Seafood restaurant where customers catch their own fish sparks debate

You might be familiar with restaurants which have a tank of live lobsters for you to choose from, but one establishment is taking things a step further.

It's not an uncommon thing to find a live seafood restaurant. These are places which have their own miniature aquariums attached.

There you might find lobsters, crabs, carp, eels, and even the much prized king crab. A lot of seafood is at its best when it is very fresh, with some food spoiling even within hours of the animal being dispatched.

However, while restaurants with live fish is not a new thing, one place has added in another element which has people divided.

You see, Zaou restaurant in Osaka has placed the tanks with the fish in very close to the tables. Not only that, but it allows guests to take a more active role in preparing their supper.

You can dangle a rod over the side, and then when you catch a fish it's taken off to be cooked for you.

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There are also options for lobsters, prawns, clams, and all manner of other shellfish available. But it's dangling your rod into the pool to try and catch a fish which really sets the place apart.

If a rod isn't your style, you can also use a net if you think it would improve your chances.

The concept is also worked into the restaurant decor. Some of the tables are located on 'boats' which stretch out into the fish tanks in the centre of the room.

It doesn't get much fresher than that.

However, the concept has left some people online less than impressed with having to see a fish alive before they eat it.

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One posted: "I could never eat food that I saw alive earlier"

Another wrote: "The fact that people think this is fine…it’s not a fresh fish.. it’s a fish u just killed."

A third replied: "Yeah it sounds like fun, but I just know I would get emotionally attached to my fish."

It does beg the question that if you're not okay with seeing a living animal and then eating it after seeing it alive, then maybe you should reconsider whether you want to eat meat.

There's nothing wrong with feeling that way, but the reality of eating meat does mean that an animal has to die, and anyone who eats meat should square themselves with that.

And I say that as an avowed carnivore.

Nonetheless, if it's the sort of thing that you enjoy, the fish restaurant in Osaka certainly looks like an interesting evening out if nothing else.

Though it's not clear what happens if the fish aren't biting. I suppose you just go home hungry, or eat the bait.