Al-Boom

Lonely Planet review

Located in the hull of a boat, this inventive restaurant takes some beating - particularly as this isn't just any old boat; this is Mohammedi II, built in Culicut, India in 1979. A replica of the largest dhow ever built ( Mohammedi I, 1915), it took three years to construct from teak wood and 2.5 tonnes of copper, and was completed with 8.8 tonnes of handmade iron nails.

Not that one spares much thought for the 35,000 days of labour that was invested in one of the most characterful cargo holds in the history of boat building: when ensconced in the curving hull, under a ship's lantern hung from the beams, the attention is much more carefully focused on the set-piece of grilled grouper or sirloin, delivered sizzling to a personalised brass dinner setting. As the ship is dry, in all senses of the word, seasickness is not a prime concern.