Strange Restaurants of the World
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 12 September 2011, 23:59 IST
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Strange Restaurants of the World
Bangalore: While people think restaurants are places where you can get a fill of food and re-energize, a few exclusive restaurants around the world offer adventurous dining experiences for the adrenaline junkies. At these eateries, you earn your food by trouncing your fears. It is now up to you to make your mind up if these eateries have taken their themes too far or are laudable commercial risks. The Huashan Teahouse in China: A common man usually enjoys a cup of tea and then takes a hike but would you be daring enough to take s hike up Mt. Huashan in Huayin for a cup of tea? The tea-house was originally a Taoist temple and completes the five mountain peaks in the area that form the image of a flower. The trip up the mountain to the tea-house is exhausting and there is every possibility of falling off the side. First, a couple of trams take visitors to the path where the scary part immediately starts. The visitors are unharnessed and have to tip-toe their way across the mountain on tiny timber planks that look like they have hastily been nailed together by holding on to the chains. And whoever assembled this trail has been kind enough to dig out toe holes for hikers that'll keep you from falling off the mountain. If you have been fortunate enough to make it till here, there is more. You have to scale the world's precipitous staircase only protected by a fence. And finally, you are at the tea-house. The tea must be pretty good for all the hard work and daredevil acts you did! Brussels-Based Dinner in the Sky: Picture this: dining above a stunning and gorgeous landmark like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or over a magnificently lit city like Las Vegas or New York - perfect isn't it? This equipment was built in Belgium and is suspended 50 feet in the air from a 200 ton crane. You can hire this suspended restaurant for eight hours too - if you've got $11,000 lying around! Now it's up to you to split the time you have. You can have a V.I.P party that seats 22 people or keep the restaurant lower and rotate people. The set price of the meal does not include catering but you do get a photographer to capture the entire experience with no worry. Of course, the first question that comes to mind is if it's safe? The company works with trained and professional staff and also gives its guests a security briefing before the event. Diners are strapped into their seats before the lift off and the company also has $10 million insurance policy in case anyone falls off their seat. For the catering, only particular appliances are allowed on the platform to make it fire proof. The center can hold a waiter, a chef and an entertainer. The host can hire a second platform to exhibit something or bring a band or live show along. The company also does weddings and business meetings in the sky and is looking forward to expand to suspending diners over natural scenery like The Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in Maldives: The world's first undersea restaurant - Ithaa Undersea Restaurant on the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island - is an acrylic tunnel with a 270-degree view of the sea which is accessed through a spiral staircase at the end of a quay. Nothing comes close to the experience of eating seafood while watching it and being completely sunken. Though it sounds cool to have an entire ocean as your aquarium while enjoying a scrumptious dinner; there are possibilities of dangerous and destructive scenarios that could put the lives of diners at risk. Consider this: A heavy fish that happens to pass by the restaurant runs into it or an undersea battle between armies of dish! Disastrous right? Ok, maybe not and although not likely, a tsunami does sound like a more reasonable threat. The 175- ton eatery was built in Singapore before it was shipped over to Maldives. It was sunk with 85 tons of sand and secured into the sea-bed using four steel piles and concrete. Estimated to last twenty years before it has to be built, the restaurant can be converted into a guest room for $11,710 if you cannot bear to part with the sea after your $120 to $150 meal! Unsicht-Bar in Germany: The trend of fine dining in the dark started in Zurich and has since spread all over Europe and the world. Get over your fear of the dark as you get into this restaurant. The idea of the bar is to give your tired eyes a break and instead rely on the other senses to relish the food and the idea has in turn employed many blind and visually handicapped waiters worldwide. You can choose your meal and beverages in a well-lit lobby and your waiter takes you into the pitch black dining hall. You would imagine waiters and guests running into each other and plates being knocked over onto the floor but the waiters have to depend entirely on senses other than sight and are able to move around the room without any problem. Seriously, what do they see:NOTHING! A three or four course meal ranges from 22 - 87 Euros. The food you order is pre cut for you so the greatest danger comes from a butter knife. The food is prearranged like a clock so that the guests know where each side is located. The only limitations the restaurant has in the terms of food they provide- they can't serve foods like peas and spaghetti and light of any kind is not allowed in the dining room and if a guest needs to go to the bathroom, the waiter escorts them back into the lit rooms.

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