Under – discover the world’s largest underwater restaurant submerged off the southern tip of Norway!

With room for up to 90 guests in a space that’s about 500 square metres, submerged off the coast on the southern tip of Norway, Under is the first underwater restaurant in Europe as well as the biggest in the world.
It is situated a 1.5-hour scenic drive from Kristiansand, the region’s main city and transport hub, at Båly in Lindesnes, as far south as you can get in Norway.
There, five and a half meters below sea level or, if you prefer, sixteen feet, diners can enjoy local treats while watching fish swim on the other side of a stunning panoramic window, but you also have the unusual pleasure of witnessing rain whip up the ocean surface…from below!

Snøhetta is the architecture firm behind Under, and It’s not the first time that it has created something amazing, as they also designed the iconic Oslo Opera House, famous for its iconic “carpet” roof, a large public space that slopes down to the water and allows visitors to walk on the building.
However, constructing a restaurant that could be submerged in the sea reached new heights, and one of the most time-consuming parts of the process was ensuring the building could withstand its harsh ocean environment, as the restaurant would need to brave waves, storms, and, of course, constant water pressure.
Project manager Rune Grasdal explained that the most time-consuming part of the process was to remove everything that wasn’t essential to the concept, spending a lot of time making it simpler. The building’s function is to take people down to the seafloor in a safe and easy way. Snøhetta has also provided Under with furniture, colour palette, textiles, and other interior details.

Either way, from the outside, Under looks like a container that fell off a truck and slid into the water but, after diners walk inside and descend the stairs, they’ll discover an amazing new world. In addition to the underwater view, there is a fixed seasonal tasting menu that features foods from the surrounding area, including fish, seabirds, wild sheep, and plants including sea kale and arrowgrass.
The set menu is seasonal and consist of 10-12 courses, as says head chef.
The prestigious magazine Forbes called it “one of the most remarkable restaurants in newer time”, and praised the “18-course tasting menu of the finest Nordic products” upon its launch in 2019, also giving the restaurant a spot on its list of the 10 coolest places to eat in 2020.
In 2020, the restaurant also received a one-star Michelin rating, which it holds to this day.

Interestingly, even though Under is worth the trip in itself, there are lots of other things to do in Lindesnes, including Lindesnes lighthouse, situated at the southernmost tip of Norway.
But you should also stop in the city of Mandal, where you’ll find the traditional white wooden houses and pretty narrow streets that characterise the pictoresque small towns of Southern Norway as well as some of the country’s best beaches.

Images from web – Google Research