We are always looking for something special when we travel, for places that take us out of our routine and which amaze us. So why not look for the same wonders in the places we go to eat? Don't be content with just with Pizza or trust the global chains like McDonalds and BurgerKing.
When you are lucky enough to travel you become curious, so go and seek out the weirdest and most original restaurants, and you'll see that its worth it! To show you some examples, we've created a list of 7 of the strangest restaurants that we have come across while wandering around the world... maybe they don't offer the most delicious menu, but they are sure to leave you with your mouth wide open!
1. ALI BARBOUR'S CAVE RESTAURANT | Diani Beach, Kenya
Instagram foto @01.sanja.01
We can start our strange culinary journey at the incredible location of Diani Beach, in south Mombasa, Kenya. It's a dream location if you love crystal clear waters and clean white sand, but we're not taking you to a restaurant with a sea view over the Indian ocean, that would be too obvious! Thanks to the Ali Barbour restaurant, you will have the possibility to have dinner inside a real grotto surrounded by amazing stalactites and a ceiling the opens up onto the night sky: on starry nights and those with a full moon it really becomes a magical experience! The ambience is very romantic, with soft lights providing a fairytale setting. The menu is very varied, but look out for the raw fish and the banana and ice cream flambe that is prepared at the table!
2. LABASSIN WATERFALL RESTAURANT | Tiaong, Filippine
Instagram foto @lands_and_oceans
There are many restaurants with views over waterfalls across the world, but there is only one restaurant that is literally inside a waterfall, the Labassin Waterfall restaurant. I can be found inside the Villa Escudero resort and offers delicious buffet lunches of traditional Filipino food (in Kamayan style, so the food is served on banana tree leaves and is eaten by hand). The food is great, but what is amazing is being able to eat with the water rushing past your feet, and the sound of the waterfall roaring in your ears. Of course, for security reasons, access to the waterfall is only allowed during good weather.
3. EL DIABLO | Lanzarote, Spain
We can now move to the Canary Islands, more precisely on the island of Lanzarote. One of the biggest attractions here is surely the Natural Park of the Timanfaya Volcano, and right inside here we can find the incredible El Diablo Restaurant. What makes this place special? It's simple, the food is cooked on a grill that uses the geothermic heat of the volcano, with temperatures reaching up to 450 degrees just under the surface! In any case, this is a little more than your average BBQ! The restaurant is very nice and is the vision of Cesar Manrique who has also been involved in many other projects that you can't miss (El Mirador del Rio, la Cuevas de los verdes and la Casa del Campesino, to name a few). While you are waiting for you 'infernal' food to grill, you can have a tour around the restaurant where the guides will show you the geyser effect, bu pouring some water into the holes that go underground.... not to be missed!
4. ROLLERCOASTER RESTAURANT | Vienna, Austria
Photo by rollercoaster.rest
If you can't stand the endless waiters fussing around you when you go to eat at fancy restaurants, or if you prefer to be left alone to eat... well, this is the place for you! At the Rollercoaster Restaurant in Vienna, the orders are made via a touchscreen and food and drink is delivered by a special rollercoaster system that connects the tables to the kitchens. The transport carts, controlled by a fully automated system, bring pans, glasses, bottles and more to your table on some special rails, reaching speeds of up to 30km/h! The entire rollercoaster course is illuminated with special LED lights... waiting for your hamburger has never been so amazing! The restaurant can be found in Prater, but just make sure you don't go on the rides after eating at the Rollercoaster restaurant!
5. DANS LE NOIR? | London, England
Completely different from the chaos of the previous restaurant, we can now visit the minimal Dans le Noir? restaurant in London. It can be found in the lovely area of Clerkenwell, in the borough of Islington. Here you can live a unique and sensual experience seeing as its pitch black inside the restaurant. You'll be able to put yourselves in the shoes of a blind person and reduce your senses down to the most important of them all - taste! You will also be able to talk to people you have never met before while discovering the 3 main areas of the restaurant: first the reception area, where you can order dinner and have a drink, then the darkroom (a waiter will lead you in!) that can hold up to 60 people on shared tables (the entire room is controlled via infrared cameras to guarantee your security). Finally, there is a lounge area with soft lights called The Gallery, where you will be able to share your experience by chatting with the other guests.
6. MODERN TOILET RESTAURANT | Taiwan
Instagram photo by @lisaovanko
In another drastic change of register, we can next visit a restaurant that makes crazy irony and kitsch its strong point. We are talking about the Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taiwan, and, as you may have guessed by the name, it's a themed restaurant dedicated to our most basic physiological needs, poop and pee (nb: if you are picky you should perhaps switch to next restaurant!). Forget chairs, stools and armchairs, here you sit on the toilets! Drinks are served in 'urinals' and food in small toilets. The appearance of the dishes is a hymn to coprophagy ... and we said it all! It seems that the idea came to the manager's mind by reading the manga 'Dr. Slump and Arale' (by Akira Toriyama, Dragonball) while sitting on the toilet! And, even though it may seem a ridiculous concept, we can assure you that there is a long line of locals and tourists who are crazy to eat here. And from this restaurant, a chain of toilet restaurants was born!
7. CHILLOUT ICE LOUNGE | Dubai, Emirati Arabi Uniti
Photo by chilloutindubai.com
In order to close this list with the last crazy place, we find ourselves in Dubai, one of the hottest metropolia in the world with the desert knocking on the door. But this is also the city of excesses and it's no accident that someone has come up with the idea of installing a restaurant completely made out of ice! The Chillout Ice Lounge is 2500 square meters of ice with an average temperature of 6 degrees below zero. Upon arrival, you will be offered a steaming hot chocolate to give you the opportunity to acclimatize (the rush of the heat on the outside is lethal!). Enjoy the wonderful play of light and transparency of the restaurant. We have strong doubts about the environmental sustainability of the initiative, but certainly not a place that goes unnoticed!
Our list of the world's 7 strangest restaurants ends here ... if you know others that you think would be the case to include in this list share them with us by writing on Facebook or Twitter and we will be happy to add them!
