8 Quirky Cafes From Around the World
For those who can’t bear another foam, jus or seven-course dégustation menu, there are a plethora of alternative venues popping up worldwide that have more curious lures — ones that are much more about quirk than cuisine.
We scoured the globe for the most unusual eateries — and suggest a visit to these eight weird and wacky spots.
Cereal Killer Cafe, London
Creepy and cute at the same time. (Photo: Cereal Killer Cafe/Facebook)
This UK “first” fills a gap in the market that nobody even saw — nobody apart from two identical twins from Belfast.
The Cereal Killer Cafe, opened last December, serves 120 different cereals from all over the world (try the Oreo Os, otherwise only available to buy in South Korea), with 30 different types of milk.
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Located on hipster-packed Brick Lane in Shoreditch, the space is an ode to decades past, with ’80s Formica and a vintage vibe.
The Laundromat Cafe, Copenhagen
We love to multi-task. (Photo: The Laundromat Cafe/Facebook)
Copenhagen residents have an unusual solution for getting on top of their domestic chores: At the Laundromat Cafe, customers bring their laundry, pop it in a machine and then grab a drink — there’s over 40 types of beer — or a meal (dirty brunch is a favorite, with eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes and chocolate butter, homemade muesli and juice) at long wood tables or red couches surrounded by eccentric posters.
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There’s now two more Laundromat Cafes in the Danish capital and a fourth in Reykjavik, Iceland, and this fall, Osaka, Japan, will get a taste of the laundry-dining hybrid.
Fukurou Sabou Owl Cafe, Tokyo
This may be the most adorable place you will ever eat. (Photo: Brandi Gilbert/Facebook)
Eating dinner and petting an animal don’t make for obvious bedfellows. But in Tokyo — a city of 13 million and one of the most crowded in the world — having space for a pet is a luxury for few.
Following on the success of cat cafes (New York’s first opened last December), Tokyo is moving into new territory again with the next big thing: owl cafes.
At Fukurou Sabou, the cheesecake may come well recommended, but for most city dwellers and tourists, it’s the chance to hold an owl — or have one sit on your shoulder.
Cabbages and Condoms, Bangkok
You go for the art. You stay for the french fries. (Photo: John Michaels/Alamy)
Cabbages and Condoms is the brainchild of Mechai Viravaidya (aka Mr. Condom), co-founder of the Population and Community Development Association. He wanted people to consider condoms as casually as they’d consider cabbages.
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Dripping with tongue-in-cheek humor, this two-story restaurant seats 400 and features walls dotted with condoms. Illuminated “condom pom-poms” provide light; a full-size action hero made of the contraceptives greets you on arrival.
Don’t expect after-dinner mints; the bill comes with condoms instead. Following its success, two restaurants with the same name have opened in England.
Lentil as Anything, Melbourne
Where delicious food meets social good. (Photo: Alister Coyne/Flickr)
At Lentil as Anything, you don’t just pay what you want for your meal; you pay what you can. This not-for-profit vegetarian joint, which opened its first outpost in Melbourne’s St. Kilda suburb, is part of a community-focused organization, staffed by volunteers and dedicated to promoting an equal, generous and free world.
With menus both buffet-style and à la carte, the food is simple and delicious — the Sri Lankan curry is memorable, even in this food-obsessed metropolis. It’s grown to four branches in Melbourne and Sydney now has one, too.
Modern Toilet, Taiwan
This is a tough one to love. (Photo: Leo Garvey/Facebook)
Modern Toilet might sound like a no-go area in the catering industry, but there’s still food to enjoy at this most peculiar of establishments.
Inspired by the toilet humor of Japanese cartoon Dr. Slump, there’s no escaping the theme at this Taiwan-based chain (which also has a number of outlets in China). Diners eat at tables made from converted sinks.
Acrylic toilets embellished with brash designs make for seats. Asian food is served in mini bathtubs and toilets, while drinks come in urinal-shaped glasses.
It’s not a place that should be taken too seriously. The signature offering, a menu staple since it opened, is the chocolate ice cream — swirled euphemistically in a squat toilet dish.
Baobab Tree Bar, Modjadjiskloof, South Africa
Make like a Keebler elf and dine inside this tree. (Photo: Sunland Baobab/Facebook)
Sunland Farm is located in Modjadjiskloof, a small town in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province. It is home to an enormous baobab tree at least 1,500 years old, 150 feet in circumference and 72 feet tall. As they age, the trees grow hollow inside.
And in this one, a husband and wife turned it into the hidden Baobab Tree Bar. Now a thirst-quenching stop for tourists, the bar serves light food if you pre-book beforehand.
But with seating for only 10 punters, you’re best off sticking your head in for a look before enjoying a drink outside, with most people preferring a picnic or BBQ in the shade.
Blindeku, Zurich, Switzerland
Tickle your senses by dining blind. (Photo: Blindekuh/Facebook)
Jorge Spielmann — a blind clergyman from Switzerland — gave his dinner guests a new culinary experience: eating while blindfolded.
It was an epiphany for Spielmann, who in 1999 opened Blindekuh in Zurich, the world’s first “dark dining” restaurant.
Customers feast in darkness, served by blind or partially sighted staff. Despite the unusual premise, the notion has spread to other major cities, with a London “blind dining” spot providing the “meet-cute” for the lead characters in the 2013 film “About Time.”
The Zurich original is still the one to visit, though they now have another restaurant in Basel. Menus change weekly, with a simple three-way choice of meat, fish or vegetarian.
As to what you’re actually eating, you will have to guess that part while you’re sitting in the dark.
