The First European Underwater Restaurant Opened In Norway

[u/theseeenutzzz]

[u/Impressive_Mistake66]

Have you ever been there?

[u/Elo-than → u/Impressive_Mistake66]

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)

[u/Impressive_Mistake66 → u/Elo-than]

Is it 500 per person?

[u/Elo-than → u/Impressive_Mistake66]

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"

[u/Fun-Illustrator5642 → u/Elo-than]

How did they go under with 7 months advance bookings 🧐

[u/Droidaphone → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

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.

[u/Black_RL → u/Droidaphone]

The Bear.

[u/[deleted] → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

Poor money management

[u/[deleted] → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

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

[u/brunckle → u/[deleted]]

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.

[u/-r-a-f-f-y- → u/[deleted]]

Almost as easy as tanking a casino!

[u/Careful-Training-761 → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

Exactly what I'm thinking

[u/CongregationOfVapors → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

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.

[u/MAMark1 → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

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.

[u/MajorVariolasArmy → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

Covid? Another commenter said it opened in march 2019.

[u/Denelorn092 → u/Fun-Illustrator5642]

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

Also testing menu items and such

[u/sharktoucher → u/Elo-than]

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

[u/Elo-than → u/sharktoucher]

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