New fine dining restaurant only accessible by boat sparks comparisons to The Menu

A new restaurant in Norway has sparked comparisons to The Menu, with people unsure whether to be impressed or scared.

Mari Eriksmoen is a Norwegian opera singer who took to TikTok to share her experience dining at Iris, which can be found inside a floating art installation called the Salmon Eye in the middle of Norway’s Hardangerfjord.

Iris calls itself a type of “expedition dining” as guests embark on a six-hour-long tasting journey complete with 18 courses, all served while at sea. The experience, complete with the boat ride, costs approximately $310.

On TikTok, Eriksmoen showed her followers the entire process from start to finish. The video began with her showing an overview of what looks like a floating orb at sea. To get to the dining location, they first take attendees on a “100 per cent electric boat” that is self-driving.

“Felt like entering a spaceship,” text across the screen read. Before any food can be served, diners must watch a short video about food waste. The point of the preselected menu is to present “a story about the challenges and threats to the global food system,” per Iris’s website.

Part of the experience is to feel what it’s like to harvest your own food, as Eriksmoen then showed herself picking a cracker off of a piece of string. “18 courses and insane view!” she wrote when describing her time at the unique eatery.

As for the food, she was convinced that Iris could eventually become one of the best restaurants in the world. “This will definitely get three Michelin stars eventually,” Eriksmoen wrote. But as pleased as she was about the experience, she couldn’t convince her viewers, who took to the comments section to express their surprise over the restaurant and its location.

Many viewers also admitted they would never personally visit the restaurant due to how much it reminded them of the movie The Menu.

In the movie, a couple is whisked away to a private island where there is an exclusive restaurant similar to Iris. The film then sees guests attempt to leave the eatery, only to find themselves physically threatened by both the chefs and sous chefs.

“Did we learn nothing from The Menu?” one comment on Eriksmoen’s video read, while another said: “I know how this movie ends,” in reference to the horror movie.

The reaction prompted Eriksmoen to release a follow-up video responding to the comments. It began the same way, with a shot of the orb with a caption that read: “Me watching The Menu before entering this new restaurant in the Fjords of Norway.”

The TikTok later says that the restaurant went three metres underwater, as she and fellow diners walked down a dark spiral staircase.

Some commenters still weren’t convinced the restaurant was safe. “This is literally The Menu HAHAH,” one commenter joked. “No thanks I’ve seen The Menu,” another agreed.