The Robot Restaurant, Harbin
As an obsessional fan of theme restaurants, the concept of visiting a robot restaurant was, well, frankly irresistible. Particularly when followed by an afternoon of ice sculptures, which are, of course, what Harbin, China, is most famous for.
Though for these kids the robots were what it was all about.
And, I have to say, for mine too.
Because the Robot Restaurant in Harbin features not only robot waiters but robot chefs as well! (With, whisper it, rather a lot of assistance from real chefs.)
You’re not supposed to take pictures of the robo-chefs, so this one’s a bit rubbish, sorry.
But, to be honest, the chefs don’t actually do that much. They fiddle with pan lids, cook rice and stir pre-prepped food.
The real cooking happens behind the scenes with the real chefs.
Which doesn’t stop the Robot Restaurant being absolutely worth the visit.
As a fan of themed restaurants, I was hoping for something a little more 2001: A Space Odyssey, if not Star Trek, than the fairly typical Chinese restaurant layout.
But then, at 12 kuai (£1.20, or well under $2) for a plate of dumplings, “cooked” by a robot and delivered by one, they probably didn’t have much budget left for the décor.
What I loved was the expressions of the waiting robots, as they trundled around the room on their white line tracks.
This one looked really worried, as though he might drop something at any time, or bump into the girl who was on her way out.
This one looked stoned, or as though he’d been hit on the head with something heavy, and was about to fall on the floor in a circle of cartoon stars.
And this one… Well, this one clearly thinks he’s the Terminator.
And this one’s just a sulky teen.
Now, I’ve seen credulous Western journos quote a cost of $800,000 for the fitout (fact fans! If a Chinese number has an 8 in it, that’s because it’s lucky, not because it’s true).
Believe you me, a trip to the grimy loo, outside in the communal courtyard, along with the very reasonable dish pricing, should confirm that that ain’t the case.
Even by the standards of Chinese bathrooms, China’s robo-lav is more Bladerunner than Star Trek
It seems a little churlish to point out that the robots do require some help from their friends. They can’t leave their tracks to get to your table, so either you help yourself from their serving tray or a waiter does it for you.
Most of the cooking is done by humans, and rather a lot of button-pressing happens too (you’ll notice the waiters all have buttons on their backs).
All the same, you can’t help but smile as one of the little fellas comes past.
The food?
Well, only a raving mentalist would go to a robot restaurant for the food, even in China, and, after coming with suitably low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised.
If you don’t read Chinese well enough to cope with a tick-box menu, you’ll need to pick your choice from the picture board out the front and ask a (human) waiter to fill in your order card for you: you then pay the (human) cashier and hand a ticket to another (human) waiter.
And, no, full automation will not be coming to the restaurant industry any time soon.
The black fungus looked rather good, but we’d already opted for dumplings and a plate of sweetcorn gloop.
They were, well, OK. Very reasonably priced for a robot restaurant — main dishes cost 30-50 yuan (£3-5), which is to say roughly three times the cost of a full meal in a food court or a noodle shop, and beers are 12 kuai, or roughly four times what they’d cost in a noodle shop.
We paid under ten dollars for our robo-served meal, including a beer, which I consider excellent value.
And, as we wandered past the copyright-infringing “Transformer” and “Wall-E” and the frankly unnerving robotic Chinese dragon at the entrance, I…
… Well, I’m not sure we’ll be back necessarily, but if we have visitors we’ll almost certainly take them, and I’d thoroughly recommend it to you. Particularly, though not only, if you have kids.
We had an absolute bitch of a time finding the address of the Robot Restaurant, so here it is.
The address of the Robot Restaurant in Harbin is 51 Xi Liu Dao Jie (West Sixth Street), off Zhongyang Daojie, Daoliqu: street numbers head upwards from the river. It’s in the basement, just past the corner with Zhongyang Dajie: this pedestrianised street is the centre of town and Harbin’s answer to Oxford Street, so every cab driver will know it.
For more Harbin restaurants visit The Harbin Guide.