Official ‘One Piece’ Restaurant Opening in Japan

As much action and drama Eiichiro Oda packs into his insanely-popular One Piece manga, there's always been a heavy undercurrent of foodie themes in the series. OP protagonist Captain Monkey D. Luffy feasts so often that one of the first members he recruited (before a navigator, mind you) to his Straw Hat Pirate Crew was Sanji, a brilliant chef and skilled fighter. It really should come as no surprise, then, that OP broadcaster Fuji TV will open an official One Piece Restaurant, the "Going Merry," from December 11 to May 31 in Tokyo.Inside, the restaurant will resemble the Straw Hat Pirates' original ship, the Going Merry (since destroyed and replaced by the Thousand Sunny), and feature a few of the characters' favorite dishes. For Luffy, there will be a piece of meat (with a bone handle and SHP logo seared into it), Sanji fans can dine on his famous soup and Nami's "Fruit Macedonia," will be on hand for fans of the treasure-loving navigator.

Oddly enough, there's no word about any devil fruit dishes. It's probably a more prudent business decision to not grant guests with monstrous abilities that curse them to sink like stones in the sea, though.

While special gift shop will peddle OP wares near the restaurant for a few days after its opening, those lucky enough to score tickets (or a rare walk-in spot) will go home with an augmented reality "pop-up coaster." When placed in front of a web cam, this coaster tells software to display Straw Hat pirates on the live video feed, which is significantly cooler than a cardboard coaster from a local drinking establishment I may or may not have drawn pictures of Sonic the Hedgehog on a few nights back.

See the menu items a little closer below:

[Via Anime News Network]