Low lighting, rough stone-effect walls and water-like glass floors help create a cave-like atmosphere inside this restaurant in Tokyo designed by architect Ryoji Iedokoro.

Situated in Tokyo's bustling Roppongi district, Nikunotoriko has been designed by locally based architect Ryoji Iedokoro.
It offers an alternative take on yakiniku ? a Japanese dining style which sees customers grill bite-sized pieces of meat over a small gridiron at their table.

"You'll find Japanese yakiniku restaurants everywhere?and it always tastes good, which makes the competition in Japan very high," Iedokoro explained.
"To make a unique restaurant can thus be quite a challenge."

Iedokoro decided to create a surreal, cave-like interior that "you would not really find in actual nature". In the main dining room, which is located on the ground floor, walls are made to resemble craggy rock surfaces. Translucent tiles have then been arranged in a herringbone pattern on the floor to mimic the appearance of flowing water. A 6.5 metre-long glass table that sits at the centre of the room is patterned with wispy brown paint strokes that resemble furls of smoke.

Directly underneath is a shallow trough of gravel intended to make visitors feel like they're "sitting near a river". Lighting has been restricted to just a handful of spotlights embedded in the ceiling.

References to the outdoors continue up on the second floor, where a series of raised eating areas have b...