It’s a design choice worth pondering.
A Tennessee restaurant’s very unique koi pond installation went viral on X over the weekend — and it’s drawing comparisons to other remarkable animal habitats at eateries around the US.
On Friday, X.com user Phillip Thurgood posted a snapshot with the caption, “Chinese buffet koi pond is one of the more ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.”
The image, which shows a koi enclosure built directly into the floor of an ostensible restaurant dining room, has since gone viral with nearly 7 million views.
The pond, located at the China Buffet in Kimball, TN, is delineated only by a squat, white tile wall and lined with the same ubiquitous brown tile as the flooring outside of the tank. It’s also outfitted with a modest waterfall and a few indoor plants.
Notably, a submerged flood drain appears surrounded by cracked tile, indicating an architectural anomaly may have previously occurred.
Several X users debated the whimsical restaurant feature, adding their own theories about its inception and similar installations at their local Asian-American eateries.
“I see Indiana and Tennessee mentioned and would like to confirm this is a common sight in Kentucky as well,” one frequent diner confirmed.
Indeed, the indoor koi pond is a relatively common feature, according to comments in Thurgood’s viral thread.
“Local buffet has what we call the koi ‘Saw’ trap,” one shared alongside the frightful image of a ground-level fish tank with a live power strip danging mere inches above the water.
“This even tops the gator pond from a Laguna Beach restaurant I went to in Florida,” another joked on X, including an image of a glowing green outdoor enclosure with more than a dozen alligators resting at the water’s edge.
A Vietnamese food fan added a lizard habitat to the mix, reportedly seen at their local pho spot.
Meanwhile, some X users speculated the pond’s function and aesthetics, with one dubbing it an example of “negative feng shui.”
“Right on the regular floor is crazy,” a dismayed witness wrote.
“I like the concept, but poor execution The same flooring underneath is diabolical,” added one critic.
“It’s actually not terrible. Has good water volume, decent space/not overcrowded, plus no pennies have been thrown in (which adds copper to the water and isn’t great for fish). Overall, compared to some of the inside koi ponds I’ve seen — it’s above average,” argued another.
