Alternative Restaurant Experiences in London

Looking to escape the formal dining scene amongst London’s best hotels? Not to worry London boasts a vibrant and eclectic dining scene offering patrons a host of differing experiences. Below are some of our favourite unusual restaurants in the city.

Lima

31 Rathbone Pl, London W1T 1JH

Lima is extraordinary in the fact that it is London’s first Peruvian restaurant to win a Michelin Star. The menu is quite unlike any other in the city, with thoroughly original dishes crafted by one of Heston Blumenthal’s understudies - Bunmi Okolosi. From sea bream ceviche to Peruvian scallops, roast guinea pig to slow cooked suckling pig, each dish dances with colour and bewilders with taste.

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Dans Le Noir

30-31 Clerkenwell Green, London EC1R 0DU

Diners in Dans Le Noir (In the Night) enjoy their meals in complete darkness. Escorted to your table and served by blind people, the unique experience was created in order to enhancing visitor’s sense of smell and taste – by making them rely on them. The obscurity also helps to aid social interaction too according to the owner by ‘killing shyness and bringing an open minded conviviality.’

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Archipelago

53 Cleveland St, London W1T 4JJ

Bored of the usual steaks, fish and chicken? Archipelago is an exotic and mysterious restaurant serving unfamiliar meat from all over the World. Expect to find crocodile, wildebeest, garlic crickets and seared zebra. The decorations are just as wacky as the menu with a maze of funky Buddha’s, fertility idols and peacock feathers creating a strangely intimate space.

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Inamo

134-136 Wardour St, London W1F 8ZP

Probably the most technologically advanced restaurant in London, Inamo aims to put diners in firm control of their entire experience by letting them order from illustrated menus projected on their table surface. The interactive system allows guests to set mood, browse the local area and even order a taxi home. Cuisine wise a host of Pan-Asian dishes are on offer.

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Sarastro

126 Drury Ln, London, Greater London WC2B 5SU

Sarastro brings theatre to the dinner table, quite literally – the inside is flamboyantly decorated with ten individually styled opera boxes complete with velvet drapes, rainbow colours and all the other theatrical quirks. It is highly recommended to book a table on either Monday evenings or Sunday when a live opera and string quartet preform.

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Circus

27-29 Endell St, London WC2H 9BA

Having dinner in here is like having dinner in a washing machine, in a good way. Superb pan-Asian cuisine is served whilst fire eating dances bring wine to your table and acrobats swing from hoops on the ceiling – quite an experience that has guests dancing on their own tables by the end of the evening.

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La Bodega Negra

16 Moor St, London W1D 5NH

Visitors to La Bodega Negra will arise plenty of suspicion as they enter – the outside of the restaurant is decorated loudly with Neon Lights advertising a sex shop containing ‘Adult Video’ & a ‘Peep Show’. Upon entry guests are escorted down some dingy narrow stairs by an eccentric character, adding to the confusion, before entering an excellent Mexican restaurant full of atmosphere and burritos.

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Beach Blanket Babylon

45 Ledbury Rd, London W11 2AA

As the strange name suggests there is nothing ordinary about this place. The eclectic Georgian townhouse that it occupies is split into distinctive areas each as peculiar as each other; ‘The Crypt’ – hidden away in the buildings vaulted cellars, ‘The Chapel’ – an arched sanctuary, and ‘The Scullery’ - a dungeon like nook. The seasonally changing menu is reflective of Beach Blanket Babylon's colonial British heritage.