Weird Eats

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

With a reputation on these shores of being a dirt cheap food for financially challenged college students and the like, it might seem odd that there's an entire museum devoted to ramen. But there is - and it's in Japan, as you might have guessed.

It doesn't appear that the museum has a Web presence that's friendly to English speakers, but here's the Japanese site. Or you can check out the Tokyo Food Page, who present a virtual tour.

While we're speaking of ramen, be sure to check out our post on the Official Ramen Homepage.

Topless Restaurants & Chocolate Jesus

Taking the Hooters concept more or less its logical conclusion, Joe Francis, the individual responsible for Girls Gone Wild, has announced that he's moving into the topless restaurant business in late 2007. CNBC briefly commented on the impresario's new venture - and his legal problems - here.

If you thought topless restaurants had the potential to be controversial, that's nothing compared to the firestorm recently sparked by a chocolate Jesus sculpture. At issue was the My Sweet Lord display at Manhattan's Lab Gallery, which was to include a six-foot, anatomically correct sculpture of you know who.

Cream Puff Store & Quiche Restaurant

Specialization seems to be all the rage these days. How else do we explain the spate of peanut butter restaurants and cereal restaurants that have been cropping up all over the place? Or an eatery in New York City that specializes in deep-fried turkey?

But a store devoted to cream puffs? Yes, it's true. It's called Beard Papa, a name the Web site explains thusly, "Our mascot, Beard Papa is founder, Yuji Hirota’s lasting image of his loving grandfather -- a 'bearded, father-figure'."

I hadn't heard of Beard Papa until just recently. To show you just how out of the loop I must be, they have more than 300 locations in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and the United States, and appear to be growing at a healthy clip.

Their site lists eight basic cream puff flavors, including Green Tea, Earl Grey Tea and Pumpkin, so be sure to check them out if you get the chance.

Speaking of specialization, there's Classic Quiche, located in Teaneck, New Jersey. Yes, I know you real men don't eat it, but if you're female or a guy who's having a less than manly day, you might want to drop by for an Apple Walnut, a Mexicali (Cheddar Cheese, Taco Meat, Tomato, & Green Pepper), a "Pizza" Quiche (Tomato, Onion, Mozzarella Cheese, & Italian Herbs) and much more.

Image: Muginoho USA Inc.

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Earl of Sandwich Motel & Restaurants

If you don't know who the Earl of Sandwich was - shame on you. More specifically of interest to eaters of food - as so many of us are - would be John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. For a quick overview, you can read what Wikipedia has to say about him here.

The Earl of Sandwich Motel doesn't really seem to have all that much to do with sandwiches or the Earl of Sandwich, at least not according to their Web site, but it is located in East Sandwich, Cape Cod, in Massachusetts.

Since we're discussing the Earl of Sandwich, here's the Web site for a chain of Florida, Indiana and Texas-based restaurants called...that's right - Earl of Sandwich. One of the principals in this venture is actually the real, honest to goodness 11th Earl of Sandwich.

Last of all, for your amusement and edification, is the Bizarre Sandwich category at Roadfood.com's forum.

11 Places To Dine In The Dark

Silly me. Until very recently I had no idea that people did this sort of thing. Dining in the dark, that is.

While researching this bit, I ran across a kid's book which claims that sailors on voyages around the time of Columbus preferred to eat in the dark so they wouldn't see what was infesting their food.

Nowadays, eating in darkness is a little different. Opaque, who offer this sort of experience in the Los Angeles area, have this to say about it:

"In this era of information overload, visual stimulation has reached an all time pinnacle. But imagine, just for an hour or two that you cannot see, that you are abandoning vision in exchange for a new, more stimulating dining experience."

Anyway, here's a list of places where you can dine in the dark. Several of the Web sites are only in German, so I hope I've got all the info straight.

Here are some utensils that might come in handy during this sort of outing, though I guess they'd kind of spoil the effect.

Blindekuh (Blind Cow) Restaurant (Zurich)
Conti Bistro (Munich)
Dans Le Noir (London, Paris)
Dunkel Restaurant (Berlin)
Nocti Vagus (Berlin)
O.Noir (Montreal)
Opaque (Los Angeles)
Unsicht-Bar (Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg)

Underwater Eats

I don't know that I'd ever feel completely comfortable staying at Jules' Underwater Lodge, which is located in Key Largo. As the name suggests, it's actually an underwater hotel, one where you can pass the night in what appears to be a fair degree of comfort.

It's 21 feet underwater and you'll need to don scuba gear to get to your "room," which is open to the water at the bottom. Which is the part that would freak me out. Water is kept from pouring into the room with compressed air and it's quite safe, according to management, with redundant backup systems and whatnot, but I think I'd feel uneasy, all the same.

If you're inclined to stay at Jules' and you can afford the $445 per person per night for the Luxury Aquanaut Package, you'll be offered the services of a "mer-chef," who dives to your room and prepares a gourmet dinner. If you'd like something a little more low-key, you can have a pizza delivered. Presumably the anchovies are very fresh.

Image: Jules Underwater Lodge