You Can Dine Under The Sea At This Michelin Star Restaurant In Norway

Are you a fan of "The Little Mermaid"? Do you gravitate toward unique and creative fine dining experiences? If you answered yes to both of those questions, we have just the restaurant for your next splurge of a meal. Just a heads up — you'll be dining underwater. Of course, there's an acrylic wall between diners at Norwegian Michelin star restaurant Under and the fish of the sea, but the majority of the building is submerged off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean, combining a seasonal, set menu with views rivaling that of a snorkeler or submarine.

Even better, the under-the-sea dining destination is created to merge with its natural surroundings, rather than intruding on or causing damage to the ocean ecosystem. You might not expect its thick concrete walls to be hospitable to the fish and aquatic plants of the Atlantic, but as it turns out, the rough texture of the cement water mixture provides small pockets of space that essentially act as tiny apartments for limpets and kelp to live in, slowly transforming the unnatural to natural. The restaurant, Europe's first underwater restaurant, is also known for working with marine biologists and environmental experts to care for the marine ecosystem nearby and keep it healthy — people who have visited the restaurant have even noted that restaurant staff had named several of the fish that swim by their panoramic window often. And yes — the menu includes lots of seasonal seafood.

With any fine dining experience, the ambiance and location is, of course, important, but something as out-of-the-box as an underwater restaurant runs the risk of being gimmicky and relying on good vibes to cover up mediocre food. But according to the highly regarded, albeit somewhat mysterious Michelin Guide, as well as diners who have taken a trip to the Scandinavian spot, Under delivers on both fronts. The restaurant's menu is set, featuring 10 to 12 courses that change seasonally, with a focus on hyper-locally sourced, fresh, quality ingredients. The current dinner menu includes 11 courses, several of which are paired with seafood — halibut and yellow berries, scallops and arctic kiwi, monkfish and white asparagus, and so on.

The starting price for the meal is about $225 per person, but adding curated wine pairings increases the cost by nearly $200 due to high alcohol taxes in the northern European country. Meanwhile, a nonalcoholic juice pairing is available for an add-on of about $125. The other customization to fit diners' needs is a full vegetarian menu, which swaps fish for mushrooms. A separate lunch menu, with only five to six courses, is a slightly less pricey option for diners visiting from April to September. 

If a meal at this Michelin-starred restaurant in Norway sounds like a bucket list experience for you, note that you'll certainly need to plan ahead; wait times for a table reservation can get as long as six months. After all, Under, which actually translates to Wonder in Norwegian, lives up to its name, with a setting and menu intentionally built to spark awe and wonder.