Eatrenalin located at Europa-Park in Germany may just be one of the world’s most futuristic and quite incredible fine-dining experiences as technology and culinary expertise combine for a truly memorable experience.
There are a variety of packages available at Eatrenalin and our visit was gifted (full disclosure) as part of a 50th Anniversary press trip to the park but we’ll be providing our honest thoughts on the experience despite the meal being free.
Our particular package at Eatrenalin includes champagne with each meal and is currently priced at the time of writing at €255.
Eatrenalin has a backstory of an A.I called Leena who has perfected the art of creating the most perfect tastes and flavours but as an A.I she can never experience them for herself and so her journey begins to manifest as a human so she can sample her creations.
Lounge
From the futuristic entrance of the building which peels away (quite literally) the fabric between reality and dreamscape, you are greeted with a futuristic lounge design with unique detailing and futuristic-style projections on the wall.
You take a seat where you’re immediately served some very expensive champagne indeed along with your first food indulgences as even the small bite-sized tasters you have in the beginning are oozing with flavour including a delicious Pea and Wasabi soup with Algae dust.
I was three snacks into my experience and my mouth was absolutely exploding with flavour.
If you have dietary requirements these are catered for immediately and also your entire experience will be customised to your dietary requirement via the technology you’re about to sit on.
Your Floating Chair for the Evening
What makes Eatrenalin so unique is their patented floating chair technology where each guest is seated in an individual chair after a quite wonderful introduction and the chair will float on a trackless system throughout a variety of rooms themed around the cuisine you’re experiencing.
Each room has been meticulously designed to engage multiple senses. This innovative approach transforms dining into a dynamic adventure, reminiscent of a dark ride attraction.
What makes the floating chairs even more unique is that there is a built-in table, water bottle holder and even a device that introduces your first course to you in the first room, they’re so clever and all of the systems are monitored via a control room.
If you have a dietary requirement the entire course of your journey will be recalibrated so your chair will pull up at the right stations where your catered for diet-friendly food will be served. It’s so clever!
Technology is a strong focus of the experience including virtual projections, haptic feedback within the seats, and synchronized soundscapes.
Everything has been thought out with care and attention to detail as the lines of dining and entertainment blur in an embraced harmony.
Menu
Take a look below at our entire menu ingredients throughout the experience, it’s quite the selection!
Lounge – Indulgent introduction
Peas | Wasabi | Algae dust
‘Faux Gras’ | Pecan nut | Grapes
Lamb | Baharat | Pomegranate
Waterfall – Ritual for the palate
Meagre | Aji-Amarillo | Roscoff onion
Discovery – Magical revelation
Granny Smith | Celery stalks | Japanese mint
Ocean – Sensuality from the depths of the sea
Scallop | Buttermilk | Coastal plants
King crab | Green gazpacho | Tarragon
Hamachi | Ponzu | Truffle
Taste – Small explosions of flavour
sweet I sour I bitter I salty
Umami – Asia’s fifth dimension
Salmon ‘tataki’ | Tomato | Amazuzuke | Sesame seeds
Onsen egg | Koshihikari rice | Hijiki | Vadouvan
Dim sum | Tosaka | Tamarind | Jalapeño
Sea bass cheeks | Miso | Daikon | Spring onions
Universe – Mysteries from space
Glazed duck breast | Timut pepper | Celeriac
Turnip Cabbage | Black cumin | Zallotti Blossom
Incarnation – Sweet transformation
Coconut | Coffee | Passion fruit
Grapefruit | Hibiscus | Mint
Financier | Brown butter | Hazelnut
The Rooms
The experience unfolds over approximately two hours, featuring an eight-course menu that evolves as guests traverse different environments.
Each room is focused around the flavours you’re going to experience and your first room of the experience is an Ocean room where you are underwater and sampling a delicious seafood course.
Whilst in this room your chairs are slowly floating around the room but the movement is never really noticed, it’s a graceful drift as though you are floating on the water and the visuals and sounds around you certainly put you into a relaxing state.
That relaxing state starts from the very beginning as Eatrenalin seems to introduce you to a spa-like setting before you even take a seat. The whole mood and atmosphere feels very classy and transcendent beyond what a usual dining experience can offer.
Places claim they offer ‘immersive dining’ but Eatrenalin proves they do and no one on the planet has offered anything even close to this kind of experience since they opened two and a half years ago.
Other rooms along your experience include Umami which is a Japanese-themed room where you’ll sample an array of Japanese-themed dishes and there is also a Space room where you’ll be mind-blown as to what flavours you can experience, I guarantee you will not have tasted anything like it before!
There is also an almost pre-show-like experience as Eatrenlin despite wanting to focus on being a fine-dining experience reaching for a Michelin star (which is highly possible, especially with new chef Alexander Mayer) it seems to not be able to resist diving into showmanship territory with an interactive room and following Leena’s A.I journey that really does come to life, quite literally in a superb finale.
That particular pre-show room along with a taster room were the only negatives I had of that experience as each room is designed to compliment the culinary delights.
Despite it being a cool room there was nothing linking the room to anything culinary-related, even something simple that could be consumed before the pre-show or afterwards would just add a little something to the room but it felt very much ‘theme park’ as opposed to ‘fine dining’ in that particular space.
Within the tasting room, you are given a Salty, Sweet and Bitter sample to explore your tastebuds. This room was strangely in the middle of the experience whereas if you’re following the story correctly this should be introduced at the very start before your journey begins.
Leena is a creator of flavour so having to explore that flavour at the very start makes logical sense, but that’s just me.
Overall
Eatrenalin is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I feel you must do but when you look at the prices they can be a little overwhelming.
Our particular experience was quite the eye-watering €255 for some but the price is certainly more palatable for a fine-dining experience as it’s a similar price to what I’ve paid at numerous Michelin Star restaurants around the world but here I’m getting the unique technology, the experience, the show and something quite unlike anything else out there which makes me feel this is the best value option of the lot.
If you want that unique experience that you’re not going to find anywhere else in the world then I’d personally give it a try but I do wish they could add a slightly cheaper package in there for those who want to experience perhaps a reduced menu and to explore the technology in more detail. I know they have a cocktails experience utilising the technology which is a great addition but a smaller meal experience would be rather cool too.
You’re getting the finest ingredients in the world paired with multi-million-pound technology, you have to pay a premium for that I’m afraid.
Each dish was as tasty and incredible as the last apart from one piece of duck that was slightly tough but it was quickly forgotten about with the numerous courses that come your way but the main question is, was I full by the end of it?
I was!
I think the champagne coupled with the numerous courses certainly filled me up across the two-hour experience and I left grinning from ear to ear.
There’s a wonderful paid bar at the end of your experience for you to relax in too where the prices aren’t too expensive and you’ll be thinking about the experience long after it finishes, that I can assure you!
Eatrenalin at Europa-Park represents a bold fusion of culinary arts and immersive entertainment and experiential dining just hasn’t been the same since it was introduced.
Thank you so much for having me, It’s been on my to-do list from the moment it opened and I was over the moon to finally experience it for the first (and not the last) time!
Find out more about the experience by visiting the official website HERE
