Australia’s Most Unique Restaurant Concepts

Fancy dinner with a side of fear? Vertigo is Australia’s first suspended dining experience, hauling you 17 metres up the wall of Brisbane Powerhouse harnessed to a table that hangs out over the city. Part fine dining, part adventure sport, you’ll become part of the skyline as the river slides past below, and waiters somehow serve three polished courses without looking fazed. And just when you  start to relax, there’s a four-story dropline waiting for anyone brave enough to jump. 

Somebody, somewhere, decided a gondola belongs on the Broadwater, and somehow it feels completely right. Step inside the cosy Venetian-style boat, where polished timber gleams under the soft glow of candlelight. The gentle sway of the water lulls you into quiet intimacy as you drift along the canals, the city fading into a warm, reflective backdrop. Dinner is served by candlelight, each dish a familiar classic presented with care, while the murmured conversation of your partner blends with the subtle lap of water against the gondola. One of the most unique restaurants for romantic who want the river right at their table. 

Asia’s hawker dining culture is built on energy, variety and the thrill of eating shoulder-to-shoulder while sizzling woks, and the scent of chilli, lemongrass and charcoal smoke tempt you in from every corner. Spice Alley brings it to Chippendale, just five minutes from the Sydney CBD, where a tangle of lantern-lit laneways serves up Asia’s best street food without the airfare. Each hole-in-the-wall eatery sticks to its speciality, whether that's a fiery curry, fluffy roti, pillowy dumpling or a steaming bowl of ramen, all served fast and affordable enough to have you planning your next round before you’ve finished your first.

Step through the heavy iron doors into a Viking-style feast hall kitted out with shields, carvings and drinking horns. At this unique dinner experience, you'll find an unapologetically meat-forward menu with tomahawk steaks, rotisserie chicken and bone marrow, paired with an impressive whisky list. Every detail at Mjølner’s two venues has been designed to immerse you in the mythology and ritual of a modern-day Valhalla. Leather rolls present ornate knives to each guest, and the décor turns dining into an escapist adventure where fine food and storytelling collide. Thursdays bring Thor’s Day, a no-holds-barred all-you-can-eat feast of roasts, sides and desserts that will leave you feeling like you could conquer a small kingdom… or that you’ve just eaten one. 

At first glance it’s a room. Then the LED walls fire up, and suddenly you’re dining under a forest canopy, drifting through coral gardens or suspended in deep space as 50 square metres of screens and foreground effects wrap around you. Each course of the five-dish degustation cues a new scene, so the story shifts as you eat and the room seems to breathe with the menu. The experience sits somewhere between restaurant and performance art, intimate enough for hushed conversation yet bold enough to pull your eyes from plates of seasonal, sustainable and inclusive cuisine crafted by innovative Executive Chef Robin Wagner. Fusing art, technology and gastronomy, Aurora earns its place on any list of unique dining experiences. 

You sit down, the lights cut out, and suddenly the room vanishes. No sight, no cues, just you and whatever the chef decides to throw at your taste buds. Your nose perks up, your fingers twitch, and every texture hits harder than it ever would under normal circumstances. Menus are themed meat, seafood or vegan, but beyond that, you’re in the dark both literally and figuratively. The culinary dare you didn’t know you needed, it is disorienting, humbling and weirdly fun. Dining in the Dark is an immersive, ticketed dining event held at Capriccio Osteria in Sydney and select venues across Brisbane, Perth, and Hobart. Tickets are purchased separately via the official website, giving guests access to a one-of-a-kind culinary experience.