Mar 25, 2007

A safe restaurant

A few days ago I discovered Mantra. This restaurant, located a few steps away from the Common, has a lot of character. It combines a French and Indian cuisine and turns into a club at night. The building , built in 1890, was previously the home of the Old Colony Trust Bank and has kept some of the original features such as two impressive safe all steel doors in the basement. One of them is 4 feet thick and weighs 35 tons ! The one shown on the picture is nicely decorated; it was the door of the vault used only by the ladies for their jewels. If you happen to go to Mantra, make sure you use the bathrooms downstairs… The men’s urinals are ice machines, and all bathroom doors (ladies and men) are two-way mirrors! How would you feel sitting on the toilet and seeing everyone out there?

Il y a quelques jours j’ai découvert Mantra. Ce restaurant, situé à quelques pas du Common, a beaucoup de caractère. C'est une combinaison de cuisine française et indienne et se transforme en night club le soir. L'immeuble, construit en 1890, était autrefois le siège de la Old Colony Trust Bank et a conservé certains éléments d'origine tels que les deux impressionnantes portes de coffre en acier au sous-sol. L'une d'elles, d'une épaisseur de 1,3 m pèse 35 tonnes! Celle qui est montrée sur la photo est décorée avec de jolis détails; c’était le coffre des dames qui servait à y déposer leurs bijoux. Si vous allez à Mantra, n’oubliez surtout pas de descendre aux toilettes…les urinoirs des hommes sont des machines à glace et toutes les portes (chez les femmes et les hommes) ont des miroirs sans tain! Comment réagiriez-vous si vous étiez assis sur les toilettes avec une vue sur les autres de l'autre côté?

9 comments:

Kate said...

Oh, Alex, can you manage a photo from the men's room? I only enter one when I am desperate and when there is no-one else around. A look-out often helps, too. I'd love to see this one!

It sounds like a great place, and the door is truly massive. For ladies jewels??!! I must live in the wrong era (wrong family, too--no, I take that back, I like the one I'm in!)

Olivier said...

Humm un melange cuisine française et indienne cela doit être delicieux...en effet assez surprenant comme restaurant, avec des coffres forts, des glaces sans tain (moi qui croyait que les americains etaient tres puritain ;o) ).

alice said...

Heureusement que ce n'est pas la porte des toilettes, j'aurais peur de rester enfermée!

Hans said...

A restaurant with a vieuw on the toilet ? Not for me !!

Alex said...

>Watchthis, LOL. In fact, it's a view FROM the toilet not on the toilet... I cannot resist burst out laughing.

Kate said...

I keep returning to see what you've done with my request, and, I, too had a good laugh from both yours and watchthis' comments. A friend sent me two photos of urinals in Maz and suggested I post them. I'd rather take the photos myself than use his!!

Alex said...

>Kate, thanks for stopping by again. To be able to show you a photo from the men bathroom I would have to come back to Mantra. I'd love to see the ones from Maz, so go ahead :-)

Monica said...

Thanks for the comment Alex! Now I get the chance to see more of Boston!

This restaurant seems very interesting with the mix cuisine and all, but the restrooms... too modern for me I guess!

Sally said...

Well, that's unique!