What a night. They didn't take me to a little island in Greece like in Mamma Mia, but I was taken to a whole new league of dining. Ultraviolet can only be explained as a 4D dining experience of sorts. If you've ever been to a 4D movie you'll understand, if not, just imagine having all your senses appealed to in unison. Ultraviolet has an undisclosed location so we were told to all meet at Unico at The Bund. There, we were greeted with apple cider and had the opportunity to meet our dining companions for the night. Each night there are only ten guests at the dinner. No more, no less. After drinks we were piled into a car and drove around in circles with accompanying music and videos to start off this avant-garde night.

We were dropped off outside a shabby door in a run-down parking lot, and at once the theatrics began. An ayi banged on a gated door, and a uniformed man held it open to let us in, then slammed it shut, leaving us alone in the dark. After two repeats of this, we finally found ourselves in the ultraviolet-lit dining room.

There were 360 degree projections across the walls and even covering the table, smells coming out of the sides of the table, and surround sound to top it all off. The staff moved in constant dramatic unison to the tempo of the music.

We were told to pick a personalized steak knife for the evening, which was followed by an Apollo Countdown and the illusion that we were taking off into space as the projections moved us through the earth and into the stars. The meal of a lifetime just began.

First course: Paloma (dry ice fruit cocktail) prepared in front of us

Second course: Thai fruit yoghurt, a sweet and sour combination

Third course: tartine chocolate with a wonderful foie gras surprise, served with Rojal tokaji

Fourth course: took place at sea, with the ocean around us and its sounds and smells as well. oysters with caviar

Fifth course: tea-weed crab Melba, with a green tea and whisky drink (one of my favorite courses)

Sixth course: sashimi steak frites, a fantastic tuna with mustard and delicious ugly fries, served with a fantastic white wine on the rock in a retro japanese setting

Suddenly the doors opened and a tree was revealed as the projections moved us into a forest, the sounds of birds and leaves began and a smell of wood creeped out of the table.

Sixth course: truffle burnt soup bread served with a lid that, when opened, revealed the smell of fresh cigars. To drink, a fantastic Bourgogne blanc.

After this the wall projections moved down and we were transported into the earth, passing ore and gold trapped in the stone of the outer core, and we were left in an underground cave decorated with beautiful mushrooms

Seventh course: egg Gruyere raviolo, an egg with truffles and greens around it, served with the first red wine of the night.

When they announced that the next course would be instant noodles and the walls were filled with pictures of various noodle brands, I had my doubts.

Eighth course: DIY instant coco noodle soup. The most delicious instant noodles I've ever had, and the most fun I've ever had making them.

Finally there was an intermission as we felt our stomachs began to fill. We were served frozen watermelon on a Popsicle, with jelly where seeds would be as we took a break in a room filled with one giant tree.

When escorted back to the dining room it had transformed into a picnic complete with grass, plaid, and little speakers playing old hits, my favorite of which was Dancing Queen.

The head waitress proceeded to introduce each of our main courses, followed by staff entering dramatically to show us our next dishes: fish, chicken, and veal. The veal was carried in a beautiful clay pot, and as the waiter rounded the table he fell, dropped the pot, and we heard it shatter on the ground. The sheer fear of what they would do to this poor guy made my stomach turn. But suddenly he hopped back on his feet with the veal shank in hand, only to reveal the whole thing had been a setup.

Ninth course: fish "Tupperware", cooked in jelly and served with rice fennel and mayo, paired with a lovely hermitage blanc AOC.

Tenth course (I was starting to feel very very full at this point, and the richness of the food only made it harder to eat and harder to stop): chicken in a jar, complete with vineyard smoke, foie gras, and condiment Catalan. Paired with a Vielles Vignes.

Eleventh course: beggars veal shank with tahine and salted lime. Probably the best dish of the night, the richest, and paired with my second favorite drink of the night, Brunello di Montalcino.

A Charlie Chaplin film began playing in front of us, and the picnic setting disappeared. We were given laser pointers and 2 identical Arcimboldo paintings appeared in front of us. "There are eight differences. Spot them" we were told. So we did.

Twelfth course: Tomato Mozzarella and again. Two identical plates were served to each diner. The first one was tomato based. Salty. Not my favorite. I wasn't too excited about trying its doppelgänger. But it was delicious. Sweet and flavorful - the exact opposite of its counterpart. 8 differences in the identical dishes. Served with a basil tomato peach drink.

Thirteenth course: the bread repetita. A visual replica of our sixth course, but this time it was truffle burnt praline soup bread, and had a sweeter taste to it. Served with champagne praline.

This course took place in the same forest as our sixth course, but as the lids of the dishes were removed in unison by the staff, dramatic music started and a negative coloured forest flashed before our eyes, turned upside down and took on a redder more hellish theme for us to eat in.

After this, we were moved to the North Pole. Icy colours for icy dishes. Glasses of water with ice cubes complete with animal figurines - penguins, polar bears, seals, etc. Dry ice overflowed on the table.

Fourteenth course: Mont Blanc snowball. Ice cream, frozen marshmallow, meringue, and orange blossom.

Finally they said the dinner was over and we dragged out overstuffed stomachs into the area called The Nightclub. BOLLINGER, BOLLINGER, BOLLINGER! So much Bollinger champagne was served here. We mingled and chatted about how delicious it all was and how full we all were, and suddenly a rooster began crowing.

"Time for breakfast!" The staff exclaimed. What? Yes, we had counted wrong. There was one more course. Fifteenth course: American breakfast. Egg sunny side up, ketchup, mayo, pepper, and toast. But shouldn't it be dessert? It was. The egg was a combination of marmalades and other deliciousness. The ketchup was jam. The mayo was passion fruit froth, and the pepper was vanilla. The toast was a sweet baked bread. It was one of my best breakfasts ever.

But what breakfast platter is complete without a flower? "Sixteenth course": ispahan dandelion. A litchi rose dandelion concoction encompassed by rose bubbles. Served with a blueberry tea. We finished and, as Skyfall began to play in the background, the kitchen doors opened to reveal all the staff applauding us for completing the dinner. We were invited in to meet the head chef who started this concept together with Paul pairet in 2009. They served us our final dish right there in the kitchen.

"Seventeenth course": meringue PB&J dipped in dry ice and consumed at once. When you ate it, dry ice seeped out of your nose and the frozen sensation filled your mouth with the final flavour of the night.

The champagne kept flowing until we said our final goodbyes and the avant-garde evening came to a close. Surely, a night to remember.

18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, Bund 18, 6/F, near Nanjing Dong Lu (Meeting Point) 中山东一路18号外滩十八6楼, 近南京东路 (集合地点） This article was written by Julie Hauge. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Julie Hauge