Makan Review: Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant, Bangkok

I'm sure most of you would be surprised and curious with the name of the restaurant. I was equally intrigued when the conceirge of my hotel recommended my colleagues and I this restaurant to have our dinner.

We were staying in Ambassador Hotel, on Sukhomvit Soi 11 and the Cabbages and Condoms (CC) restaurant is located on Sukhomvit Soi 12. So it's a walking distance.

We managed to locate the restaurant after about 15 minutes of walk.Walking in, it didn't look dodgy at all (something I might have expected in Bangkok and with a name like that). It looked pleasant and relaxing. We were ushered to a table inside the restaurant... the table top has a layer of glass... and underneath the glass are multi-coloured condoms... I hope they are not used condoms.

The menu explained why Cabbages & Condoms were named. Apparently, a senator in Thailand wanted to promote safe sex, and thus wanted to make condoms easily available... as easily available as vegetables in the market. As such, he founded this restaurant as part of the people & community development association of Thailand's activities. After doing a quick search on the net, I found out that there are about 5 such restaurants throughout Thailand.

On the walls, you can see framed pictures of Vasectomy procedures, caricatures, cartoons and also sets of vasectomy tools. The food was nice... atypical Thai fare. Value for money too. And to add to the surprise, along with the change from the bill, they gave each of us condoms! This is new :) They should do this in Malaysia.

Overall, it's a nice little discovery that I'm glad I made during my short trip to Bangkok. Travels are never a bore with this kind of little surprises and adventures.