London - Going to a restaurant tends to be roughly the same experience whatever you do, right?
A table for two, a nice bottle of wine, an overpriced main course and some polite conversation in a modern setting full of discreet lighting and tasteful décor.
Well, apparently not. When it comes to eating out, some restaurants veer wildly from the blueprint – from “alien” furnishings to meals served up in haunted caves and dining events where the experience is literally out of this world.
Or, at least, above it.
Travel price comparison website GoEuro.co.uk has come up with a list of Europe’s most peculiar restaurants. And some of the restaurants below are very peculiar indeed.
HR Giger Museum Bar
Gruyères, Switzerland
The one that looks like it is lost inside an extra-terrestrial’s stomach. Swiss surrealist painter Hans Rudolf Giger is a relatively off-the-wall chap.
Some of his art is a little on the odd side, and his vision has carried through into the movies – he was part of the special effects team that created the dark world seen in the 1979 classic Alien.
So it should be no surprise that the top floor bar-eatery in the museum that salutes his work in the Swiss town of Gruyères looks like it has escaped from a science fiction set. Effectively, it has.
Giger constructed the strange trappings that line the room for a cinematic version of the Frank Herbert novel Dune which was never made (the book was eventually transferred onto the big screen under the directorship of David Lynch).
Cue a ceiling that swarms with alien tentacles, and high-backed aluminium “Harkonnen” chairs that resemble skinless human skeletons. Bon appetit.
www.hrgigermuseum.com
The Marsden Grotto
South Shields, UK
This one sits inside a haunted cave. It is usually reasonable to assume that caves are full of a) stalactites or b) bats.
It is also reasonable to assume that no one really wants to eat inside a cave.
But that isn’t the case on the coast of Tyne and Wear, where the Marsden Grotto does a roaring trade just outside South Shields.
Legend has it that it was first used in the 18th century – by smugglers, sailors and assorted seafaring folk who wanted to avoid the eye of the law for their import-export schemes.
Three centuries later, the cave has been fully excavated and put to proper culinary use, and even has an upstairs chamber with sea views for more distinguished dining.
Local myth also has it that the cave is haunted. Think about that as you make your way below in the cliff-side lift that carries diners down from the car park above.
www.marsden-grotto.co.uk
Electrolux Cube
various locations around Europe
Some restaurants are great institutions that stay in situ for many decades. Others turn up one month, stay open for a few weeks, and vanish shortly after.
This is certainly the case with the Electrolux Cube. An ongoing project staged by the Swedish appliances company, this moveable structure of transparent glass tends to pop up for four-month stints at the heart of major European cities.
So far, it has dropped into position in Milan (on a rooftop overlooking the Piazza del Duomo), in Stockholm (atop the Swedish capital’s Royal Opera House) and in London (where it took up residence on the Royal Festival Hall).
It has also landed in Brussels.
Focus is always on haute cuisine, with Michelin-starred chefs from the city in question making guest appearances in the Cube. The next port of call is still to be confirmed.
www.electrolux.co.uk/cube
Solo Per Due
Vacone, Italy
The one where you definitely won’t be annoyed by the people at the next table. It is a common complaint that service in some modern restaurants can be too impersonal, with waiters barely pausing to scribble your order as they dash to assist another table.
This is never likely to be the case at the Italian eatery that takes its focus on its guests to extreme lengths.
How and why? Because it only has one table.
The clue is in the name at Solo Per Due (Just for Two) – which can be found some 80km north of Rome in the town of Vacone.
The smallest restaurant in the world can be found in a 19th century house – which is supposedly in the grounds of a Roman villa that once belonged to the first century BC classical poet Horace.
The menu changes daily depending on the season, and reservations are only taken by email – interested parties should write to [email protected].
With the restaurant supplying such a personal service, the price is – not unexpectedly – not cheap. Dinner costs E250 (R3 750) a head, not including champagne.
Oh, and the restaurant does not take credit cards.
www.soloperdue.com
Dinner In The Sky
various cities
The one that probably isn’t for you if you suffer from vertigo. Sure, restaurants set up on the top floors of skyscrapers tend to proffer fine views. The people behind Dinner In The Sky take this idea one step further, doing away with the concepts of walls, windows, doors and lifts – then simply hoisting their guests into the air by attaching a special portable table to a crane.
Generally, their tables can seat up to 22 people, and are raised 30m into the atmosphere.
Diners are strapped into their seats, and can watch as a chef and assistants produce their meal at a preparation space in the centre of the table.
And if you are staging a special event, a second table can be elevated alongside.
This high-wire act has been performed in 40 cities, including London, Rio and Sydney.
www.dinnerinthesky.co.uk – Daily Mail