Bob Blumer to travel world, eat from toilets in his new TV show, World’s Weirdest Restaurants
“Want to be served beer by a monkey in a Japanese tavern or dine naked in New York City? How about eating curry out of a mini–toilet bowl in Taiwan?” These are just some of the teases in a synopsis promoting Bob Blumer’s new Food Network Canada show, World’s Weirdest Restaurants (our answers, for what it’s worth, are: sure; after a few beers; and of course not). The Food Network is billing the show as part of Blumer’s “tireless quest to find the world’s wildest and wackiest restaurants”—an exhausting journey no doubt, but one that we’re not surprised the host of Glutton for Punishment and The Surreal Gourmet would be game for.
In a trailer for the show, complete with gratuitous sound effects, you can see Blumer hanging out with mermaids, taking on a 36-ounce steak (give or take) and, yes, deciding which toilet bowl he’d rather eat from. Blumer will be visiting several locations for each episode, with stops in Taipei, Portland, Germany and the Pacific Northwest in the first installment. We’re particularly excited for episode three, where he’ll eat “high-end Asian fusion cuisine” while stalked by ninjas. In short, it looks like the Food Network people are hoping to find that sweet spot between globetrotting travel shows and entertaining cooking shows—think a tremendously goofier version of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, without the tough-guy pretensions.
