HONG KONG - In a year when the world's economy has gone down the drain, a restaurant chain where food is served up in mini "toilets" has proved a surprise hit in Hong Kong, a news report said yesterday.

HONG KONG - In a year when the world's economy has gone down the drain, a restaurant chain where food is served up in mini "toilets" has proved a surprise hit in Hong Kong, a news report said yesterday.

Diners with a taste for the bizarre have been flocking to the Modern Toilet restaurants in the city's Causeway Bay and Mongkok tourist districts since they opened six months ago.

The chain serves its food in miniature toilet bowls, urinals or basins while customers sit on toilets for seats and are surrounded by pieces of bathroom plumbing fashioned into tables and lighting.

The restaurants are even promoting themselves in Hong Kong Tourism Board visitor kits with an advertisement featuring a picture of a urinal filled with ice cream, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

"We think our restaurant is a lot of fun," Sally Ng, manager of the Causeway Bay restaurant told the newspaper.

The franchise started in Taiwan before moving to Hong Kong this year. - Sapa-dpa