MangoVine
Adventures in East Asia

Modern Toilet - A Quirky Themed Restaurant in Hong Kong

 20 June, 2009
Saturday

Theme restaurants aren't new of course, but the weirdest one I'm ever come across has got to be the Taiwan-originated Modern Toilet. Interiors, furniture and serving dishes all resemble some aspect of the bathroom as this chain takes the restroom out into the eating area.

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There are two branches of Modern Toilet in Hong Kong, one in Mong Kok and the other we went to in Causeway Bay. With this level of quirkinest nearby, we had to check it out.

Modern Toilet Graphics

Bright and cheerful branding graphics cover the menus and other print materials we saw and these serve to lighten the humour on what could potentially be a disgusting venue for some. Imagine if they used grunge graphics! This large, soft toy pile of poo, complete with giant flies and available for customers to play with, represents the tone perfectly however.

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Themed Dishes and Toilet Interiors

We plonked our asses on real but unconnected toilets (imagine the convenience if they were) and our table was a glass sheet on a ceramic wash basin.



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We'd already seen that the drinks and dishes come toilet themed so we wanted to choose a selection that used different "containers".

Our drinks came in mini urinals (of course), consisting of a standard coke and a fruit vinegar that I was intrigued by. It turned out to be fruit juice.. that tasted a little like vinegar.

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The Food in a Wash Basin and Toilet

The meals on offer were a mix of european and asian dishes and I wanted to try out the spaghetti with meatballs. Its one of my favourite dishes, served to perfection by London's Francos in Old Street. Modern Toilet's pasta turned out to be a disappointment though, served on a flat plate looking like a deflated, sorry excuse for a wash basin.

Linh ordered a curry chicken noodle dish which came in a full-on little toilet. The depth of the bowl was also used for a small flame under the dish to keep it hot. The brown stock was gently bubbling away, not unlike those occasions when a blocked and thoroughly used toilet has a plunger applied. Linh enjoyed the dish anyhow.

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Massive Modern Toilet Dessert

Like a typical woman, Linh's declaration of fullness only meant leaving room for dessert, but she misjudged the size of the dessert from the menu photo.



Served in a Chinese-style ceramic toilet (those holes in the ground you need to squat on top of), this mashup of a dessert was piled high with shaved ice laced with some kind of sweet juice sauce and was plastered with raisins, pineapple pieces, more little sweet things, a scoop of ice-cream and a dollop of soft cream that looked like the earlier mentioned soft toy. Not my scene so needless to say, even with some room left in her stomach, Linh couldn't finish it.

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Modern Toilet - great to try out, but I'd have to be desperate to go again! Would you check it out?

More photos on the Modern Toilet restaurant Flickr set

Visit the Modern Toilet Hong Kong website

This entry posted in : Attractions. Food. Hong Kong.

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Comments

   .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
08/07/09  at  09:47 AM Great posting! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
30/07/09  at  10:01 AM Hard to imagine whether this would take off in London, although it would make it's own publicity and be a sell-out during the first week ... ideal for stag nights and hen parties wink .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
02/08/09  at  03:24 AM hi there,
i was just wondering if you could give me the Causeway bay address.
It's almost my friend's birthday and i'd love to surprise her!

Thanks! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
03/08/09  at  03:31 PM Hi Emma,

The address is on the Modern Toilet website. I've got it here though:

Modern Toilet (Causeway Bay branch)
4th Floor Capitol Centre
5-19 Jardines Crescent
Causeway Bay
(MTR Exit F, located above Watson’s)
Hope you have a good time! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/08/09  at  06:50 PM since my 4.5 years old son is talking about wewe poopoo all the time, I'm planning to take him to this restaurant tomorrow after the Moleskine talk. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/08/09  at  06:56 PM Heh - you have to make sure you get a variety of dishes to get the different presentation items! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/08/09  at  07:00 PM "I'm so full, so cold"... smile
Then I should invite a few more kids to go with us, sounds fun. Thanks for the link Mark. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/08/09  at  07:05 PM No worries! A few kids would definitely work. You could get them that huge dessert that Linh couldn't finish. (No need for main course..) .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/11/09  at  03:22 AM i'll be visiting causeway bay this december and i can't wait to try the modern toilet. what are their specialties? any recommendation? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
07/11/09  at  05:08 AM Hi Ann,

Their massive dessert seems to be popular - the one that Linh couldn't finish! Every time we go, there's always another table that's ordered it. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
25/11/09  at  06:17 AM Wow... Asia never lets us down in the weird and wonderful, do they. My only concern is that a 3 or 4 year old child who plays with their food might take it to the next level. It seems like a fun place to go with friends after a night out on the town (meaning adult fun). What are the prices like? Restaurents of this type usually tend to be pricey. I guess this throws out the whole theory of; don't shit where you eat, as being a bad thing. ha .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
27/01/10  at  09:14 AM ohhh!!!! i love it!! nice pictures..it's fuuny and cute..im dying to go there with my friend and have fun...thnks for posting the addresssss....... .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
27/01/10  at  12:24 PM Hi Indopunk,

Sorry for replying so late - the prices aren't too bad, though not cheap. I think main courses were something like HK$60 - HK$100.

It's cheap enough to try once, but their prices aren't their selling point wink .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
18/03/10  at  08:51 AM how much are ice cream and other desserts? like the massive dessert you just had? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
19/03/10  at  02:30 AM hey mark,

i ordered this gigantic slushed ice with chocolate ice cream on the side and its really really good! the table beside me all ooohed. it was funny. couldn't finish the thing. lol. i also tried their seafood hotpot and i find the serving bowl really cute - a toilet bowl! i'll definitely visit modern toilet again this june. can't wait to go back to hk! its like my second home now. =) .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
19/03/10  at  12:18 PM Nice one Ann! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
27/05/10  at  08:43 AM this was an awesome and wierdest of all the restaurants I have ever been to... had lots of fun.. would surely like to go again... smile me n my hubby had been here.. he was so damn excited about the idea of food being served in mini urinals n etc... about the food, we just had dessert but it was really a good one - banana split try it out... smilewill surely go back soon... .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
17/08/10  at  01:22 AM I live here in states and how i wish we have this kind of so kawaii looking resto .smile

I'm planning to go to HK maybe next year and I will definitely check out the site smile

I can't wait!!!!!

^_^! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
17/08/10  at  06:27 AM Kyoko... that is good, so when u r in HK definately visit this resto.. smile Comment page 1 of 1 pages
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