Fancy a slap-up meal? Waitresses at Japanese restaurant charge £1.60 to slap you in the face (and it’s a huge hit!)

Instead of a relaxing meal out, a Japanese restaurant's customers are choosing to eat their food with a touch of tough love – by paying the wait staff to punch them in the face.

Diners are reportedly flocking to an eatery in Nagoya, on Japan's southern coast, where female staff are serving up the bizarre experience.

Waitresses wearing kimonos strike again and again against willing diners and are paid 300 yen (£1.60) for the service.

Some gamblers at the izakaya (or Japanese tavern) even get backhanded, and the blows can be so powerful that customers are knocked out of their seats.

A shocking video of the unusual ritual even shows a man wheeling out in front of a line of waitresses, who bow before taking turns putting a clip on his ear.

Women laugh as they punch a customer in the face at a restaurant in Nagoya, Japan

Waitresses at Shachihoko-ya Tavern Wear Gold Kimonos and Get Service Charges to Beat Guests

The spot, called Shachihoko-ya, opened in 2012 but was in danger of closing due to slow business.

But the staff managed to turn things around by introducing the bizarre gimmick and business is now reportedly booming.

In fact, the tavern became such a hit that managers had to hire more female staff to deal with the pre-meal violence.

Customers who want a specific staff member to turn their cheeks red will have to pay a surcharge of 500 yen (£2.70), local media reported.

Both men and women, locals and foreigners alike, enjoy the experience so much that they thank their attackers for their services.

The restaurant is located in Nagoya's most popular nightlife district, Nishiki Sanchome, and is known for the costumes the staff wears.

The male waiters, known as 'Shachihoko Boys', wear gold bodysuits and fish-shaped headdresses, inspired by the tavern's logo, while the female staff wear gold kimonos.

Japan is widely known for its weird and wonderful food experiences.

A waitress, seen in a gold kimono, punches a female customer in the face

A stony-faced waitress punches one of her customers in the restaurant dining room

It is said that business at the restaurant boomed after staff started beating their guests

One tent in Tokyo is decorated like an elementary school classroom, with attendants dressed as teachers.

Another recreates a blood-stained asylum, where handcuffed diners in a cramped cell are fed by waitresses dressed as nurses.

A more serene option might be a bar in Tokyo set up and run by a Buddhist monk – where all the bartenders are also monks who teach punters about their way of life.