In Tokyo, You Can Get Paid to Eat a Massive Bowl of Ramen

In Japan, massive appetites meet their match at Umakara Ramen Hyouri. As Kotaku reports, the Tokyo-based ramen restaurant offers hungry customers an intimidating, yet lucrative challenge: Finish a heaping bowl of chicken-topped, chili powder-sprinkled noodles in under 20 minutes, and you’ll win 50,000 yen (nearly $440). Polish it off in 30 minutes, and you’ll score 30,000 yen (around $260).

Traveling to Tokyo and want to attempt the delicious feat for yourself? You’ll have to fork over 3000 yen (around $26) to participate in Umakara Ramen Hyouri’s “mega serving” challenge. There are also a few ground rules: Your friends can’t help you eat the bowl of ramen, which contains four servings of ramen noodles, nearly nine pounds of bean sprouts, and nearly 24 ounces of broth. And if you throw up, you'll have to pay a penalty fine of around $90.

This dare might prove impossible even for customers with prodigious appetites. But according to Japanese website My Navi, nine people have proven victorious since the restaurant first began offering the challenge around three years ago. (They likely didn’t spend the prize money on ramen.)