These are not your typical neighbourhood restaurants. These are places worth taking a journey for, even if that journey is a long, arduous trek, a boat ride or a seaplane journey. These places, which are found down remote, wiggling roads, atop steep hills and clinging to mountainsides, are the world’s most remote restaurants, worthy of a food pilgrimage. If you're planning on seeking any out, remember to check local and national travel restrictions, and individual establishments' websites, due to COVID-19.
Kirkstone Pass Inn describes its high-altitude location as being on “the roof of the Lakes”, and those who arrive at the 15th-century pub with rooms might well find themselves feeling dizzy. That’s partly because the inn, in the Lake District National Park and surrounded by the beautiful Lakeland Fells, sits around 1,500 feet (457m) above sea level – and is reached via the Kirkstone Pass, a road so steep and squiggly that it’s nicknamed “The Struggle”. Traditional pub meals like pies and Sunday roasts are more than welcome after the journey.
Mountainside Beano’s Cabin has a lofty position in Beaver Creek resort in Avon, surrounded by forest. Rather than be disadvantaged by its remote location, though, the restaurant makes the most of it by including the journey in the experience. There’s no easy way to get here but there’s no ugly way, either. In winter, diners are whisked up via a snowcat-driven sleigh and in summer, they can arrive at the cabin by shuttle or on horseback. Hearty seasonal dishes include roasted, coffee-spiced venison and pappardelle with braised rabbit.
This restaurant clings to a rock on Michamvi Pingwe beach on Unguja, part of the Zanzibar archipelago. It’s at high tide that it becomes truly remote – an island of its own, in fact, that’s reachable only via boat. The Rock sits on what was once a fisherman’s post and now has just a dozen tables beneath a palm tree roof, where diners feast on seafood while surrounded by Indian Ocean views.
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Reaching Seven Glaciers restaurant, which sits prettily on a mountaintop around 2,300 feet (701m) above sea level, requires quite the journey. A ride in an aerial tram glides above the tree canopies, with dizzying views of seven (on a clear day) hanging glaciers and Turnagain Arm, part of the remote Cook Inlet. Diners are then ushered into an elevator and guided along a golden carpet before finally being seated for their meal, with signature dishes like scallop bisque served by huge picture windows.
Tucked off a dusty highway in one of America's most remote towns, Hell’s Backbone has been serving organic, local and seasonal produce in the middle of nowhere for more than two decades. Chefs and co-owners Jen Castle and Blake Spalding run the restaurant according to Buddhist principles, using fruits and vegetables grown in the kitchen gardens and attached six-acre farm. They don’t take reservations except for larger groups, so anyone wanting to dine here will have to make the journey and take their chances.
The restaurant at Arctic Bath is not only in the middle of nowhere, but in the middle of a river in the middle of nowhere. The floating hotel, whose unique, nest-like main building houses the restaurant, glides on the Lule River in summer and is frozen in place when the ice sets in, accessed via a pontoon. The ingredients that go into the ever-changing set menu at the Swedish Lapland retreat, including oil, honey, herbs, berries and reindeer meat, are sourced from the region.
KOKS is a remote restaurant in a remote village on a remote island that’s part of a remote archipelago. But that doesn’t put off food pilgrims determined to try the two-Michelin-starred “New Faroese” cuisine, seasonally driven and crafted with local ingredients. The dining experience begins with a drink in a hut by Leynavatn (Lake Leynar) before guests hop in a jeep for a bumpy ride up to the restaurant. Those who visit in winter may just see the Northern Lights dance overhead too.
This mountainside hostel and restaurant soars at around 7,240 feet (2,207m) above sea level so it would be easy for hikers, light-headed from the altitude and tired from hiking the Chamonix needles, to suspect they’re imagining things. But, no, this really is a dream place to rest and refuel with traditional Savoyard cuisine, most of it (very deliciously) involving cheese and potatoes. Refuge du Plan de l’Aiguille is at the foot of the Aiguille du Midi, with views across to Mont Blanc.
The dining room in Hotel Everest View is among the highest in the world, which makes sense since it’s inside what claims to be the highest-placed hotel in the world. Perched on a ridge in Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park and 13,000 feet (3,962m) above sea level, the restaurant serves regional Khumbu cuisine and has an ancient boulder in lieu of a back wall. Despite its remote location, the restaurant is open to passersby as well as hotel guests – although, by passersby, we mean people trekking in the mountains or landing on the hotel’s helipad.
It’s not just the location of The Lost Kitchen that makes it hard to get to, tucked in a renovated 19th-century grist mill reached via a bridge spanning a babbling brook. It’s also the way tables are allocated, via a postcard lottery. People send requests in the mail and hope to be picked. The lucky few get to dine in the beautiful, wood-accented home of chef and founder Erin French, whose all-female team create the ever-changing tasting menu based on locally-sourced produce.
Pebble Beach is one of two restaurants at qualia, a remote resort at the northern tip of Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef. It’s far from everything except some of the world’s most famously beautiful scenery. The fine dining restaurant, usually open for lunch and dinner, serves zingy seafood and dishes made with regional produce. Tables line the edge of a wooden deck for uninterrupted views of the ocean and islands with sparkling white beaches.
At 1,732 feet (528m) above sea level, the Tan Hill Inn is Britain’s highest pub, waiting on its lonely hill for people to travel up by car, on foot or by huff-puffing up the hillsides on a bicycle. The setting is just glorious, with the 17th-century inn and its outdoor seating and bubble domes looking out over the Yorkshire Dales. Despite its isolation, plenty of people are willing to make the journey for a warm welcome and proper pub grub.
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Dining at Fogo Island Inn, whose picture windows look out onto the deep, navy ocean and the occasional breaching whale, feels like dining at the edge of the world. The sleek hotel, in a remote fishing village on Fogo’s northern coast, stands alone (and on stilts). The dining room, described as “the noble prow of the ship”, is considered one of the best in Canada, with ingredients fished or foraged nearby.
Under really does lie underwater, although that’s not the only factor that makes it remote. It’s also right off the craggy shoreline of isolated village Båly, in the south of the country. It’s the world’s largest underwater restaurant and plunges to 18 feet (5.5m) below the water’s surface, looking rather like a sleek, minimalist capsized ship. It opened in 2019 and quickly gained a Michelin star for its tasting menu of local seafood, seabirds and wild meats.
Surrounded by the wild, wonderful landscapes of northern Sweden, the restaurant at Treehotel is a destination in itself. With a menu focused on traditional Swedish cuisine, created with foraged ingredients and sustainably-sourced game, each plate encapsulates the spectacular surroundings. As the name of the hotel suggests, the restaurant and suites are suspended in the trees, deep into a forest.
Tucked way off the main drag in the tiny village of Giornico and reached via a rudimentary and very rocky road, Grotto Rodai is the type of restaurant that people find by chance – and then really don’t want to tell others about. Because its remoteness and hidden gem status is all part of the charm, with seats in the cosy dining room or outside on stone benches, shaded by centuries-old trees and arbours woven with grapevines. The menu focuses on regional cuisine, including risottos and polenta dishes.
Resting right on the banks by Endeavour Inlet and accessible only by foot, boat or helicopter, Furneaux is part of a resort of the same name. Located on the popular Queen Charlotte Track long-distance trail on the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, those who make the effort are well rewarded. The menu is all about local produce, from green-lipped mussels to wild-caught game, served with Marlborough wines. The setting, surrounded by mountains and with views over the water, is unbeatable.
Virgilio Martínez earned his reputation for innovative Peruvian cuisine at his restaurant Central in Lima, where each course of the tasting menu reflects a different altitude in the country from the sea to the Andes. Mil takes things to a whole new level, both in terms of the menu – focused on roots, tubers, herbs and fruit grown by Andean communities at high altitude – and location. The restaurant is in Peru’s Sacred Valley, 11,706 feet (3,568m) above sea level and surrounded by farming villages.
Reaching this restaurant on Koh Kood, off Thailand’s southeast coast, starts with a 90-minute flight from Bangkok airport to a private island owned by Soneva Kiri resort, where these dining treepods are located. Even then there’s still a speedboat ride to reach the resort itself, so naturally most people sleep over. It’s well worth the trek, though: diners are nestled in their own bamboo pods, which hang amid the trees with bay views, while traditional Thai dishes are delivered by waiting staff via zipline.
Guests might experience a close encounter of the third kind when visiting this restaurant, shop and small inn – but everything else is far, far away. Because Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel, which has a population of fewer than 100, is in the middle of the Nevada desert off the “Extraterrestrial Highway”, en route to Area 51. The restaurant serves up Alien Burgers, fries, stories about alien sightings and advice on the best spots for watching the skies.
This Scottish Highlands pub, close to Ben Nevis, was named the most remote pub in mainland Britain by Guinness World Records. The Old Forge can only be reached via a 18-mile (29km) hike or via a sea crossing to the village of Inverie on the Knoydart Peninsula. It opens seasonally, so those who fancy dining on locally-caught, sustainable seafood in the middle of nowhere should check before starting the journey.
In case anyone fancies a pint of Guinness and a yak burger en route to climb Mount Everest, this is the place. Irish Pub is nestled in the small town of Namche and, at 11,319 feet (3,450m) above sea level, claims to be the highest Irish pub in the world. It must surely be the remotest, and perhaps the only one that specialises in yak meat (the steaks are good too). There are no roads to the town, so visitors (and suppliers) have to trek for two days from Lukla airport to reach the pub.
Around 20 miles (33km) from the nearest city, Kyoto, and reached via a mountain trail, this traditional ryokan (inn) seems to melt into its landscape. Miyamasou, family-owned for four generations, was once a rest stop for pilgrims en route to the Bujō-ji Temple on the Daihizan mountain. Now it serves what some argue is among the best cuisine in Japan with local delicacies like ayu (freshwater fish) and freshly-foraged ingredients that bring the connection of land and heritage to diners’ plates and chopsticks.
The Eagle’s Nest, or Kehlsteinhaus, was originally a gift for Hitler and, although he didn’t spend much time here, it became a symbol of Nazi rule. It’s now a restaurant serving traditional Bavarian cuisine and, while the website says reservations aren’t required, the sheer effort of the journey means it’s worth calling ahead. Teetering on the edge of Mount Kehlstein in the Bavarian Alps, this engineering marvel is accessed via a wiggly (and at times terrifying) road carved into the mountains, with a brass elevator whisking diners to the restaurant.
It’s a long and arduous hike or a meandering cable car journey (followed by a shorter hike) up to this 19th-century inn, which clings vertiginously to the side of the Ebenalp mountain in the Appenzell region of the Swiss Alps. Berggasthaus Aescher was built by farmers as a place to rest while their goats grazed. Now it’s a jaw-dropping destination restaurant and guesthouse with views across the valleys to Lake Constance. The food is typical hearty Alpine fare with lots of cheese, eggs and potatoes – much needed for the return journey.
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