Restaurant offers free food to the beautiful

Photo / 123R

A restaurant in central China is offering free food to its most attractive clients.

The Jeju Island restaurant, a Korean eatery in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, says the 50 most handsome people to arrive at its gates each day will be spared paying their bills.

Those hoping for a free lunch have their looks evaluated by a panel of local plastic surgeons whose tummy-tucking talents the restaurant is attempting to promote.

Before eating, guests are taken to a "beauty identification area" where they are photographed and considered. Potential diners are judged on the quality of their faces, eyes, noses and mouths. Protruding foreheads are a particular advantage, according to reports.

As news of the promotion spread, Chinese internet users debated how they might fare at the restaurant.

"I reckon I can get a one per cent discount with my face," said one user of Weibo, the social media site.

"Do the ugly have to pay twice?" wondered another.

The restaurant's owners appear to be more concerned with physical appearance than English language skills.

"Free meal for Goodlooking," read a bright pink sign hanging outside the restaurant last Saturday to advertise the promotion.

Authorities in Zhengzhou were unimpressed, saying that the initiative damaged the city's image and that the garish sign did not have official permission.

On Tuesday, teams of security guards descended on the restaurant to remove the sign, China News Service reported.

Xue Hexin, the restaurant manager, promised that the free meals for the beautiful would not be stopped.

"We will be more prudent with our advertising in future," she said. "But the promotion will continue."