When travel is the topic, food inevitably becomes part of the adventure. But what if the main event was your dining experiences? The world is advancing at a fast pace and so are chefs and designers. Meals are now being transformed into spectacles—suspending tables hundreds of feet in the air or submerging them beneath the ocean. If you’re a traveller that craves more than just good food—someone who lives for the surreal and the spectacular—then here are three unforgettable dining experiences that are absolutely worth the trip.
Experience: Seafood while watching sea life
Where: Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
Imagine reef sharks and manta rays gliding silently above your head while you’re out there enjoying your gourmet seafood platter. Welcome to the world’s first all-glass underwater restaurant, Ithaa, located five metres below the Indian Ocean.
Maldives, known for luxury and tranquillity, boasts this opulent dining experience that makes you feel like you’re eating inside an aquarium. What’s special here is not just the curved acrylic tunnel that offers 270-degree views of the vibrant coral reef, but also the equally jaw-dropping menu. Expect a six-course degustation artfully plated and served with wine pairings. Although pricey, it’s quite worth the once-in-a-lifetime experience. The complete sensory immersion will catch your attention – the light changes throughout the day, reef fish dart past in schools, and the silence, broken only by the gentle hum of the ocean, makes you feel like you’re part of the marine ecosystem.
Best Time to Visit: November to April
Experience: Floating fine dining at 150 feet
Where: Dinner in the Sky, Kuala Lumpur
If you’ve ever wished to combine the thrill of a roller coaster with fine dining, Dinner in the Sky in Kuala Lumpur offers just the perfect fusion of adrenaline and elegance. Suspended by a giant crane 150 feet above the ground, this dining platform seats up to 22 guests and includes a small team of chefs, waiters, and safety crew—all buckled in, of course. Each guest is strapped securely into a racing-style seat, which can swivel for panoramic views of KL’s skyline, including the iconic Petronas Towers and KL Tower. As the platform slowly rises above the city, the noise fades and a sense of strange calm sets in—interrupted merely by the clink of wine glasses and excited murmurs.
The menu is equally exciting. A multi-course gourmet experience, ranging from Wagyu beef medallions to grilled seabass, served with artful sauces. Vegetarian and halal options are available. And yes, there’s wine—though you’d have to take it easy if you’re afraid of heights.
The highlight isn’t just the impressively curated food, it’s the sense of floating above the city, completely detached from the everyday hustle below. For social-media enthusiasts, this is gold: sunset selfies at 150 feet, dinner under the stars, and a backdrop of skyscrapers bathed in golden hour light.
Best Time to Visit: Late afternoon sessions are ideal for catching the sunset, while evening dinners offer stunning night views.
Experience: Aerial dining in India/UAE
Where: Fly Dining Bengaluru / Dinner in the Sky Dubai
If you can’t make it to Malaysia—Fly Dining is for you. Bengaluru’s digitally-driven cityscape now has aerial dining, allowing a chance to dine 160 feet in the air, suspended from a crane above Nagawara Lake. In Dubai, the experience is quite luxurious, with the Dinner in the Sky platform set against the backdrop of the Burj Khalifa and Ain Dubai.
Both offer a five-course dining experience, perfectly blending the thrill of height with expertly crafted food. Dubai’s version leans towards global fine dining, with menus that cater to a relatively more diverse, international crowd – grilled prawns, pan-seared chicken, and creamy risottos—all plated mid-air with impressive precision. In contrast, Bengaluru’s experience, however, is a bit more grounded in its local roots, with the food reflecting Indian flavours—expect paneer tikka canapés, spice-rubbed chicken, and mango mousse.
Best Time to Visit:
Bengaluru: October to March
Dubai: November to March
Dining is now about storytelling and no longer about taste alone. These three experiences blur the line between food and adventure, where the setting becomes just as memorable as the meal.
Whether it’s Maldives’ underwater dining, sky dining in Malaysia or Bengaluru’s aerial dining experience, its a subtle reminder about why we travel—not just to see places, but to feel things we’ve never felt before. Eating underwater gives you a sense tranquillity and dining in the sky, power.
So next time you’re planning a trip, maybe skip the usual dinner spot. Instead, go where your table floats, your views change by the second, and your heart races just a little before dessert arrives.
