A urinal full of what looks like excrement is not the sort of image you expect to see in a tourism brochure, especially in the section that promotes dining attractions.
But there it is - a full-page advertisement on page 10 of the current edition of the Tourism Board's official 'visitor's kit'. The advertisement is for Modern Toilet - part of a franchise that has its origins in Taiwan - which has restaurants in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.
The chain serves its food in mini toilet bowls, urinals, baths or sinks. Customers can also sit on toilet bowls and are surrounded by various pieces of plumbing, fashioned into tables or light fittings. 'Enjoy you meal in toilet,' the ad proclaims.
The first local franchise of Modern Toilet opened in 2007 and has been doing steady business, according to staff. And the advertisement has helped, attracting many a curious tourist.
'I've never seen anything like this,' said Mattia Alejandro Burton, who had just been served a Thai-style sweet-and-sour hot pot in a tiny toilet bowl. 'People back home won't believe it.
'Everyone knows about Hong Kong and its food but when I opened up my visitor's kit, this place was the first thing I saw. I just had to come and take a photo,' said the 32-year-old pilot for Emirates Airlines. 'I was given the kit when I got off my flight. When I thought of staying a few nights in Hong Kong and dining out, this is not what I thought I would be doing. The ad took me by surprise.'
The advertisement opens the kit's section on dining attractions in what it also assures readers is the 'culinary capital of Asia'.