Forget the rockets, comrade, I'll just have the kimchi!

This is mind-blowing! Apparently, North Korea owns an international restaurant chain. And even better, there is a location here in Dhaka. Essentially, these restaurants are like typical (South) Korean karaoke bars, but the waitresses – tall, North Korean women in miniskirt uniforms - sing with/for you.
You have to wonder yourself: Why would a state that can’t feed its own people own and operate an international restaurant chain? The rumor goes that the restaurants serve as money laundering outfits for the North Korean government. And that waitresses are forced to remit a certain monthly amount of money back to North Korea. And that in true North Korean fashion, if they do not, or if they try to flee and seek asylum, their families back in North Korea would be executed.
Now, I am really did not enjoy the idea of supporting the North Korean government, but the curiosity got the best of me. And I would not want to have some North Korean family's blood on my hands because a waitress did not make enough money to send back home during a seasonally slow month.
Pyongyang Restaurant, the North Korean Restaurant was full of surprises. When we arrived we sat in a room with a TV playing music videos of what I assumed to be traditional North Korean songs. The table  had a round glass top that could be turned around to easily access all the food on the table. The restroom had even a bathtub. It felt like the waitresses would turn the restaurant into their dorm after our visit. There was also a Karaoke machine. 

The food was pretty good (especially the fried kimchi rice), even though the service was not the best. At some point, some of the waitresses started doing karaoke and also playing the violin, urging customers to sing along.

I even snapped a couple of pictures before one of them came furiously to tell me that I was not allowed to do so.

We finished the night by singing Karaoke Asian style, well, the kids and I attempted at least to sing "We are the champions". Throughout the Karaoke songs, beautiful images of North Korea came across the screen.

After this unique opportunity and first encounter of eating North Korean food, in Bangladesh, one thing is certain: I would love to travel there in the near future.