Inside the world's most stylish restaurants: The swanky eateries that have vertical gardens, a forest canopy and walls made of 'liquid metal' (and the food's not bad either)

  • Eighteen restaurants are finalists in the SBID International Design Awards
  • All have opened or redesigned in the past two years
  • Rossopomodoro in Jeddah Saudi Arabia has a vast vertical living wall
  • Auriga in Mumbai boasts a three-dimensional geometric interior
  • The seven UK finalists flaunt a more understated style

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The world's most stylish restaurants have been recognised for an international award with a whole host of swanky features catching the judges' eyes.

Eighteen establishments have been shortlisted for their avant-garde designs including a vast vertical living wall at Rossopomodoro in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, a three-dimensional geometric interior at Auriga in Mumbai and walls of rippled wood at Raw in Taipei.

However the seven UK entries in the SBID International Design Awards, all of which have opened or been redesigned in the past two years, flaunt a more understated style. 

Eighteen of the world's most stylish restaurants have been chosen as finalists in the SBID International Design Awards including Rossopomodoro in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which features an 8sqm vertical garden 

Eighteen of the world's most stylish restaurants have been chosen as finalists in the SBID International Design Awards including Rossopomodoro in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which features an 8sqm vertical garden 

Offering a distracting design experience is Raw Restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan: A wooden bar carved into a huge ripple creates the centrepiece in the interior

Offering a distracting design experience is Raw Restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan: A wooden bar carved into a huge ripple creates the centrepiece in the interior

Song's Club in Guangzhou, China, has a high-shine ceiling, which reflects the wine-coloured floor and features metal wave-like walls. The architects, Ray Evolution Design, describes the interior as having a 'metal texture in liquid form'

Song's Club in Guangzhou, China, has a high-shine ceiling, which reflects the wine-coloured floor and features metal wave-like walls. The architects, Ray Evolution Design, describes the interior as having a 'metal texture in liquid form'

Flying the flag for the UK are the Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, which has a casual American theme; La Reunion in Guernsey, which exudes understated glamour in grey and gold tones; industrial feeling Pintura Basque Kitchen & Bar in Leeds and Zacry's, a restaurant with sea views and a fresh design feel at The Watergate Bay Hotel on the north Cornwall coast.

In London, Little Saigon, a new 100-seater Vietnamese restaurant in the East End has a colourful quirky style; Sesame a Middle Eastern fast food restaurant on Garrick Street is clad in vibrant tiles and The Mayfair Chippy has clean white lines with bright statement artwork.

Also featured in the top 18 is pan Asian restaurant Auriga in Mumbai, where guests flock for the avant-garde architecture as well as the tuna tartar.

The futuristic decor covers the ceilings and walls at obscure angles creating an ultramodern feel.

Auriga in Mumbai is a chic pan Asian restaurant, but trendy guests flock for the avant-garde architecture as well as the tuna tartar

Auriga in Mumbai is a chic pan Asian restaurant, but trendy guests flock for the avant-garde architecture as well as the tuna tartar

The Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, which has a casual American theme, is helping to fly the flag for the UK

The Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, which has a casual American theme, is helping to fly the flag for the UK

At Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, vintage car seats and bright colours create a fun vibe

At Hollywood Bowl in Cheltenham, vintage car seats and bright colours create a fun vibe

Created on the site of a disused factory, the external walls are built from glass to allow the natural light in and create a view of the large trees along the road. 

The 50-seater restaurant and lounge-bar, which holds 250, was created by Sanjay Puri Architects earlier this year. 

The upper level houses the restaurant space and the lower level opens into an outdoor patio but the two levels are in complete contrast, with one dominated by steel and the other by wood.

Describing their creation, the Mumbai-based design practice said: 'The entire building exterior is created in a web of aluminium fins that are folded in angular planes.

In Chicago,  Miss Ricky's,  is designed as a traditional American diner with quirky touches including a wall of ties and a traditional London phone box

In Chicago,  Miss Ricky's, is designed as a traditional American diner with quirky touches including a wall of ties and a traditional London phone box

Zacry's - a restaurant with sea views and a fresh design feel at The Watergate Bay Hotel on the  Cornwall coast

Zacry's - a restaurant with sea views and a fresh design feel at The Watergate Bay Hotel on the Cornwall coast

Dream Dairy Farm Restaurant in Tokyo, where diners sit beneath a canopy of resin cubes, has also made the cut. The restaurant is set on a farm within a lush forest and offers guests gourmet dairy-based fare

Dream Dairy Farm Restaurant in Tokyo, where diners sit beneath a canopy of resin cubes, has also made the cut. The restaurant is set on a farm within a lush forest and offers guests gourmet dairy-based fare

'This geometry is carried through into the interior of the ground level where the web is more abstracted and sheaths the walls, ceiling, staircase, bar and columns.'

A single flight stairway runs from the metal dominated nightclub at the lower level to a wood-enclosed restaurant above. 

'The walls, ceiling and live kitchen counter and serving bar counter are sheathed in undulating angular planes of thin wood strips creating a fluid volume for the restaurant.'

On a similarly geometric theme, Dream Dairy Farm Restaurant in Tokyo, where diners sit beneath a canopy of resin cubes, has also made the cut.  

The restaurant is set on a farm within a lush forest and offers guests gourmet dairy-based fare using its own produce.

Sesame a Middle Eastern fast food restaurant on Garrick Street, by the Ottolenghi team, is clad in vibrant tiles

Sesame a Middle Eastern fast food restaurant on Garrick Street, by the Ottolenghi team, is clad in vibrant tiles

In London, Little Saigon, a new 100-seater Vietnamese restaurant in the East End has a colourful quirky style

In London, Little Saigon, a new 100-seater Vietnamese restaurant in the East End has a colourful quirky style

The Mayfair Chippy is the ultimate in understated style with clean white lines and bright statement artwork

The Mayfair Chippy is the ultimate in understated style with clean white lines and bright statement artwork

But food apart, the combination of the ultra modern ceiling in the traditional wooden structure, creates an impressive design statement.

Moriyuki Ochiai Architects, who created the design, offers a deeper explanation.

'The three-dimensional white lattice nesting above the beams of the existing wooden structure forms the canopy of a forest that brings together the old and the contemporary by suggesting the superimposition of time and space,' a spokesperson explained.

Suffice to say, the futuristic design is certain to distract visitors from their lunch. 

Offering an equally eye-catching design experience is Raw Restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan.

La Reunion in Guernsey exudes understated glamour in grey and gold tones with statement lighting

La Reunion in Guernsey exudes understated glamour in grey and gold tones with statement lighting

Pintura Basque Kitchen & Bar in Leeds has an industrial feel but lush planting adds warmth to the venue

Pintura Basque Kitchen & Bar in Leeds has an industrial feel but lush planting adds warmth to the venue

A wooden bar carved into a huge ripple creates the centrepiece in the interior.

Each table has its own light, which designers Weijenberg Pte explain is meant to 'create a stage displaying the food, drawing the customers closer to the table and each other'. 

Also in Taipei is the more sombre looking R&D Cocktail Lab, clad in dark wood with 'English tavern' elements.

And in Taiwan's Jongli City, Pan Mallette also makes the design cut.

Another eaterie making a design statement is Rossopomodoro in Jeddah Saudi Arabia.

The interior is based on the original sister restaurant in Napoli Italy, with one main difference - this one includes an indoor natural vertical garden.

Two-storey Bread Street Kitchen in Singapore: Named after it's original incarnation on London's Bread Street, the Gordon Ramsay restaurant does industrial warehouse chic to perfection

Two-storey Bread Street Kitchen in Singapore: Named after it's original incarnation on London's Bread Street, the Gordon Ramsay restaurant does industrial warehouse chic to perfection

In Taiwan's Jongli City, Pan Mallette also makes the cut and is among the winners of the SBID design awards

In Taiwan's Jongli City, Pan Mallette also makes the cut and is among the winners of the SBID design awards

The wall, which is 8sqm, is planted with 70 different species, a total of 1520 plants imported from Holland. 

'In this project we achieved one of the most important elements which is the right indoor air quality by using a fully automated irrigation system to create a sustainable environment,' the designers Axis Interior explained.

Meanwhile walking into the Song's Club in Guangzhou, China, feels like an optical illusion.  

The high-shine ceiling reflects the deep wine coloured floor below and the metal walls form a wave-like structure.

The designers, Ray Evolution Design, describe the interior as having a 'metal texture in liquid form'. 

In Irvine in America, Bosscat Kitchen & Libations has a more down-to-earth feel but has also made the shortlist.

In Irvine in America, Bosscat Kitchen & Libations has a  more down-to-earth feel: The restaurant's design vision was to create a space with a rustic farm feel in the centre of a modern city

In Irvine in America, Bosscat Kitchen & Libations has a more down-to-earth feel: The restaurant's design vision was to create a space with a rustic farm feel in the centre of a modern city

The restaurant's design vision was to create a space with a rustic farm feel in the centre of a modern city - a spot where people could escape from their busy lives.

The exposed brick, chunky wood furniture and stone floor all work together to give the restaurant it's rustic character. 

The project, by Hootan & Associates design practice, used mostly reclaimed and refurbished materials.

Also across the pond in Chicago is Miss Ricky's, which is designed as a traditional American diner including a wall of ties and a traditional London phone box.

On a larger scale, the two-storey Bread Street Kitchen in Singapore has also made it to the top ten.

Named after it's original incarnation on London's Bread Street, the Gordon Ramsay restaurant does industrial warehouse chic to perfection. 

The two-story restaurant and bar stays true to the brand’s East London industrial roots but the designers, Blueplate Studios, re-invented certain brand elements, starting with the floors.

'The iconic black and white tiled floors, have been turning them into abstract geometric patterns that add a quirky playfulness to the venue,' the company explained.

Also in Taipei is the more sombre looking R&D Cocktail Lab, clad in dark wood with 'English tavern' elements

Also in Taipei is the more sombre looking R&D Cocktail Lab, clad in dark wood with 'English tavern' elements

'To further achieve the eclectic industrial vibe, the furniture, finishes and fixtures are a mix of vintage and modern influences.

'Exposed pipework, wire mesh, black mirrors, and vintage-inspired lighting and accessories compliment the tufted banquets and dark-stained timber.'

Black and white photos of St. Paul’s cathedral can also be found on the wall, alluding to the restaurant's birthplace. 

Also bringing a taste of overseas into their restaurant is Ops Passage in Istanbul, Turkey, which has a Scandinavian feel.

The walls, floor and bar are kitted out in grey tones, balanced with oak in furniture and yellow metal accessories.