunct 2005 Associated Press article, and stating the the first of the chain was opened a year prior (2004).

Of interesting note is that restaurants using the same theme have also opened in mainland China (the first in November 2005), but received with much more negativity in their press. Still, some do call for the people to be more open-minded.