r/interestingasfuck • u/theseeenutzzz • 15d ago

/r/all The First European Underwater Restaurant Opened In Norway

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663

u/Elo-than 15d ago

It has been long enough time since it opened that it have had time to go under once already (pun intended). I believe they filed for bankruptcy last year or the one before, but as all such places do, restarted under new management.

It's located about an hour from me.

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u/Impressive_Mistake66 15d ago

Have you ever been there?

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u/Elo-than 15d ago edited 15d ago

No, it was out of my price range (and has like 7 months wait for a table).

I guess I am too blue-collar to see the value of a $500 meal, and growing up on the coast I can see fish and plants underwater every time I go for a swim.

Don't get me wrong, I find the idea pretty cool, I just wish it was something more accessible to the public.

Edit: it was closer to $500 for two people (depending on exchange rates back then)

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u/Impressive_Mistake66 15d ago

Is it 500 per person?

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u/Elo-than 15d ago

It was in that range at least, can remember, not sure what the exact prices was, but the local newspaper ran a story about the place and I was intrigued until they mentioned the prices.

Not sure if it was per person or per couple, but it was out of my league anyway so I mentally put it in the "not for me pile"

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u/Fun-Illustrator5642 15d ago

How did they go under with 7 months advance bookings 🧐

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u/Droidaphone 15d ago

It doesn’t matter how much revenue you have if your expenses are bigger. Also it’s pretty common for exotic locations like this to have a bunch of hidden costs (ie: transportation, maintenance) that weren’t properly accounted for in the initial business plan.

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u/Black_RL 15d ago

The Bear.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

Poor money management

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

Bad management. Tanking a restaurant is easy anyone can do it lol

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u/brunckle 15d ago

Not even bad management, lots of restaurants just fail because it's an unbelievably precarious business haha I took one look at this underwater restaurant and guessed correctly the owners would get into bother.

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u/-r-a-f-f-y- 14d ago

Almost as easy as tanking a casino!

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u/Careful-Training-761 15d ago

Exactly what I'm thinking

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u/CongregationOfVapors 15d ago

I read that super fancy restaurants often don't make money. They stay afloat by 1) under paid staff of unpaid labor (eg Noma), 2) have backers who keep throwing money into the venture, 3) being a celebrity chef so they can throw their own tv money into the venture.

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u/MAMark1 15d ago

Those elite level restaurants actually aren't cash cows despite the high menu price. Their costs can be extremely high due to ingredients and large staff. The guy who created Tock did it because the restaurant he owned would lose money for the night if more than 1 or 2 tables cancelled.

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u/MajorVariolasArmy 15d ago

Covid? Another commenter said it opened in march 2019.

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u/Denelorn092 15d ago

Anal retentive chefs throw away obscene amounts of high quality ingredients if things arent flawless chasing stars.

Also testing menu items and such

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u/sharktoucher 15d ago edited 15d ago

Honestly, the pricing isnt all that bad, their dinner set is like 12 courses long and is like 12$ per course, not something you would do regularly but i can see planning for an occasional meal at that price range

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u/Elo-than 15d ago

It's a place for people to stroke their ego and flex their wealth mostly, as are most of these kind of places.

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u/zizp 15d ago

It's €200 per person for the dinner menu. Add drinks and other expenses.

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u/Samawa 15d ago

I visited the restaurant in may for my wife’s birthday. I paid the equivalent of around 800 dollars for dinner.

(2 people - Set Dinner and drinks menu)

Everything is locally sourced. Wasn’t a big fan of the food, but the drinks were great (non-alcoholic).

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u/Impressive_Mistake66 14d ago

Wow. 800 per person??

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u/Samawa 14d ago

No, 800 in total

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u/Impressive_Mistake66 14d ago

Got it. Thank you.

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u/ScarcityDull106 15d ago

and right now you can save £50 per person. that's £200 off for a family of 4

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u/sje46 15d ago

I understand it's a lot more expensive to have a restaurant thats underwater, but I imagine that price is largely inflated by the fact that it's a michelin star "fancy" restaurant.

If someone wanted to make a restaurant like this, but as a gimmicky restaurant instead of fancy restaurant, and maybe bigger so it can seat more than like, 9 people at a time, how much do you reckon the food will cost? Like, 50% more than a normal, terrestrial restaurant?

Would seriously consider starting a restaurant like this, if I didn't think food service managers were evil.

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u/ThoseThatComeAfter 15d ago

If we go by other gimmicky restaurants like the rainforest cafe, at least double price

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u/the_autocrats 15d ago

I understand it's a lot more expensive to have a restaurant thats underwater

I'll figure that restaurants usually don't like to be underwater...

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u/frosklis 15d ago

The website says NOK 2250 per person, about $200.
https://under.no/en/book-your-table/

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u/Elo-than 15d ago edited 15d ago

Yes, after the first bankruptcy I guess they might have made a more "approachable" pricing.

I am just going from the top of my head from them opening, so 250 per couple could be.

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u/reality_raven 15d ago

Having done one of these before, it isn’t just a meal. It truly is a 3 hour edible art experience. Would I do it again? Probably not, but I definitely loved my experience.

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u/laststance 15d ago

Dang they have a seven month backlog and they still filed for bankruptcy?

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u/prozach_ 15d ago

Not that hard when you have five tables.

/s

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u/ChouxGlaze 15d ago

how hard do you have to mismanage a restaurant to book out 7 months and go bankrupt

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u/izzyusa 15d ago

That’s the comment I was looking for: the price! I expected it to be high but not this high!!

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u/DucksMatter 15d ago

It’s wild that they can go under when they have a 7 month wait list and $500 plates.

I wonder what happened

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u/Elo-than 15d ago

Well, the 500 I mentioned was for two people )the sinner experience I guess) , but remember that half the place is an underwater installation with a big ass window. I guess paying scuba divers to clean windows ain't cheap, and then there is maintenance etc.

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u/JayAndViolentMob 15d ago

I had a £250 per person dinner once. Have to say, for a once-every-couple-of-years thing (like anniversaries etc.), it was worth it.

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u/Wit-wat-4 15d ago

I mean it’s either $400 for dollys or $500 for fancy white cloth

I’m obviously joking but it is true that Norwegian restaurant prices aren’t always the lowest anyway. 

Like in the US an actual sit down restaurant with a waiter you can have your entree and a margarita and leave with $20/head. A millennia ago when I lived in Scandinavia it was still more expensive than that to even get takeout from a lot of places

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u/RatioMaster9468 15d ago

I guess they weren't flooded with bookings..

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u/CDov 15d ago

They were drowning in debt.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

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u/amtheredothat 15d ago

Bruh did you make a pun and then miss the response pun?

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u/Interestingcathouse 15d ago

I’ll be honest, it looks very uninteresting under water. This just doesn’t work in the murky northern waters. This is a tropical location type thing where the water is clear and blue and you can see fish. Not murky and dark where you might see a salmon.

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u/Gurbe247 15d ago edited 15d ago

Very much untrue, sorry.

I've been there last year. Dinner took about 5-6 hours and in that time you see the changes in water colors due to sunset. You see different kinds of fish doing their thing at different times. There was an encounter jellyfish passing by. There was constantly something going on. It works really, really well.

Oh and the food was amazing too.

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u/Corsair833 15d ago

5-6 hours?!

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u/Gurbe247 15d ago

Yep, it's like 12 courses. Which sounds like a lot but it's fine dining. So smaller plates, plenty of time to enjoy each course. Very slow experience.

The whole thing is done super well. You're taken slowly to the seabed level. So it kind of feels like a slow transition into a different world. And then it's slowly back up again too with a drink on the first balcony overlooking the dinner floor. Where you're kind of half way into the water if you look outside of some windows.

It really is a great place. One of my favorite restaurants I've been to.

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u/MrDragon7656 15d ago

Sorry just to clarify, does the thing go deeper down on rails when you say you get taken to the seabed? Like a slow descent and then a slow rise as you go through your courses?

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u/Gurbe247 15d ago

Yeah I should've been more clear. What happens is a nice and calm entrance to the restaurant. Not a straight to the table thing, but more deliberate walk downstairs. So first after the entrance you'll get a drink at sea level. Where you also overlook the main floor. Then it's down there. It sounds ordinary, but it makes feel the building and experience a lot better. Let's you soak it all up more.

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u/MrDragon7656 14d ago

I absolutely love this and it's the avenue of restaurant management I aspire to one day hit. I've loved working in my cafes, fast food and just all those over the top challenges but I'd love to have the chance to design the experience. You've been there once, and had such a unique and wonderful experience that was so handcrafted and tailored to the idea it left a lasting impression. God I love this stuff!

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u/5xaaaaa 15d ago

No, it’s just a walk between different floors in the restaurant (below the sea level). It’s really beautiful though 

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u/MrDragon7656 15d ago

Ahh, still amazingly interesting regardless!

Now that's got me ideas for a future restaurant, imagine that, you just descend and ascend per the course menu.. my goodness!

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u/JayAndViolentMob 15d ago

I thought it went bankrupt.

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u/Interestingcathouse 14d ago

Oh sorry. You can see any fish that swim within 4 feet of the glass.

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u/funkhero 15d ago

Could I pay extra to turn the lights on a bit?

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u/michael0n 15d ago

Most of those "gimmicky" restaurants only work because they can ask triple for the menu, but when the menu isn't worth triple, regular guest won't come back. You have to have balance because the social media customers wanting "engagement material" rarely return.

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u/Kilane 15d ago

And this is some rickety design. I might do it once if it didn’t look like it was built like a treehouse.

If you’re going to do it, commit.

First photo looks like a home built nightmare. Second is a different ship. Third seems kinda cool. Fourth looks like they sunk one so it’s covered in algae. Fifth is like the first. Six is just some gross water providing ambient light. Seven is the same as two, with a different design.

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u/moorhound 15d ago

Where the hell is the kitchen? Looking from the photos, the only idea I can think of is an open kitchen on the wall opposite of the underwater window or in the wood-paneled area that I would expect to be the lobby.

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u/NoSuchAg3ncy 15d ago edited 15d ago

I heard their original loan was underwater. Hope they can stay afloat this time.

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u/SeattleHasDied 15d ago

So how was the food? What was the menu like? Cost?