food and a great view of the water are the most popular
seaside cafes aka theaters for dinner in the world.
Reach gastronomic nirvana in some of the world's best
waterfront cafes.
Purple sunsets, clear turquoise waters, dramatic cliff terraces, glittering cityscapes reflected in the water-all include these famous
seaside cafes. Start your mouth-watering list of unusual cafes right now!
Padstow, UK: Paul Ainsworth, No. 6
Set in an elegant townhouse overlooking the Camel River in the picturesque Cornish town of Padstow, this cozy Michelin-starred
riverside restaurant and cafe is located.
Wildly popular chef Paul Ainsworth is sending wave after wave of modern
British seafood. Oysters recently removed from the nearby Atlantic are a must.
Paul Ainsworth No. 6: Middle Street, Padstow, Cornwall PL28 8AP, +44 01841 532 093 6
Maui: Mama's Fish House
A Maui is one of the best
cafes in the world. A Maui establishment since 1973, this cozy family-run restaurant is located right on the beach. Every day, fishermen go out on small boats to catch fish such as mahi-mahi, ono, uku and papio, delivered directly to the restaurant and served within a few hours.
The best
daily menu of this takes the "local" to the next level, listing the fisherman's name and the place where they caught the fish.
Mama's Fish House: Khan Highway, 1.4 miles miles past Paya, + 1 808 579 8488
Indonesia: Sundara Bali
Sunset is the perfect time to visit this stylish yet relaxed modern
Asian style restaurant with Jimbaran Bay's great views.
As the sun sinks below the horizon, the fire pits are lit, and families enjoy the seafood extracted from the bay, along with local
Balinese products.
Desserts are prepared at home by award-winning pastry chef
Yusuke Aoki. The most memorable is the tropical parfait made with pineapple compote, tapioca, coconut meringue, and passion fruit sorbet.
Menfi, Sicily: Da Vittorio
Request a window seat at this Sicilian favorite
beachside cafe located in the seaside town of Menfi to enjoy the best views of the undulating waves.
The restaurant is rightly famous for its pasta con I ricci di mare alla Vittorio, or pasta with sea urchin.
The ingredients are so simple: spaghetti, olive oil, white wine, garlic, parsley and local sea urchin. But they are of the highest quality, which makes the dish truly otherworldly.
Da Vittorio: Via Friuli Venezia Giulia, 9, +39 0925 78381
Pingwe, Tanzania: The Rock
The Rock is one of the
best cafes in the world.
Perched on a small coral outcrop that was once the site of a fishing post, this pearl-like restaurant is surrounded by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. An African team of chefs prepares
best dishes like The Rock Special - lobster, cigala, king prawns, octopus, and squid-all expertly grilled.
You can go from the beach to
Michanvi Pingwe; you will be paddling there on a fishing boat at low tide.
Rock: Pingwe Michanwi Ke, Michamwi, Tanzania, +255 776 591 360
Venice, Italy: Club Del Doge
Take a sip of negroni and watch the gondolas glide in the Club del Doge, located inside the Venetian Gritti Palace Hotel, which is magically located on the
Grand Canal.
Watching the water move is one of the world's most gorgeous
dining spots. Still, the food is no less sublime: small Venetian appetizers known as Cicchetti, homemade ravioli, and heavenly white truffle risotto.
Club Del Doge: Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, 2467, 30124 Venice VE, Italy, +39 041 794611
Miami: Seaspice
Magic City serves as a brilliant backdrop for this glitzy location, a former industrial warehouse on the
Miami River banks.
Homemade pasta, grilled meat on hot rocks, and wood-fired pizzas get high marks, but the bustling waterfront cafes scene is a real draw.
Watch as yachts drop off their owners at the restaurant's 500-foot dock.
Seaspice: 422 NW North River Dr, Miami, FL 33128, +1 305 440 4200.
Big Sur, California: Sierra Mar
Perched on a cliff along the winding Coast of Big Sur with
spectacular views of the sparkling Pacific Ocean below, the Sierra Mar has been the site of countless wedding proposals.
Chef
Elizabeth Murray's signature California drive-through is as gorgeous as the view. The four-course menu - melange French, Mediterranean, and Asian-varies depending on the time of year; the products are prepared in the nearby garden.
Sierra Mar: 47900 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920, +1 831 667 2200.
Santorini, Greece: Lycabettus
When you dine in this
magical place, which is right on a cliff stretching out over the Aegean Sea, you will feel as if you are floating in the blue-the sky above it, the water below it.
Chef Pavlos Kyriakis innovatively uses local Greek ingredients such as ripe pistachios, white fava beans, and tomatoes grown in Santorini's rich
volcanic soil.
Likabet: Oia, Santorini, 84 702, Greece, +30 22860 72041
Dubrovnik, Croatia: Nautika
Located next to Dubrovnik's Old Town's western entrance, this restaurant is steeped in history:
Formerly the Dubrovnik School of Maritime Studies, it has hosted famous sailors since the 1880s.
The famous cafe menu boasts local delicacies, such as lobster from the
island of Dalmatia in Vise. Still, it is a deeply romantic view that attracts royal guests from all over the world: On one side, the sparkling Adriatic Sea, on the other, the dramatic
fortresses of Lovrenac and Bokar rise out of the water.
Nautica: Brsale no. 3, 20 000 Dubrovnik, Croatia, +385 20 44 25 26
Cape Town, South Africa: Azure
It seems that the carefree terrace of one of the most show-stopping restaurants hovers right over the Indian Ocean.
Few experiences are comparable to catching the local
cabeljoe fish as you watch the setting sun turn the sky pink and orange.
Chef Christo Pretorius, who strives to use
organic seafood in his menu, has created a mix of local and international favorites, including his signature prawn! Dala (Prawn Dahl), a mixture of fragrant lentils, cauliflower and coconut puree, pickled apple, and tiger prawns, seasoned with a mixture of fish spices made in his house.
Azure: Victoria Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town, 8005, South Africa, +27 21 437 9029
Krabi, Thailand: The Grotto
Located under a rocky limestone cliff bordering the bright turquoise waters of Franang Beach, this restaurant, part of the luxury
Rayavadee Resort, offers the opportunity to dine inside an ancient, cathedral-like cave.
Burying your toes in the sand and enjoying Thai favorites like the sweet and sour soup known as Tom Yum Po Tak Talay will make you feel like the world's most glamorous castave.
Grotto: 214 Mu 2, Tumbon Ao-Nang Ampur Muang 81000 Krabi, Thailand, +66 2 301 1861 d.
Santa Monica, California: 1 Pico at Shutters on the Beach
This vibrant, airy temple of coastal
California cuisine seems to blend in with Pacific waters.
The interior is designed in soothing ocean tones, and palm trees sway in the sea breeze behind the restaurant's tall glass windows.
The menu is focused on
Mediterranean products, meat, seafood and products grown in California.
1 Pico: 1 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405, +1 310 458 0030
San Juan, Puerto Rico: aMare
Chef Luis Guzman playfully combines his Puerto Rican roots (rocks or fried plantain) with the Serafina Beach Hotel's Italian origins (
spaghetti cooked festively on tables in a giant parmesan wheel).
Watch the sunset over the sparkling Atlantic Ocean on the
restaurant's elegant, refined terrace, designed in pure blue and white to match the sea's vibrant colors.
aMare: 1045 Ashford Avenue, San Juan, 00907, Puerto Rico, +1 787 625 6000
St. Barts: Plage
This chic yet relaxed beach bistro was recently opened in La Sereno after it was rebuilt from top to bottom in the wake of
Hurricane Irma. And it's gorgeous: located right on a pearly white sandy beach, it overlooks the dazzling clear tea-green waters of the iconic Grand Cul du Sac in Saint-Barts.
Plage: Grand Cul de Sac BP 19, St Barthelemy, +590 590 29 83 00
Hong Kong: Lung King Heen
Lung King Heen is not only the world's first
three-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant but also has an incredibly scenic view of the glittering Victoria Harbour.
Chef Chan Yan Tak, a native of Hong Kong, makes delicious
Cantonese dishes that reflect his heritage and the exuberantly popular dim sum-imagine baked puffs of whole abalone and steamed dumplings with lobster and scallop.
There is only one caveat: if you need a coveted display table, book it a few months in advance.
Lung King Heen: 8 Finance St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, +852 3196 8888
Ocho Rios, Jamaica: The Gazebo at Goldeneye Resort
This lively, quirky, open-air
treehouse-style cafe, accessible via a charming, lighted drawbridge, overlooks the serene lagoon.
Popular
Jamaican chef Colin Hilton uses ingredients grown on the 2,500-acre Goldenay farm, such as kallalu, leafy greens popular in local dishes, and a fitting accompaniment to the charred "
The Gazebo" ribeye.
Gazebo: Racing, Oracabessa, Jamaica+1 876 622 9007.
New York: Grand Banks
Inspired by 19th-century oyster fishing barges in Manhattan, Grand Banks is a bustling floating oyster bar on board the
Sherman Zwicker, a historic wooden schooner moored at Pier 25 in Tribeca.
Enjoy sea-style cocktails, chevish, and soft shell crabs as you gaze out over the gorgeous city skyline - and marvel at the fact that you're still in New York.
Grand Banks: Pier 25 Hudson River Park, New York, NY 10013, +1 212 660 6312
Dubai, UAE: Sсape
With its lively terrace on the soaring Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, the restaurant, towering over the Eiffel Tower, is the perfect starting point to watch the sparkling waters of the Arabian Gulf below.
Inspired by the spirit of the Cote d'Azur, the
Cote D'Azur menu includes a Nicoise salad and grilled lobster or caviar if you're feeling full.
Skape: Burj Al Arab, Ground floor Mezzanine - Jumeirah Street-Dubai-United Arab Emirates, +971 4 301 7777.
Porto Ercole, Italy: Il Pellicano
Nothing is more dreamily romantic than Il Pellicano, perched on a
Tuscan hill overlooking the glistening clear bay of Porto Ercole.
The menu is made up of local produce, from fish served every morning to the lamb that comes from a nearby Tuscan farm.
As evening falls and the stars appear, rosemary suffocates the air, and the lights from the fishing boats twinkle, bringing life to the bay below.
Il Pellicano: Sbarcatello, 58019 Porto Ercole GR, Italy, +39 0564 858111
Stockholm, Sweden: Oaxen Krog
Located in Djurgarden, on an island in central Stockholm, this
Michelin-starred pier offers clean, deceptively simple takes on classical Scandinavian music.
The menu changes frequently, but it is always seasonal and often flavored with wild herbs harvested from the surrounding forests.
Light floods the huge portholes that look out over the former shipyard that used to occupy this place.
Oaxen Krog: Beckholmen 26, 115 21 Stockholm, Sweden+46 8 551 531 05
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico: COMAL
Prepare your smartphones for Technicolor sunsets at COMAL.
Suspended above Chileno Beach's shores, the open-air
riverside restaurant is located on three levels, offering unencumbered views of the azure Sea of Cortez.
Mexico City-born chef Ivan Mucharras (formerly of the French Laundry) prepares fresh
Los Cabos cuisine using fresh local catches, from giant totoaba to sea bass.
COMAL at Chileno Bay Resort & Residences: San Jose, Mexico City 1, Tourist Corridor, San Lucas, 23410 Cabo San Lucas, British Columbia, Mexico, +52 624 104 9600
The Maldives: Terra
At
Terra, the newly opened Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, dine in one of seven stunning private
bamboo capsules.
Perched on an elevated treetop, each one overlooks the blue horizon of the Indian Ocean.
The menu offers
sumptuous dishes like Waygu beef with white truffles - after all, since it's not every day you dine in a bamboo capsule-and boasts an extensive wine list.
Terra: the Island of Taufusi, male, 20009, Maldives, +960 4 0003000.
Watch Hill, Rhode Island: COAST
The Coast, a bright and clean
riverside restaurant, The Ocean House, offers New England's quintessence: the freshest flavors of the Rhode Island coast and vast, unobstructed views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Its delicious vegetarian menu, prepared on nearby farms, is tempting even for vegetarians: spicy fava beans, maple sweet potatoes, Maine grains, gnocchi spelled, and white chocolate cream.
Coast: 1 Bluff Ave, Westerly, RI 02891, +1 844 380 1564
Hawke's Bay, New Zealand: The Dining Room at Cape Kidnappers
Shaggy cliffs give way to epic views of the Pacific Ocean cliffs at this stunning restaurant located on a rural farm on Cape Kidnappers. To further enhance the impression of the landscape, there is a bird sanctuary on site.
Fruits and vegetables are harvested daily in Cape Kidnapper's garden and prepared according to the classic French method.
The Dining Room at
Cape Kidnappers: 446 Clifton Road Te Awanga Hawke's Bay 4180 New Zealand, +64 6 875 1900
Anguilla: Coba
Pinned to the top of a steep cliff between the bays of Anguilla,
Barnes Bay, and mid-beat, Koba is full of dramatic beauty. So mesmerizing is the Caribbean Sea view that restaurant patrons can become a thing of the past in the middle of a conversation.
In addition to the luxurious views, the trendy space designed by
Kelly Wearstler offers tempting dishes, including spiky lobster with local crayfish sponge cake and curry croutons.