I paid $120 for a fine-dining experience narrated by AI. High-brow restaurants should take notes.

I checked in with the sociable worker behind the bar — who I later learned was one of the restaurant’s cofounders — and he handed me my “backstage pass” for the evening.

The little card on a lanyard displayed the night’s menu.

When we walked in, the screens were displaying the Venhue logo, but as the courses started, they flashed with a wide variety of photos and videos.

At different points in the night, there were eyeballs, celebrities, beach scenes, and other AI-generated pictures on the screens.

At the same time, different colored strobe lights flashed around the room. Speakers played music that varied from what you’d hear while being placed on hold to old-school ringtones to heavy-metal screamo.

Once everyone was settled in, the staff came around with a welcome snack and shot that was supposed to open up our taste buds.

They told us what it was, but I only understood about half of the fancy descriptors and it wasn’t listed on the menu, so I’ll just call it a mousse.

I’m all for little extras when I’m paying over $100 for a meal, but I was immediately hesitant when the cofounder told me to lick the mousse off the plate and chase it with the sake spritz.

Putting my pride aside, I went for it. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to chew, but I definitely swallowed something solid.

Surprisingly, it was great. The flavors were sharp, and I could see how the citrusy sake could ignite my taste buds.

Once the amuse-bouche was cleared, the staff came around with homemade “end-of-summer-themed” focaccia.

The exterior was perfectly crisp, and the peachy sauce and topping were bright and sweet.

If they’d offered more, I would’ve eaten several pieces.

At the start, the cofounder explained that the meal would move quickly. But those first courses were speedy.

Watching the servers run around the room and back into the kitchen for the first half hour or so was borderline comedic.

The little break that followed the appetizers was welcomed. But the moment of calm turned out to be a ploy to introduce a surprise limoncello-sake shot.

When LMFAO’s “Shots” is playing over the speakers and someone hands me a test tube of liquor, I kind of just go with it. Luckily, it was pretty small, and the flavors of the alcohols really complemented each other.

When we returned to the table, the vibe had significantly changed. Different lights were on and more menacing music and videos were playing.

It took me longer than I’d care to admit to realize the table decorations had changed to skulls and black roses while we were in the kitchen — maybe I was right to temper down my alcohol consumption.

Before the main course, there was another goofy interlude where the cofounder came out to pour us some “extremely rare and expensive” red wine in the world’s smallest wine glasses.

I’m not a huge fan of red wine in general, so this was actually the perfect portion size for me.

Our actual second wine pairing was also a red meant to complement the flavors of the entrée.

When the pasta bowls were cleared away, the cofounder came out with a bingo set. We each got bingo cards with different culinary-related words and stampers shaped like a Michelin star.

Winners got to spin a wheel for a small kitschy prize or shots for the whole table. Somehow we all ended up with another shot of sake.

At the end of the meal, a list of nearby bars popped up on the screen in case people wanted to continue the night together.

Although I see the owners’ vision for this being a communal space, that’s the one aspect I felt fell short the night I dined.

I was the only person dining alone, and a loud, dark, overstimulating room wasn’t exactly an ideal environment to get to know strangers. That said, by the end of the night, we were all sharing smiles and giggles.

When I was a kid, I used to rope my siblings, cousins, or friends into playing “fancy restaurant” and putting on grand performances for our parents.

With all the love in my heart, that’s what Venhue was like.

The AI-generated screens perplexed me from beginning to end. But after a few shots, I basically just had a chance to be outlandishly silly for a night.

Plus, my total only came to about $120, which is a fraction of the price of most New York tasting menus.

Would I call Venhue totally unpretentious? No. But it was a wacky evening run by an incredibly charming staff and stuffed to the brim with delicious food.

I hope it inspires other New York restaurants to take themselves a little less seriously.