Taiwanese restaurant attract diners with bizarre toilet bowl

proudmom

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 4:53 am

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwanese restaurateur Eric Wang has given new meaning to the traditional revellers' cry of bottoms up.

WALLY SANTANA
His Marton eatery in the southern city of Kaohsiung delivers its food not on conventional plates and dishes, but in miniaturized Western and Asian style toilets, both the flush and non-flush variety.

For anyone missing the point, diners are encouraged to stir up mushy, earth-coloured offerings like curry chicken rice and chocolate ice cream to conjure up - well, the real thing.

Located in a downtown area with a variety of competing eateries, Marton - the name means toilet in Chinese - attracts its customers through its some dazzling bathroom decor.

Walking in through an arched door, diners are greeted with a giant toilet bowl sitting between two urinals. White ceramic toilet sets comfortably accommodate their bottoms, and urinals grace the walls.

Giggling helplessly, high school student Chen Yi-lin gulps down a chocolate ice-cream sundae served in a miniature Asian-style squat toilet, and admits that she is smitten.

"This is fun," she says.

Wang, 26, opened the Marton last year after a roadside prototype - a stand offering toilet-shaped ice cream cones - achieved runaway success.

Now, he says, he has moved decisively upmarket.

"Diners come and walk away with the special experience," he said. "Many try to create more fun, stirring up curry and rice so it looks exactly like when you forget to flush the toilet. Then they gulp it down."

For all its scatological excess, the Marton is following in the noblest tradition of Taiwanese novelty restaurants.

Other successful ventures have purposely confined scores of contented diners to coffins or jail cells, or exposed them to full-scale pictures of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong, Taiwan's political nemesis until his death in 1976

sarahd

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 5:13 am

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Proudmom! Rolling Eyes

supermom

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 5:47 am

I agree with you sarahd. but I wouldn't want to eat my food from a toilet shaped dish yuck. just the thought of it. who made this theory up anyway.

chavamom

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 7:56 am

Gag.

supermom

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 11:10 am

shame you don't have a picture that you can post of this amazing way of selling and eating food in this new day and age we are living in. crazy world I must say.

Yael

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 12:33 pm

iiiiiich!!! Mad

Tefila

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 1:14 pm

What buisnesses will do to attract customers shock

Mommy912

Fri, Jun 10 2005, 2:33 pm

Found some pics at
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/s.....=6000

Anyone Hungry?

supermom

Sat, Jun 11 2005, 10:58 am

that is a cute idea for people that actually live in the bathroom but still lost my apitite and not hungry anymore.

GAMZu

Fri, Jan 02 2009, 12:19 am

Actually, poop is a good luck symbol in Asian countries.

ChossidMom

Fri, Jan 02 2009, 1:13 am

Gamzu - what made you bring this back up 3 years later?

zaq

Fri, Jan 02 2009, 10:23 am

every time I think modern society can't possibly sink to a lower level of tasteless vulgarity, something like this comes along and proves me wrong.

MiracleMama

Fri, Jan 02 2009, 10:31 am

Sounds like the Taiwanese people have a very odd sense of humor. I am nauseated just thinking about this.

greenfire

Fri, Jan 02 2009, 10:46 am

is that humour and they pay for it too ...

I don't recall where I saw this - but somebody told - or maybe I saw it in a magazine - of a crushed graham cracker crumble mixed with brownie poops to make it look like a cat litter for holloween or purim ... shock