Restaurants aim to appeal to our taste buds with their delicious cuisine.  But sometimes, the cuisine takes a backseat to the ambience. If you are in a place to eat that not only tantalizes your smells and tastes, but also your aesthetic propensity for wonder, then look no further as these 9 restaurants.

Maldives: Ithaa Undersea Restaurant

There is something quite remarkable about noshing on mandarin sherbet or yellow tail king fish while their relatives swim all around you.  In fact, in this restaurant you will feel more like the fish in the tank, while sharks, fish, and octopi stare at you. The Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is located five meters beneath the surface of the Maldives’ waters, allowing guests to experience 180-degree beautiful panoramas of the deep blue sea from the comfort of their tables. 

Voted in 2014 as “the most beautiful restaurant in the world” by New York Daily News, you will quickly see why sipping a cocktail or sinking your teeth into caviar is just so much more interesting here.

San Diego, Santa Monica, San Francisco, CA: Opaque

Who says you need to see your food in order to enjoy your meal?  At Opaque you will be adorned in its best accessory — a blindfold. This sensory deprivation will require you to put your complete trust in the restaurant’s specially trained staff as they stimulate your dining experience through your sense of touch, smell, taste, and hearing.

Totally blinded in a pitch-black setting, not only will your senses be heightened, but the level of sensitivity and consciousness here creates a one-of-a-kind adventure for foodies who will not mind relinquishing control to a complete stranger.

Taiwan: Modern Toilet Restaurant

Sitting on the porcelain thrown may be the last place you’ve ever thought about enjoying a meal, but in the Modern Toilet Restaurant this is where all the magic happens.  The idea was brought to life by a group of individuals who began serving ice cream in a cup modeled after a squat toilet.

Soon after, the thought of integrating the toilet with a full menu has lured many curious wanderers to this peculiar setting. A trip to the Modern Toilet is matched with good food and tons of laughter — just remember to leave the seat down, gentlemen.

Ukraine: Eternity Restaurant

As if attending a funeral isn’t already daunting, the Eternity Restaurant incorporates the afterlife and cuisine to take their visitors on a morbid food journey. The restaurant is housed in a 20-meter long and 6-meter high and wide casket, which has been dubbed the world’s largest coffin by Guinness World Records.  This melancholic idea was created by a group of undertakers who brought their skills to their guests’ stomachs, and with dishes like ‘Forty Day Salad' as well as ‘Let’s meet in Paradise’ pertaining to the deceased, you’ll be dying for more.

Dubai: Chillout

There is more to this lounge than its cool name.  At Chillout you’ll definitely be forced to take a chill pill once you encounter the sub-zero temperatures matched with an igloo-like décor cold enough to bring all snowbirds out of their nests. Upon entry, visitors are provided with parkas, gloves and shoes to allow them to sip their complimentary mocktail or hot chocolate comfortably. 

Along with sushi and sandwiches, the restaurant also offers an array of hot meals including soup and oriental kebabs that also sets it apart from any other eatery of its kind.  So the next time you are in for a frigid experience, let Chillout be your guide to an exhilarating setting that demands you chill out!

Worldwide: Dinner in the Sky

The queasy stomach gourmet may hesitate once they see where they will be eating.  That is not a bird or plane in the sky — only the unique location where you will be seated along with 21 other guests in addition to the chef, entertainer and waiter.  Whether you are there for breakfast, lunch or dinner, you are cordially invited to take flight on this 50-meter high VIP dining table dangling in the air for the brave and gluttonous at heart.

New York City: Ninja

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have nothing on the ninjas at the Ninja restaurant that can be seen darting out of corners and hiding in the shadows of this underground eatery.  Infused with traditional Japanese flavors, foodies are encouraged to follow their noses along the restaurants maze-like hallways before reaching its main dining hall, which resembles a classic scene from a Bruce Lee movie.

If you have been practicing your nunchucks skills or those high karate kicks, here is your opportunity to see these artistic performances live in action while the most dangerous assassins of feudal Japan bring you your food.

New Zealand: Yellow Treehouse Café

Imagine roaming through a dense forest and from afar you see a glimmering yellow light shining.  It appears that a space ship has landed within the trees but as you get closer to the obscure object you hear laughter coming from with its bright shell. 

Should you dare to peek? 

Of course your curiosity gets the best of you as you begin to follow the yellow trail to a party of 30 people eating and having a good time.  You begin to ponder how did they find this interesting place and who else knows about it?

Nestled on a redwood tree perched in the air, the Yellow Treehouse Café is one of the most unique dining experiences in the world.  Once you’ve entered this unique cocoon, you won’t want to break free from its one-of-a-kind ambiance that embraces a more private atmosphere.

China: Hello Kitty Dream Restaurant

If you find yourself at the store constantly shopping for new Hello Kitty merchandise, chances are you might have a fanatic at home.  

In Beijing, China Sanrio's famous cat comes to life in more ways than one.  Not only does the eatery’s décor flaunt bold designs of the famous kitty everywhere from its walls to the restaurants tables and chairs- the food is prepared in the shape of the cat. Spattered with hot pinks and bright reds, the Hello Kitty Dream House is arguably one of the biggest Hello Kitty shrines to hit the food scene.  So if you too are a lover of the cat that sports a big bow, then you’ll need to make this eatery your next stop.