How often can one say that they’ve been to a robot restaurant? In Japan, the strangest things in the world are easily accessible. As an avid anime and manga enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by Japan and its culture. One can say using “unique” to describe Japan is an understatement; Japan comes up with the weirdest and craziest inventions known to the imagination. When I first heard of Robot Restaurant (yes, it is exactly what it sounds like), I knew this was the crazy-Japan-adventure we’ve been searching for. For $40 dollars per ticket, I secured the coolest surprise dinner show for my boyfriend and I on our third night in Japan.
Robot Restaurant was located in Shinjuku- which, in my opinion, is the nerd party central of Tokyo (where you find maid cafes, anime figure collections, manga kissa hotels, pachinko arcades, etc).
Here we are with our very own robots at the entrance of the magical land of robot awesomeness.
Once we passed the entrance, we went down what were probably the best five flights of stairs of our lives. These stairs, walls, ceilings, floors, nooks, and crannies are filled with a million sparkling gems, musical lights, and glittery animations. There was always something to goggle at, and no way to see it all.
If this was all there was to the Robot Restaurant show, I would have already been impressed. But no, this was only the beginning. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we arrived at the waiting room before the show. The lounge, if you can believe it, was even more impressive than the staircase.
The bar lounge / waiting room was littered in colorful neon lights. Each table had several miniature robot dinosaurs walking around. While we enjoyed our drinks, we also had the entertainment of a lady-band clad in metal bikinis with wings playing soft lounge music for us.
When it was time for the show, we were led to another room and were assigned our seats. We were then given our two bento-box meals and two drinks, which were included for us to enjoy while we watched the show.
Dinner items for us vegetarians: sushi rice with sesame seeds, radish, tofu, and fried tempura. As with most bento meals, these were very presentated. The food reminded me of dim sum plates back home. I was skeptical of whether one of the chewy-moist sides was vegetarian, but decided it was probably either mushoom or daikon (radish).
As the show started, we were introduced to beautiful set of drums decorated with dragons and phoenix.
Standing behind the colorful lantern drums are the belly dancers, beating their drums and dancing fiercely. It was an exhilarating and very attention-grasping introduction.
The hour flew by, one performance stranger than the next. I felt as if I was Alice in Wonderland. However, in a nutshell: by the end of the show, we saw Amazonian warrior fights, boxing robots, an alien-eating shark robot, huge motorcycles, a giant snake, and definitely a kung-fu panda warrior. Yes, each of the performers were masked with bright LED lights and accompanied by pounding music. The creativity never ceases; there is always something shiny to look at. I would love to take the kids here one day.
Unfortunately, because we were in dumb-struck awe for most of the show, we were only able to take pictures of some of the acts. It was not the most romantic date in the world, but my S.O. and I walked away feeling like champions, having enjoyed a night full of fun, adventure, and feeling like kids again.
