via Shanghaiist
The coffee shop featured on Friends, Central Perk, was recreated in Beijing in 2010, making us wonder why there isn't one touri$t-friendly Hollywood-lot style block in Manhattan that features all of the famous television establishments. Central Perk next to Monk's coffee shop next to Hang Chew's!
Recently NPR paid the faux Friends coffee shop a visit, reporting back that there's even a Gunther...
"Tucked away on the sixth floor of a Beijing apartment block is a mini replica of the cafe, orange couch and all, whose owner Du Xin introduces himself by saying, 'Everyone calls me 'Gunther' here.' Indeed, he is a Chinese version of cafe owner Gunther from the show. The extent of Du's Friends obsession is clear on entry to Beijing's Central Perk. The level of detail is scary: same window, same doorway. People sitting on the orange sofa are watching TV—reruns of Friends, naturally."
That's not all, even the menu is an homage to the sitcom, only serving snacks mentioned in episodes—"For instance, the menu informs anyone ordering cheesecake that it was—in season 7, episode 11—the subject of Rachel's exclamation to Chandler: 'You stole this cheesecake. That is wrong!'" Though it seems no one is craving cake at the cafe, the young patrons have admitted to "secretly hankering for the world of casual sexual encounters depicted on [the show]." But those are aspirations no one should have—Joey alone had over 50 sexual encounters during the run.
