It doesn't get any more high-end than the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.
The Burj even describes itself as the "world's most luxurious hotel."
So it's no wonder that the hotel is also home to a seafood restaurant — Al Mahara — complete with a floor-to-ceiling aquarium where diners can enjoy delicious food while watching colorful fish swim among luscious plants in bright blue water.
I had the chance to eat at Al Mahara on a visit to Dubai years ago and I still consider the lobster I ate there to be the best I've ever had.
It's one of the best fine dining restaurants in the world, but a meal there isn't cheap. According to TripAdvisor reviews for the restaurant, a dinner for two with a bottle of wine costs around $600.
For some context, here's the hotel itself in all its sail-shaped glory. It sits on its own island, connected to the rest of Dubai's mainland by a long driveway.
Guests enter the hotel through the mesmerizing atrium, complete with a fountain, escalator, and a clear view of some of the hotel's rooms outlined in varying shades of blue and green.
Al Mahara means "the oyster shell" in Arabic, and the restaurant's entrance actually looks and feels like an oyster shell. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the hotel.
The illuminated golden archway opens into an elegant but modern dining room of red carpet, plush seating, and white table cloths.
Diners can get up close and personal with the creatures that are housed in Al Mahara's aquarium, the centerpiece that the restaurant is built around.
Diners will see everything from sharks...
