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This new orb-shaped restaurant in a Norwegian fjord looks straight out of 'The Menu'

The ‘Salmon Eye’ is home to Restaurant Iris, where you can experience ‘expedition dining’

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
Salmon Eye, Norway
Photograph: Sebastian Lamberg Torjusen
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Don’t you hate it when you want to go for a massive blowout meal, but you have to stay on dry land? Well, the creators of Iris, the restaurant inside this massive floating orb, have got your adventurous dining desires covered. 

That’s right: this space-age object, known as Salmon Eye, actually contains a restaurant – and it’s open for business. 

The structure weighs over 1,200 tonnes and is coated with 9,000 steel plates, giving it that eerie UFO-like appearance. The restaurant can seat 24 diners, but there's also a 2-hour ‘learning experience’ on offer for those who don't fancy eating here. 

Throughout an evening of ‘expedition dining’, guests are served a tasting menu of no less than 18 courses. The experience seeks to showcase innovative, newly discovered ingredients from the ocean, while highlighting the importance of sustainability – the meal apparently begins with a short film about the issue of food waste. A seat at a table for the evening costs £246 (€285.50, $312). 

But it’s not just the food that makes this extreme restaurant a one-of-a-kind experience. Located in the Hardangerfjord, near the Rosendal in Western Norway, Iris offers incredible views of the surrounding fjord, mountains and glaciers. Here are some more snaps of Iris in Salmon Eye, in all its futuristic glory. 

View from the dining room at Iris
Photograph: Tobias Lamberg Torjusen
View of interior at the Salmon Eye in Norway
Photograph: Tobias Lamberg Torjusen
Drone shot of Salmon Eye
Photograph: John Asle E. Hansen

It’s certainly giving ‘The Menu’, but as long as Ralph Fiennes doesn’t pop up offering you a breadless bread plate, you should survive. The creators of Iris seem passionate about nothing more than shining a light on the restaurant’s majestic landscape, and the fantastic ingredients it produces. Have a look at their website here

Did you see these are the best countries to visit for nature and wildlife?

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