The world’s most exclusive restaurants: underwater, in the rock, in the Eiffel Tower
A table for two in Italy, a dining room five metres under the sea, a members-only club: 17 restaurants from our TikTok photo series and what makes them special.
In this article
What makes a restaurant exclusive
Exclusive doesn’t always mean expensive. Our photo series features restaurants that are hard to reach, have very few seats or choose their guests themselves. Some combine all three.
| Restaurant | Ort | What makes it special |
|---|---|---|
| Club 33 | Disneyland, California | Secret members-only club in the park |
| Alchemist | Copenhagen | Up to 50 courses under a dome of light |
| La Sponda | Positano | Hundreds of candles above the Amalfi Coast |
| Ithaa | Maldives | 14 seats, five metres under the sea |
| Solo per Due | Vacone, Italy | A single table for two |
| Grotta Palazzese | Polignano a Mare | Dining room in a sea cave |
| Disfrutar | Barcelona | Long wait for a table |
| At.mosphere | Dubai | On the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa |
| Under | Lindesnes, Norway | Concrete building that dips into the sea |
| The Rock | Zanzibar | On a rock in the sea |
| Ossiano | Dubai | Tables in front of a giant aquarium |
| Aulis | London | Chef’s table with only a few seats |
| Rao's | New York | Tables have belonged to regulars for decades |
| Sublimotion | Ibiza | One table, 12 seats, the menu is a show |
| Le Jules Verne | Paris | Starred cuisine in the Eiffel Tower |
Sources: The world’s most exclusive restaurants (TikTok post by @pribblymedia)
Dining below sea level
Ithaa on Rangali Island in the Maldives is considered the world’s first underwater restaurant. It opened in 2005 and seats 14 guests. The acrylic room lies around five metres below the surface, with fish and rays swimming right past the table.
Under, in southern Norway, takes a different approach. The concrete building by the architecture firm Snøhetta juts diagonally into the sea, and the dining room lies five and a half metres below the water’s surface. The restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2020.
Sources: Dine in luxury and beauty at the Conrad Maldives Ithaa underwater restaurant · Under: The world's largest underwater restaurant
Exclusive through demand
At Disfrutar in Barcelona, it isn’t the location that makes it special but the demand. Since the restaurant was voted number 1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking in 2024, a table can only be had with a lot of advance planning.
It’s even stricter at Rao’s in New York, where the tables have belonged to regulars for decades. And at Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo, tourists can almost only get a seat through a hotel concierge.
Which one would you book?
We asked this question on our TikTok channel @pribblymedia. One restaurant is missing from the table above: Le Train Bleu in Paris’s Gare de Lyon station, a golden state room where you can dine between two trains. Prices and booking conditions change all the time, so it is always worth checking the restaurant’s website before a trip.
Sources: The world’s most exclusive restaurants (TikTok post by @pribblymedia)
Sources and status
- The world’s most exclusive restaurants (TikTok post by @pribblymedia)Pribbly on TikTok · Checked on 6 November 2026
- Dine in luxury and beauty at the Conrad Maldives Ithaa underwater restaurantInteresting Engineering · Checked on 6 November 2026
- Under: The world's largest underwater restaurantVisit Norway · Checked on 6 November 2026
- Disfrutar in Barcelona named the best restaurant in the world by The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024The Staff Canteen · Source as of 6 June 2024 · Checked on 6 November 2026