From sci-fi dining to £625 dishes

FORGET your Sunday roast, why not try frozen sheep’s brain in a restaurant that looks like it has been plucked from a dystopian novel?

Well you can when you dine at the top 50 restaurants in the world.

The 50 has revealed the world’s best restaurants, spanning from Hong Kong to Barcelona.

And one spot in the UK has even featured on the list.

Placing 48th, Ikoyi restaurant in London has copper-cladded walls and oak furniture throughout.

When it comes to the food, the creators behind the restaurant – Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale – create dishes using herbs and spices from Africa and Asia and use different cooking techniques across the globe.

Read more on travel inspo

BOOK IT

20 ultra cheap girly hols – UK trips, city breaks & all inclusive stays from £59

CHEAP BREAKS

UK’s best 100 cheap stays – our pick of the top hotels, holiday parks and pubs

As a result, the cuisine is Canadian-Chinese-British with dishes on the menu including smoked jollof rice.

Though it isn’t cheap – the tasting menu costs £385 per person.

There is a smaller tasting menu, but that still costs £180 per person.

But these are the only two options – you cannot order a la carte, though you will get 12 to 14 courses.

As for the restaurants that came out on top overall, Wing in Hong Kong secured fifth place.

Chef-owner Vicky Cheng’s Wing restaurant focuses on local and traditional Chinese flavours.

You can expect dry-aged crispy Cantonese chicken, smoked pigeon with sugarcane and for dessert, a fruit trolley service with fresh mangoes, guavas and other tropical fruits.

In fourth place was Quintonil in Mexico City, created by chef Jorge Vallejo.

The restaurant serves up traditional Mexican flavours but uses modern techniques.

Dishes include wild mushroom chileatole soup and ice cream made with honey, papaya and lavender marmalade.

In third place was Alchemist in Copenhagen, which was noted for being a “meal unlike anything else”.

The restaurant itself has two huge bronze doors and then inside is like a “mystical world”.

There are no courses, but instead 50 ‘impressions’ which are divided into several acts.

Dishes include freeze-dried lamb’s brain served on a brain-shaped plate and ‘1984’ – a dish inspired by George Orwell with a realistic looking edible eyeball with caviar, peas, shrimp and pistachios.

You’ll have to fork out £624.34 for the six hour experience though…

Just missing out on the top spot was Gaggan in Bangkok.

Created by Gaggan Anand, Gaggan’s menu combines Indian cuisine with French, Thai and Japanese influences.

You’ll get an experience at this restaurant too, as diners are urged to eat with their hands and even lick the plate.

Dishes served in the past include ‘Yoghurt Explosion’, which was a spherical bitesized dish with sulfur salt and popping candy and charcoal samosas.

And the restaurant that came out on top was Asador Etxebarri in Atxondo, Spain.

The restaurant can be found in a quiet Basque village between Bilbao and San Sebastian.

Chef Bittor Arguinzoniz creates dishes on custom-made grills that the chef designed himself.

You can order either a la carte or the tasting menu, with dishes including baby eels and sea cucumber with green beans and milk ice cream with beetroot.

Several of the spots on the list are more of an experience with theatrics than a simple restaurant for a sit down meal.

In 29th place, for example, was Enigma in Barcelona – a restaurant that looks more like a high-tech spaceship on the inside with glass and metal walls making it look as if it were frozen.

Guests even have to enter a secret code to get into the restaurant.

Other spots to feature on the list that are just as breathtaking to look at as the food include Vyn in Skillinge which has views of the rolling hills and sea and Piazza Duomo in Alba, which is entirely pink inside.