Finding a fabulous hotel and discovering it’s just as good in reality as you thought it would be always starts a trip on the right note. But when the in-house restaurant is even better, you know you’re in for a real treat. Below are our favourite hotel and lodge restaurants that compete with the best of the best, all over the world. Happy dining!
1. Klein Jan
Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa
There’s a new kid on the block in the Tswalu Kalahari in the form of South Africa’s only Michelin-starred chef, Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s, Klein JAN restaurant. It’s open to guests of all the Tswalu lodges (Motse, Tarkuni and Loapi) as an additional dining experience and is a tangible aspect of Tswalu’s sustainability journey. Echoing their commitment to local provenance and heritage, the multi-course menu is sustainably sourced, influenced by the seasons, and proudly showcases the cultures and flavours of the Northern Cape. Start your dining experience with drinks on the stoep of a 100-year-old farmhouse before moving through the courses in various alfresco and underground dining areas and ending in the subterranean, crypt-like cellar.
2. The Tapas Molecular Bar
Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo, Japan
If you’ve never heard of molecular cuisine, then it’s time to head to the Manadarin Oriental’s Tapas Molecular Bar in Tokyo for a (mind-blowing) taste. High above the glittering city lights, Chef Kento Ushikubo experiments with new approaches to familiar dishes, de-constructing this, re-assembling that and generally having a whole lot of fun – which is exactly what molecular cuisine is all about. The menu is designed to stimulate all five senses and with only eight seats around the sushi-style bar, you’ll get to watch his every move using tools and techniques that wouldn’t be out of place in a science lab. The lobster and turnip cake is always a favourite.
3. The Singular Restaurant
Singular Santiago, Chile
If you know anything about the Singular hotels, it will be that their designs are worthy of the front cover of Architectural Digest. And now, we can shout about the restaurants too. Chef Hernán Basso’s first endeavour was the outpost in Patagonia and now, he’s worked his magic at the Singular Santiago. The idea is wholesome, Chilean delights with a touch of French flair and technique: oysters from Chiloé Island, Patagonian guanaco, and seared octopus with lemon foam all make an appearance. Produce comes from all over the country and even the cocktail menu celebrates Chilean heritage. Oh, and of course the interiors are top-notch, from the chic, leather-clad chairs to the checkered floor.
4. Flatdogs Restaurant
Flatdogs, South Luangwa, Zambia
Forget traditional safari-style menus and set meal times around the communal table – Flatdogs in Zambia’s South Luangwa is all about a-la-carte dining whenever you feel the munchies coming on. Curated by Director Ade Coley, self-professed food lover and experimenter, the menu in the open-sided restaurant is all about comforting, bistro-style food with a sophisticated twist. Favourites include Asian-inspired pork ramen noodles and Ade’s famous curry tasting platter as well as a chicken liver pate, Zambian-style. Ingredients like paw paw, kohlrabi, pak choi and sorrel are grown in the on-site veggie garden – complete with reinforced, elephant-proof fencing – and just about everything else is proudly Zambian-grown and produced.
5. Indian Accent
The Lodhi, Delhi, India
It wouldn’t be a foodie article without a mention of India, and the Indian Accent in Delhi is the country’s one restaurant that frequently makes the Top 50 Restaurants in the World lists – and it’s conveniently located in The Lodhi hotel. Famous for its inventive, global take on classic Indian cooking (think pumpkin bitterballen with coconut and mustard, and mud crab and kulfi sorbet), it’s all about the tasting menu here and dishes are served in bite-size, colourful portions. At the helm is Chef Manish Mehrotra who opened the restaurant in 2009 and can still be found in the kitchen today. When he’s not in Delhi, seek him out at one of the other branches in Mumbai, New York or London.
6. The Grotto
Rayavadee, Krabi, Thailand
Straight off the set of a James Bond movie, Thailand’s Krabi coastline is a mix of bath-tub warm waters, white sands, jungles, and the iconic limestone, green-capped cliffs that rise into the sky like sentinels of the ocean. It’s in one of these very cliffs that the clever hoteliers of Rayavadee, a boutique resort on the gorgeous Phranang Peninsula, chose to build their aptly-named Grotto Restaurant. Peering out over Andaman Sea, tables are laid in the million-year-old, stalactite-studded cave, flickering candles providing the only light and the sandy beach as your floor. Book a table in the evening and enjoy a ‘Twilight Dinner’ of yuzu-drizzled Andaman lobster, lemongrass red snapper and tropical desserts as the sun dips into the ocean and paints the sky red and gold.
7. Entre Cielos Wine & Wellness Hotel, Mendoza
It’s fair to say that Entre Cielos takes pride in its vast vineyards and wine. Malbec tastings are frequent and far from shy, all rooms are named after wine-making techniques, and you can even bathe in a tub of red in the grape-themed spa. And what do you need after all those libations? A great restaurant, of course – and pretty Katharina’s delivers on every level. Interiors are muted and minimalist, partly to defer to the ravishing views through the floor-to-ceiling windows, but also to let the food do the talking. It’s all about refined regional tastes from fall-apart Mendocinean lamb to goat ravioli. There’s also an asado (barbeque) evening a couple of times a week, showcasing the country’s world-class meats – and of course, the wine list is lengthy and fabulous.
8. Ba’theli
Milaidhoo, Maldives
The Maldives’ first “modern Maldivian” restaurant, Ba’theli at Milaidhoo is an explosion of flavours. The ingredients of a true Maldivian recipe are based on the islands’ location on an ancient trading route, and cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and coriander feature heavily. At Ba’theli, you’ll be treated to all five (sometimes at once) in dishes reinvented for the 21st century. The chef’s tasting menu is a must and highlights include havaadhuli mas, Maldivian tuna spiced with local island mustard leaves and copra essence, and moodhumas kiru garudhiya, fresh coconut milk poached fish flavoured with curry leaf ocean foam. Even the setting is authentic and you’ll dine on the deck of an old ba’theli sailing boat, the turquoise waves gently lapping at the stern.
9. La Maison 1888
InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, Danang, Vietnam
An ultra-luxe seaside retreat on Vietnam’s Danang peninsula surrounded by scenery as stunning as the design, there’s a lot to say about the InterContinental Sun Peninsula. But somehow, the pièce de résistance still remains the renowned La Maison 1888 restaurant. It was the first – and is still the only – restaurant in Vietnam to lay claim to a three-star Michelin chef (Pierre Gagnaire) and everything about the dining experience is exquisite: the food, the perfectly-curated, 450 strong wine list and the elegant mansion with its whimsical Bill Bensley-designed interiors. On offer is a 3-, 5- or 7-course menu of French cuisine infused with unmistakable Vietnamese flair, skill and passion. A mouth-watering journey that is hard to beat…
10. Giraffe Manor
Nairobi, Kenya
Sometimes it’s not about the food you eat, but the company you are enjoying that makes a truly memorable meal. At Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, your dining companions are rather unusual; four-legged, long-necked type of unusual! The beautiful grounds of the 1930s manor house are home to half a dozen endangered Rothschild giraffes, who poke their heads through the windows for breakfast and join guests on the terrace for afternoon tea. Revel in getting up close and personal to the fascinating creatures – a treat or two helps – and watch them stroll around their leafy sanctuary over evening cocktails. If you’re really lucky, you might get a head butt or a ‘Giraffe Kiss’ whilst enjoying your tea and scones…
