What the hell am I talking about, you ask? Well it's a restaurant in bangkok of course!
We were staying at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, which is a great hotel, close to the BTS so you can go anywhere in Bangkok easily, and it's tucked away in a side street so it's quiet and not too busy. We asked the very helpful gentleman at the front desk where we could go for dinner and he sheepishly recommended this place, going bright red and giggling he tried to explain that it was just around the corner from our hotel.
A lightbulb went off in my head and I recalled watching about half an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern where he went to this exact restaurant- I was sold! Out the door and headed there out of sheer curiosity!
As you walk through to the restaurant at the back of the building, you are transported to a world where everything is made of condoms, a condom santa is one of the more elaborate displays, and you can take a stop in the souvenir shop and grab a condom keychain or beer coaster.
We were staying at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, which is a great hotel, close to the BTS so you can go anywhere in Bangkok easily, and it's tucked away in a side street so it's quiet and not too busy. We asked the very helpful gentleman at the front desk where we could go for dinner and he sheepishly recommended this place, going bright red and giggling he tried to explain that it was just around the corner from our hotel.
A lightbulb went off in my head and I recalled watching about half an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern where he went to this exact restaurant- I was sold! Out the door and headed there out of sheer curiosity!
As you walk through to the restaurant at the back of the building, you are transported to a world where everything is made of condoms, a condom santa is one of the more elaborate displays, and you can take a stop in the souvenir shop and grab a condom keychain or beer coaster.
You can marvel at the concept and wonder 'why would they do this? Why would they combine a restaurant with a theme of prophylactics?' Well the answer is simple, to raise awareness for sexually-transmitted infections in a city that is well known for its sex trade. This restaurant makes something that people would find embarrassing or something that you wouldn't normally discuss a main talking point and just a bit of fun.
They also use the restaurant to generate income to support various developments within the Thai family planning association (Population and Community Development Association).
But it's not all silliness and fun, once you actually get into the restaurant, the service is friendly, the drinks are strong and you are surrounded by tropical greenery that makes you feel like you're in the mountains of Chiang Mai, not an alleyway of the 'Sin City of Asia'.
You'd think a restaurant with the tagline 'Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy' would be ridiculous and a tourist trap, but in all honesty, it's fascinating and the food is authentic and delicious. Matt and I shared a few different options;
We had the Mieng Khum, which is an appetiser of dried shrimp, ginger, peanuts, fried coconut, shallots and special sauce that are wrapped in betel leaves.
We ordered the Cabbages and Condom salad (how could you not?), which has a sweet and spicy sauce, finely shredded cabbage, rolled shanghai noodles and shrimp.
We had Pla Khao Phad Phrik Thai Dum, which is a stir-fried Grouper fish, with black pepper and bell chilis that comes out in a sizzling cast-iron pan.And we had several cocktails, none of which I can recall the name of, all of which were fruity, tropical and deadly.
Overall this experience ticked all the boxes, good fun, good food, good service and I got some souvenirs at the end! Condoms of course!
Check out Andrew Zimmern on Bizarre foods, go to 7 minutes and 35 seconds to avoid watching him eat rotten fish... Yeah that I won't be doing, sorry.
http://youtu.be/oIsny-czbqA
Want to visit this restaurant?
http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/
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