If you thought the idea of Hooters - with girls serving chicken in provocative outfits - was extravagant, wait until you visit Robot Restaurant in Tokyo. Bikini-clad women perform mock battles using enormous robots bring a basement in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district to to life every night.
Decorated with neon lights, video screens, mirrors and bright colours, Robot Restaurant has a futuristic atmosphere that takes after Cyperdog shop in Camden Town, London.
However, the main attraction of the restaurant is its 60-minute show which is worth US$100 million. Robots, dancers, drummers, bomber planes, tanks, motorcycles, quads, giant video screens, and three gigantic fifteen foot tall female robots take to the stage and make it the paramount psychedelic experience.
About 12,000 bulbs line the walls of the waiting room preparing your senses and leading you to the show area. There you will find more than 200 colourful 44-inch monitors surround the stage area, even on the ceiling. Attractive female robots might be quite entertaining, but the battle between a giant mechanical armadillo and a Kung-fu panda are just about the most comical aspect of the show.
As futuristic characters battle on stage, Daft Punk-inspired figures skate around the place swinging lasers and cheering the crowd with their glow sticks. The show also features mythical characters from console games.
With such an extraordinary spectacle, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the place has become world-famous since its establishment over a year ago. Even if you haven't been to the place, you've probably heard about it, read about it in a blog or news sites, watched a clip on YouTube or TV, or even seen a snippet of a recent Tokyo-filmed music video from the rock band Muse.
The Robot Restaurant couldn't be any further from the eating-focused establishment its name might suggest, but dinner is included which is always a plus. The drink menu, however, only consists of canned beer, chu-hai and bottled tea. The entry fee also includes a bento box.