restaurant graveyard (india)

Sipping a cup of tea and chatting with friends near tombs in a graveyard, this is what attracts visitors to New Lucky Restaurant in Ahmedabad, India. Serving Indian cuisine to over 300 customers daily, the Lucky hotel has 22 tombs nestled between wooden tables and chairs.

A visit to New Lucky restaurant is part of the itinerary for many tourists and artists. The walls have paintings from the well-known Indian painter Maqbool Fida Husain, a frequent tea drinker at the bustling restaurant. The restaurant offers about 90 vegetarian food items and is most popular for its tea and white butter maska buns.



Many graveyards in India have been reclaimed for development over the years, according to local officials. But the owners of "Lucky Hotel" decided not to demolish the tombs. Some of Sufi poets and saints from the Mughal rule in India. When the restaurant opened about 40 years ago.





Every morning, owner Krishna Kutty, a Hindu, wipes the graves with a damp cloth and decorates them with roses. "I am not aware who was laid to rest here but I know that they are very lucky for me and the visitors. Many suggest me to destroy the cement tombs making room for more customers but I'm happy with the way it is," said Kutty, sitting near one of the tombs.



"It is a bit eerie to sit beside a grave for a meal but I have got used to it, the green tombs make me realize that every bit of life is precious." said 45-year-old Usman Vora, who has been visiting the restaurant since the age of ten.

Dark restaurant ( China )

The first dark restaurant in Asia is officially opened on the 23 December 2006. This restaurant, located in Beijing, China, has its interior painted completely in black. Customers are greeted by a brightly lit entrance hall and will be escorted by waiters wearing night vision goggles into the pitch dark dining room to help them find their seats. Flashlights, mobile phones and even luminous watches are prohibited while in this area.

The meal will be taken in this environment with the complete loss of vision. By starving one’s sense, your other senses are stimulated to full alert – all so the theory goes – and your food will taste like it’s never tasted before. In case you are wondering about the washrooms, they are all brightly lit.

The dark restaurants are initially a project of the Blind-Liecht (Swiss German for blind-light) foundation. The foundation works to create employment opportunities for blind and visually impaired people. Their first venture, the blindekuh in Zurich, opened in 1999 and is claimed to be the world's first dark restaurant. Since then, the restaurant concept has been subsequently replicated elsewhere, including Paris, Berlin, London and multiple cities in Canada, United States, Russia and Australia. The one located in Beijing, China is the latest addition.

Restaurant – Ithaa (italy)

Have you ever eaten underwater? Well, at the Ithaa Underwater Restaurant you can have your chance! This is a one-of-a-kind restaurant where diners are surrounded by glass, which provides a unique view of marine life while dining. Dining at 16 feet below sea level is something you will only experience while visiting Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in the Maldives. This is a fine dining restaurant, but it is a tourist attraction as well so plan to make reservations well in advance if you want your opportunity to have dinner while enjoying underwater views of the reef and fish swimming by. It is an experience like none other so be sure you add it to your “to-do” list while vacationing in Maldives.

While Ithaa Underwater Restaurant would surely be enjoyed by young children, the restaurant does not cater to children under 12 years of age. If you have young children the Ithaa Underwater Restaurant may just have to wait until they are older unless you bring grandma along! Enjoy dining underwater from 11 am until 12 am seven days a week. Keep in mind the restaurant has a “smart” dress code and the menu does change seasonally. There is only enough room for 14 diners at a time so be prepared for an intimate atmosphere and delicious Maldavian-Western fusion meals. Diners should budget $120 to $250 USD for an average meal, and although pricey it is definitely worth the experience to dine inside the aquarium and watch marine life in its natural habitat.

Medical restaurant (Taipei)

When I stepped into DS Music Restaurant, I found it to be an extremely well-put-together, professional establishment with good food and a pleasant atmosphere that is night-lifey but not overwhelming. This disturbed me.
 
The reader is invited to consider the nurse fetish. It is an institution that lies at the heart of DS. And so I entered DS prepared to immerse myself in sleaze and then write ironically about it. What I found, though, was a disquietingly congruous marriage of unabashed hedonism and well-funded good taste.
Overall, DS looks like many other posh restaurant-and-bars, with lots of spot lighting, funny-shaped chairs, and clear alcohol bottles lit from underneath. Except that many of the tables look like sleek hospital beds, there are a few wheelchairs and crutches sitting around, backlit X-rays decorate some walls, and above each table hangs a big "IV drip," which functions like a small keg. And then, of course, there are nurses everywhere you look.

The hospital theme is pervasive, but somehow subtle, or at least natural. I never thought I would say this, but it turns out that a wheelchair does not look out of place next to a wall of Smirnoff Ice bottles. There is something appealing about the audacity of taking a concept as (someone has to say it) flagrantly trashy as this and making something so cool out of it. To top it off, the food is good.
The menu consists of lightly Westernized Chinese, Japanese and Thai, with an inexplicable but not unwelcome Polynesian flare running through the presentation. The sashimi, for example, is served on a mountain of ice covered with leaves and flowers. The "Fire Pheonix Beer (sic)" (火鳳牛柳) is a successful beef-and-pineapple stir-fry served inside a hollowed-out half pineapple.

As is probably apparent in that last sentence, the English on the menu is more color commentary than viable translation. Some items -- like the pretty-good XO sauce stir-fry prawn ball (served on a bed of water convulvus) -- are more or less what they sound like, but the menu really isn't navigable without some knowledge of Chinese. Nor are the waitresses hired for their English.
It should be said that, DS, despite its thematically seamy underbelly, is family safe (the one exception is the Saturday night "showgirl" performance). The nurses outfits are not tailored to be especially kinky, and as far as I can tell the curtained-off "intensive care unit" is nothing more than a place where large groups can sit together.

Condom restaurant (Thailand)

Superficially, Cabbages & Condoms is a successful small restaurant chain operating in a dozen locations in Thailand. Each branch serves traditional Thai cuisine with chemical- free vegetables and herbs, with some food sourced from farms run by PDA and the rest purchased from nearby farmers and local fresh markets. Several of the restaurants also include gift shops, with handicrafts sourced based on fair trade principles, and made by villagers throughout Thailand.


It’s the grand design of Cabbages & Condoms that is truly unique. Mechai calls his approach “BSP,” or Businesses for Social Progress, where a nonprofit like PDA sets up one or more for-profit subsidiaries to help underwrite its activities. In 2005 his Bangkok branch alone donated nearly $1 million to PDA, and by 2007 that amount had reached $1.7 million. “The establishment of a variety of BSPs, where profits are dedicated to social and economic development,” explains Mechai, “is a new strategy to mobilize and accumulate resources for income generation in Thailand’s poor and rural areas.”

The C&C restaurants are expensive for the average Thai but no more so than most middle-range restaurants. A plate of pad thai costs THB 120 (US $3.50) versus THB 40 (US $1.25) at a roadside stand or a local store. For foreigners, these prices are very reasonable, especially since the quality of the food is excellent.
 
The customers vary from location to location. The seaside resort and restaurant in Pattaya caters mainly to holiday goers and families, both Thai and foreigner. The majority of visitors to the Sap Tai Resort and Restaurant, in the vicinity of the Khao Yai National Park, are families; groups attending seminars and company retreats, including corporations and UN agencies; and retirees. The other northeastern branches, such as Nang Rong and Chakkarat, are used primarily for youth trainings and local guests, including local administrative officers who usually hold meetings and seminars.

The restaurants are legally registered as a separate private entity from PDA, bound by an internal regulation to only use their profits for three purposes: reserves, business expansion, or donations to a charitable cause (in this case, PDA). “For twenty-one years,” Mechai says, “the restaurants have been making profits. We reached break-even in the tenth month after the opening of the first restaurant in Bangkok, where the annual growth rate in terms of revenue is around eight to ten percent. The main reason for this growth rate is that we are careful about raw food material costs. We have opened twelve branches and not one has been closed down.”
 
Several factors have contributed to the profitability of the restaurants. First, all the restaurants operate without rent, either on PDA-owned or privately donated land. “Our major investments are just initial building construction,” says Boongit Gongthongluk, director of the office of PDA’s president. “We run the business the Chinese way, by starting small and growing as we can.”

Another key to keeping costs low is local sourcing. Much of the produce, for example, comes from PDA farms near each location. The farms are growing mint, chili, basil, lemongrass, fresh pepper, morning glory, Chinese kale, eggplant, papaya, and bananas. Cabbages, however, must be bought from the markets, where possible from local farmers.

Mechai pays very close attention to every detail in the businesses. He advises, for example, “Don’t make the bathroom an afterthought because it should be as beautiful as any other room.”

He is also a relentless marketer. “Doing business for social progress is fun,” he declares. “If you want to make money or lose money, go to the stock exchange. If you want excitement, join us.” Mechai’s connections from his work, both as a government official and in the business sector, and the visibility of the PDA also helped bring in business associates to the first C&C branch, which in turn made it a phenomenon for tourists and foreigners. The social mission has made marketing easier. According to Boongit, “We have conducted a survey and found that customers love the green environment, the fun in the decoration, the taste of the food and the mission of the restaurant: that the income goes to helping poor communities in the rural areas. And the latter is the main reason the customers come again and again.”

Location has also played a role in the model’s success. PDA only sites new locations in communities where they have already built relationships and have identified community needs. This generates support and a customer base for whatever business service they are offering. And they have strategically placed their most expensive restaurants and resorts, which provide a variety of amenities, in locations already receiving high traffic from vacationers and businessmen.
 
The Bangkok branch now employs 105 people, the Sap Tai resort provides jobs for 34 (7 PDA staff and 27 local contractors), and the other branches employ another 150 people. They all prioritize hiring women; the Bangkok restaurant staff is 60% women. In Sap Tai, they have also trained a group of young environmental guides who are now experts in local ecology. “Whenever our customers need a bush walking leader, we can arrange it for them, and the youngsters can have extra incomes,” says Tittaya Metha, manager of the Sap Tai Cabbages & Condoms resort.

In addition to restaurants and resorts, PDA has established other BSPs in construction, research and consulting, health clinic management, and trading in both agricultural produce and handicrafts. Two examples include manufacturing cooperatives in the northeastern province of Buriram, and a café setup with help from KPMG (Thailand) which, along with the Pattaya Birds & Bees Resort and Cabbages & Condom Restaurant, supports the Lamplaimat Pattana School in Buriram.

Cabbages & Condoms strives to integrate its social mission into its labor practices. It avoids hiring job-ready professionals from distant regions or countries. Instead, it actively recruits from the surrounding rural population and provides on-the-job training.

C&C also tries to hire HIV-positive employees. According to Boongit, “If there are two applicants for a position here and one is HIV-positive, we give the one who is HIV-positive a chance. For one HIV-positive employee who has been with us for a long time, but does not have the strength to work anymore because his condition has worsened, we have provided him with half of his latest salary every month.”

C&C pays its staff a living wage and provides benefits such as housing, health, and dental programs. At the Sap Tai resort, local contractors are paid THB 170 (US $5) a day plus three free meals (the average wage in the area is THB 120 or US $3.50).

Mechai is now working to franchise Cabbages & Condoms restaurants outside Thailand. In 2008, the first C&C franchise launched in Kumamoto, Japan. Rather than require all profits to come to PDA, Mechai is asking the franchisee to contribute just 3% of revenue. Another franchise is in the works in Bordeaux, France, with an owner who is HIV-positive and wants to deliver the sex education messages of the C&C restaurants.
 

“We want to beat McDonald’s,” declares Mechai. “And among the best strategies are to be active in finding new markets, and to have our staff trained in special skills to be professionals. Right now we are looking for new joint ventures in Singapore, Australia, the United States, and Europe. With an increasing demand for chemical-free vegetables, we plan to have local farmers provide for us in all these areas. We have also now launched Coffee & Condoms where you can get condoms with your coffee, so watch out Starbucks!”

cannibalistic restaurant ( japan )

For many Americans, eating rolls of raw fish can be a tough sell. But if youre one of the thousands of open-minded Yanks whove fallen under the spell of sushi in recent years, then what better way to totally ruin it for yourself than eating it out of a dead person?
At Cannibalistic Sushi, an edible body is wheeled out to your family on a gurney, along with as much scotch as you need to disinfect your forks and convince yourself that this was a good idea. Then, its time to dig in! Whether youre using chopsticks, a knife and fork, or your bare hands, one things for certain: youll be feasting on the entrails of a human being.


The artisans at Cannibalistic Sushi have taken pains to ensure that the human body you are ripping into is as lifelike as possible. The sushi inside is shaped to resemble human organs, a red blood sauce is embedded in the skin layer so as to create realistic bleeding, and your corpse even has a set of papier mach genitals! Its like your third grade arts and crafts project all over again.

If youre an experienced cannibal, make sure to specify a male or female corpse when ordering, and show the other diners just how sophisticated your taste in human flesh is. And although eating at Cannibalistic Sushi may not quell the voices in your head that command you to kill and devour those around you, it will certainly shut them up for a day or two.

Confuse your inner psychopath by making a reservation at Cannibalistic Sushi today!

Fortezza Medicea (Italy)

Diners are flocking to what could perhaps be termed the most exclusive restaurant in Italy - one located inside a top security prison, where the chefs and waiters are Mafiosi, robbers and murderers.

Serenaded by Bruno, a pianist doing life for murder, the clientele eat inside a deconsecrated chapel set behind the 60 ft-high walls, watch towers, searchlights and security cameras of the daunting 500-year-old Fortezza Medicea, at Volterra near Pisa.

Under the watchful eye of armed prison warders, a 20-strong team of chefs, kitchen hands and waiters prepares 120 covers for diners who have all undergone strict security checks. Tables are booked up weeks in advance.

The prison director, Maria Grazia Giampiccolo, said the inmates had developed a flair for their cooking: "I feel haute cuisine in a place like this prepares the inmates for when they are eventually released. The guests enjoy their meals and although the security seems at first very daunting and imposing, they get over it quite quickly and forget about the guards."



The Mafia may be in charge, but there is no horse's head on this menu. Instead, a smart, middle-aged crowd tucks into a vegetarian signature menu, cooked up by head chef Egidio - serving life for murder - and keenly priced at €25 (£17.50), including a glass of wine with each course.
The restaurant opened two months ago and has proved so popular that Italy's prison department is thinking of trying it in other jails.
Securing a table is as tricky as getting past the sternest maître d'. Diners are thoroughly vetted by the Ministry of Justice in Rome and anyone with a dubious background is turned down.
But at least there is no danger of the meal being disrupted by the annoying chirrup of mobile phones. They have to be handed in, along with handbags, and ID must be produced before passing through a metal detector at the top of stairs leading into the complex, which houses 150 inmates.
Diners go through a series of checkpoints and past the cells, before sitting down in the candlelit restaurant.
In the kitchen, Egidio, a burly 50-year-old from Taranto, in southern Italy, reigns over his team of six chefs like an Italian Gordon Ramsay. "The pasta is boiling over! More salt, less garlic! Keep stirring the pasta sauce!" he shouts.

Seventeen years into his sentence, he is thinking of going into the restaurant business when they finally let him out. "Like any Italian I take my food very, very seriously. I like to be sure the diners are satisfied and they don't just enjoy the food, but enjoy it with the same passion that I prepare it."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his record, diners have been reluctant to criticise.
"Before this I couldn't even fry an egg but now here I am preparing five-course dinners and I have not had any complaints," he said.
Most of the dishes the restaurant serves are southern Italian staples from organised crime hotspots such as Puglia, Sicily and Naples.
Somelier Santolo Matrone, 41, from Naples, landed behind bars after getting into "a spot of bother" when he was younger, which earned him a 24-year sentence for murder. He, too, is hoping to use his new skills when he gets out in seven years.
"I'd like to think that when I get out of here, I can start a family and maybe get a job in a restaurant or hotel," he said.
The unique nature of the restaurant has, however, imposed some restrictions. "Guards watch over the inmates in the kitchens at all times and the cutlery used is plastic, as are the plates," said Miss Giampiccolo. "The main thing is trust and we trust the inmates to behave. If we didn't, we would not allow this to happen.''

Diners professed themselves delighted. "When I heard about it I thought it sounded fun, so we booked a table and I have to say the food has been very good," said off-duty policeman Alessandra Ciabattini, 36.
"The fact that the dishes are prepared by murderers, armed robbers, Mafiosi or terrorists doesn't really bother me, though I might be worried if someone had been convicted of poisoning."