Did you see La Carmina on Food Network TV? Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.
Last fall, I was in Tokyo to work on a new television program called World’s Weirdest Restaurants. My Pirates company, which provides TV fixing / arranging / local production arrangement, took care of all 14 Japan episodes.
The subject of theme restaurants, especially with a Gothic-spooky bent, is close to my heart. I wrote a book named Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo, so we knew exactly where to bring the TV cameras.
I was the Gothic guide to Christon Cafe Shinjuku. Here, everything fits with the dark cathedral theme, including the food (vampiric bloody rolls, and Tower of Babel salad). Even the menu looks like a Bible!
My friends run Decadance Bar upstairs, a cyber alternative hangout that’s a must-visit. You can see photos of this Shinjuku bar in my Tokyo Nightlife Guide.
My “First Mate” and I cast our spooky friends in this Goth restaurant scene. (For more about our film/TV production arranging and scouting company, visit our Pirates website.)
The relics in the room came from bona fide Eastern European churches.
On another day, we shot at the Alice in Wonderland theme restaurant in Shinjuku. I previously brought a Dutch TV show here (click for photos).
And I famously took Andrew Zimmern (of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods) to Alcatraz ER. This Shibuya restaurant has a monster-jail feel, where you eat bloody slush behind cell bars.
Here are photos with Andrew Zimmern and my Bizarre Foods video clip.
I also adore the Gothic Lolita cafe, Sumire no Tenmado, run by a lovely musician duo. Tim Burton left a Jack Skellington scrawl on the wall.
Want to learn more about Tokyo’s crazy theme restaurants? I wrote a book with full-color photos, stories and addresses. Check it out here.
For more Tokyo Goth travels, please add my Facebook and see my daily photos on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram (my username is lacarmina).
Do you like my new pink-candy hair color? More pics in this fashion blogger outfit post.
Stay tuned to La Carmina blog to see where my journey takes me next. I’ll be in six cities in the next months, in different continents… can’t wait to reveal my upcoming destinations!