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TAIPEI - A Taipei restaurant-bar is letting visitors order "medicine" from a menu and dripping it into their glasses from a transparent ceiling-suspended vat, becoming the latest oddball themed restaurant in Taiwan's capital.
As many as 10 visitors can sit around each bed at the D.S. Music Restaurant, a hospital-themed eatery, and watch showgirls dance on weekend nights or chat up "nurses" whose rabbit-ears complement their starched white uniforms.
The 130-seat restaurant, which features crutches hung from the walls and a wheelchair parked in the lobby, is the only one with a hospital theme in Taiwan.
Other touches include a sign marked "emergency room" leading to the toilets.
"Food is hard to compete on with other restaurants, so the part we emphasise is service," says assistant manager Ou Chia-hao, brother of the 29-year-old owner.
"In Taipei, pressure on people is high, and they want a place near home where they can feel relaxed."
Ou's brother opened D.S. last year with T$5 million ($202,198) to express his enthusiasm for the care he got at a hospital when he was treated for a liver disorder.
Two more D.S. branches are in the works, with plans to open by the end of next year, Ou said.
The spot is the latest in a string of strange-themed eateries in Taipei, as local entrepreneurs cater to people with a taste for the quirky and offbeat.
The Jail puts some of its restaurant tables behind bars, while another serves full-course meals in toilet bowls.
Years ago, a Taipei bistro tried a Holocaust theme, but eventually removed items and photos reminiscent of Nazi Germany brutality under pressure from Jewish groups.
- REUTERS
