Sometimes, a classic rump steak accompanied by a glass of red in a pleasant restaurant can be kind of … boring.
But
the good news is if you’re looking to amp up your dining experiences
there are plenty of weird and wonderful restaurants you can try out
around the world.
From curries served in miniature toilets,
gourmet cuisine dished up under the ocean to a bizarre “medical prison”
where guests are yelled at by nurses to finish their food, these
restaurants don’t just offer a meal, but a complete sensory experience.
From the quirky to the downright weird, here are 10 one-of-a-kind dining experiences from around the globe.
A side dish of robots and lasers
If
you like your dinner with a side of giant rampaging robots and lasers,
check out the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo. In the Shinjuku district, this
nightly cabaret show features giant neon robots, flashing lights, techno
music and taiko drums. The food isn’t great, but when you’re being
entertained by all kinds of robots including sharks, dinosaurs, action
heroes and pandas surrounded by bikinied go-go dancers, does it really
matter?
Eat straight from the toilet bowl
Ever
wondered what it's like to eat from a toilet bowl? Me neither. But in
the city of Taipei in Taiwan you can find out at a toilet-themed eatery
called Modern Toilet. Meals are served in small replicas of loos, and
diners sit on toilets (thankfully not connected to plumbing) while they
eat. Dishes like curries, stir fries and hotpots are served in miniature
potties, while drinks are served in glasses shaped like urinals. The
signature dessert is, unsurprisingly, a big pile of soft serve chocolate
ice cream. The idea for this bizarre restaurant came about while one of
the owners was sitting - where else - but on the toilet.
Dine with the fishes
Dine
16 feet below the sea at the incredible Ithaa Undersea Restaurant,
located on Rangali Island in the Maldives. The all-glass restaurant is
encased in a transparent acrylic roof, offering 180-degree panoramic
views of sea creatures swimming past in crystal clear waters. The
restaurant serves contemporary European cuisine in a six-course set
dinner menu featuring fresh seafood, veal, beef rib eye and more.
Dinner in the sky
If
you like your dinner with perhaps a side of vertigo, then check out
Dinner in the Sky, an “open air” restaurant suspended by a crane above
Parc Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium. Diners are strapped into
chairs which swivel (so they can properly check out the spectacular
views) and are treated to a gastronomic experience cooked up by world
famous chefs. The concept began in 2006 in Brussels but is now
replicated in 55 countries around the world.
Ninja-style nosh
Once
you’ve been guided across a setting designed to look like a
15th-century Japanese feudal village, featuring snaking passageways,
dark nooks and fake boulders, costume-clad ninja servers will swoop in
to serve you sushi and sake at Ninja New York. Your ninja servers (in
black costumes, of course) will bow, yelp and perform tricks,
ninja-style. Alongside the kooky performances and setting, you’ll enjoy
signature dishes like king crab with mango and black Angus teriyaki
steak with risotto.
Eat among the tree tops
Take
your dining to new heights with the Treepod Dining experience at the
Soneva Kiri resort in Thailand. Here, guests are wined and dined while
seated in a bamboo pod suspended from a tree by ropes, high above a
tropical rainforest. First, you’ll be hoisted up 16 feet into the
foliage. Once you're safely seated in the custom-made bamboo pod, food
and drinks are then delivered to you in style by a zip-lining waiter.
Pig out like a prisoner
If
you want to know what it’s like to dine like a prisoner without
committing any crimes, check out Tokyo’s Alcatraz ER. Diners at this
“medical prison” are handcuffed and brought to their cells where they
are served by nurse waitresses who demand they finish their food. The
restaurant is meant to mimic the experience of eating inside a
blood-spattered emergency room of a high-security prison. While it’s
strange enough that Alcatraz ER is a cross between a hospital and jail,
it also serves anatomically correct, genitalia-themed food.
Dining in the dark
First
introduced in Canada in 2006 with the opening of O.NOIR in Montreal,
dining in the dark’s philosophy is that when sight is eliminated,
diners’ enjoyment is enhanced. In other words, when you “dine in the
dark” without the sense of sight, your other senses of taste, touch,
smell and hearing are amplified. The evening begins in a lit bar before
diners are led into a darkened dining room. A two-hour seated dinner
service begins and servers explain where everything is on the table. The
restaurant takes the concept so seriously it bans the use of cell
phones, flashlights, cigarette lighters, matches and luminous watches.
Enjoy an icy feast
Feast
on hearty Lappish cuisine like sautéed reindeer at the Ice Restaurant,
where the temperature is always between -2 and -5 Celsius degrees.
Located in Lainiotie, Finland, everything inside is made of ice and snow
and illuminated with candles and colorful lights. Dinner is a 3-course
menu.
Pie in the Sky
Chow
down on Chicago deep dish pizza - served 1,353 feet above the Windy
City at The Ledge restaurant. One of Chicago's most popular tourist
attractions, the restaurant is located on the 103rd floor of the Willis
Tower, which is the eighth-tallest building in the world. The restaurant
is essentially a glass box which extends four feet outside the tower.
After hours, diners with a sense of adventure can enjoy the “Pie in the
Sky” experience by ordering a world famous Chicago-style pizza with
incredible views of the lit-up city below.
