14 Restaurants Where the View Is More Dramatic Than the Food

Souk and Sea Lounge in Mumbai’s iconic Victorian heritage Taj Mahal Palace are just two of the many restaurants within the hotel. They offer unprecedented views of the Arabian Sea and the early 20th-century monument, Gateway of India. Taj Mahal Palace is a heritage luxury hotel built in 1903, playing host to kings, dignitaries, and eminent personalities across the globe. Every table at Souk and Sea Lounge has a view of the sea, boats, and busy walkways around Colaba, where the hotel is located. Sunset is a particularly beautiful time of the day, as the fishing boats come in and are silhouetted against the sun–a fantastic addition to your meal.

Dan’s Diner in Churchill, Manitoba, is part of the Frontier North Adventures Tundra Buggy Lodge and provides a unique dining experience surrounded by wilderness beneath the northern lights. The pop-up dinner is a mobile tundra buggy driven across the frozen Churchill River. The restaurant features panoramic windows and overhead skylights so that guests can catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis while enjoying an exquisitely curated, multi-course menu that features regional and local fare inspired by land and sea. Dan’s Diner operates on select dates in February and March. Guests can either book individual tickets for dinner, or the experience can be part of a larger travel package with Frontiers North Adventures.

Austria’s highest gourmet restaurant, at 3,048 meters above sea level, is ice Q in Sölden. It is surrounded by more than 250 three-thousand-meter mountains and is connected to the Gaislachkogel mountain peak via a suspension bridge. With ceiling-to-floor glass windows and a panorama terrace, the view from each corner of iceQ is stunning. Every Wednesday at sunset–from December to March–the ice Q restaurant offers a toque-awarded menu as part of their Summit Dinner. It also was the filming location for James Bond’s Spectre and even has a museum dedicated to the British secret agent.

The Wild Horizons Lookout Café is an iconic restaurant in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe, with both indoor and outdoor seating offering dramatic views of the falls. It is casual dining fused with decadence–from cocktails and canapes to more elaborate meals. For a more elevated experience, try the dinner service on a full moon night. Panoramic views of the Batoka Gorge, Zambezi Rapids, and silver moonlight illuminating the Victoria Falls Bridge make this a dinner unlike any other. The lower deck is dotted with candle-lit lanterns for full-moon evenings.

Saimi Hoyer, international model and television celebrity, is one of Finland’s most famous personalities. After retiring from the world stage, she moved back to her hometown of Punkaharju, deep in the heart of Finland’s famous Lakeland community, and took ownership of a historic Hotel Punkaharju. It is one of Finland’s oldest hotels and is full of fairy-tale charm. Today the hotel has an updated look, thanks to Saimi’s design aesthetics, but retains much of the original charm. Guests can eat at the onsite indoor restaurant or opt for a rooftop dining experience, with sweeping views of Finland’s dense forests and Lake Saimaa. Post dinner, guests can also go for a traditional Finnish sauna in the lake and indulge in Finland’s Jokamiehen oikeudet (everyman’s right to nature).

Under the bright lights of the Petronas Twin Towers, M57 Rooftop bar on Level 57 is the perfect way to unwind with some of the world’s leading cocktail creators. The glass ceiling offers a close-up view of the Towers and panoramic views of the city skyline. Cocktails are inspired by the changing of international seasons, conceived by a single exotic ingredient, and even suggested by guests. Day or night, this is the place to be for an up close and personal view of one of the tallest buildings in the world.

From one of the highest restaurants, we go to one of the lowest. Anantara Kihavah Villas’ underwater SEA restaurant offers an opportunity to dine with a view of one of the healthiest underwater reefs in the Maldives. The glass sides of the octagonal dining room allow diners a view of marine life swimming around. The waters are so clear that you feel like you can reach out and touch the life swimming past. Breakfast is a specialty at Anantara, but you can also have a nice romantic dinner or a wine-tasting experience with hundreds of fish, sea turtles, eagle rays, and reef sharks swimming by.

Wind View Café in Jaipur, India, is located directly opposite Hawa Mahal, Jaipur’s famous pink palace. Night or day, this café offers unparalleled views. It is a great place for those Instagram-worthy photos, admiring the intricate architecture of one of Jaipur’s iconic structures, or just relaxing after a day of sightseeing in the city. It is one of the top best rooftop cafes in Jaipur, serving classics like masala chai, India’s iconic Maggie noodles, and sweet lime sodas, as well as dishes that appeal to a Western palate.

Saba Rock, an al fresco main restaurant in the British Virgin Islands, offers a private island-style dining experience with 360-degree views of the ocean, clear skies, and distant mountain ridges. With origins dating back to the 1960s, Saba Rock was put on the map by diving pioneer Herbert “Bert” Kilbride, when he founded his diving base for scuba diving, and launched the legendary Pirates’ Pub—known for being one of the best oceanfront bars in the Caribbean. Since then, visitors from both land and sea have flocked to Saba Rock for a taste of “old” Caribbean, on-the-water adventures, breathtaking scenery, fresh-from-the-sea cuisine, and lively Happy Hours. They even have a nautical collection of artifacts, old engines, Spanish coins, and even an anchor dating back to the 1500s.

The sleepy Himalayan town of Rishikesh is not only a spiritual hub for Hinduism but is also considered the yoga capital of the world. But this is not the only thing Rishikesh is famous for. In 1968, the Fab Four–John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr–traveled to take part in Transcendental Meditation at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. And today, Beatles Café is a must-visit for all fans. From the huge wall panel done up with vinyl records, an LP player, and books to pictures hanging on every wall, the café itself is dedicated to the Beatles. The open-air feel of the restaurant, the ambiance, the vegan, gluten-free cuisine, and the jaw-dropping, dramatic views of the Holy Ganga as it flows in the gorge below the restaurant are a hit with everyone who visits.

Located at the far East end of Chicago’s Navy Pier, just past the Sable Hotel lobby, Offshore Rooftop offers unencumbered views of Lake Michigan and the city’s famed skyline that cannot be found anywhere else. Celebrated as the world’s largest rooftop, this stunning, multi-seasonal space also boasts a world-class kitchen and full-service bar. In the summer, the floor-to-ceiling glass doors are thrown open for an open-air dining experience with water views all around.

Not many can resist the lure of ragged cliffs, dramatic drop-offs, and raging waves of California’s famous Highway 1. Ragged Point Restaurant has all that and more, where you can enjoy dinner with a Pacific Ocean view. If you’re craving a traditional seated dining experience, you’ll want to claim your own cliffside table. You can then watch the sunset over the Pacific, and after dinner, take a quiet moonlit walk to the edge of the Pacific beneath an umbrella of Monterey Cypress trees. Fresh seafood, regional produce, and local wine offerings give you a delightful taste of Highway 1’s vibrant culinary offerings, all while gazing along the azure horizon.