Ankle-deep river water is part of the fun and ambience at the Chaopraya Antique Café in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok; fun-loving foodies now flock to the place to eat amidst the lapping tides
This is one place where the hospitality really overflows. And that’s as literal as literal can be. After all it’s not quite the usual thing to step inside a restaurant and find that ankle-deep river water is part of the fun and ambience.
The restaurant owner of the Chaopraya Antique Café in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok, Thailand, has turned the tables on the flooding in his riverside place and transformed it into an unlikely hot-spot for cool diners, an AP report in The Peninsula, Doha, says.
No more empty chairs and tables. On the contrary, fun-loving foodies now flock to the place to eat amidst the lapping tides. The owner in a moment of inspiration refers to this unusual scenario in the café as “Hot-Pot Surfing”
The restaurant opened in February this year. Its riverside location seemed to perfectly fit its antique architecture and décor. But matters took a turn for the worse.
A severe tropical storm in the recent past together with heavy monsoon rains, caused the river’s water level to rise considerably. And daily inundation by the tides made the situation stickier than ever – or rather wetter.
Diners usually start to arrive as the river water overflows its bank and enters the café. Soon the deck is crammed with carefree customers happily tucking in as if dining in a deluge is the norm. The restaurant staff — quite a few in rubber boots — step gingerly through the swirl that quickly rises to more than 50cm.
Coming straight on the heels of the several months of the coronavirus shutdown, it could have spelled disaster. Instead, it’s now so popular that customers need to make reservations, thanks to the publicity in the Thai media. Indeed, this has become the restaurant’s signature attraction.
Diners usually start to arrive as the river water overflows its bank and enters the café. Soon the deck is crammed with carefree customers happily tucking in as if dining in a deluge is the norm.
With the water almost coming up his shins, 24-yearold Siripoj Wai-inta says “This is a great atmosphere. So I wanted to challenge myself and try out this new experience,”
When a passenger boat motors go past, delighted diners scramble to avoid a soaking from the wave. This is the moment everyone waits for. Passing boats every 15 minutes ensure no one goes home disappointed.
This is TV presenter Titiporn Jutimanon’s first restaurant venture. At first he was worried what would happen when the floods came. “It turns out the customers have a great reaction. They are happy. We can see the atmosphere of customers enjoying the experience of eating in the water. Best of all, it means he can keep his staff happy by keeping them employed, he says
So a crisis has turned into an opportunity. The moral of the story is simple: In a crisis, don’t try to swim against the tide or the current. It makes better sense to go with the flow – ‘Overflow’ would be a more appropriate term to use in a situation like this.
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