IT'S believed to be the biggest restaurant and leisure complex in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe and parts of it will be open to the public today.

Restaurants in the first phase of Southampton's £85m Watermark will be open for business 48 hours before a massive celebration event on Saturday, involving a lantern parade and light show.

Eateries opening in this first phase include CAU, The Real Greek, Saloon, Franco Manca, Thaikhun and Byron.

COSMO, Cabana and Red Dog were due to open today, but it has been confirmed they will now open in the next few days, instead.

These are venues with entrances off the upper and lower promenades which sweep down from the exit of WestQuay to the new public space known as the Esplanade at the foot of the city's old walls.

The next phase - including more restaurants and the Hollywood Bowl bowling complex - will be open at the end of next week. They are accessed via the Long Room which is entered from the walk way between Watermark and WestQuay and ends in a huge curved glass wall looking south to the docks.

The Long Room will also have three 'pods' - kiosk-style cafes with their own seating areas.

The final phase to open will be the 10-screen Cinema de Lux - which, with its laser projection systems claims to be the most advanced cinema in the UK - which is due to open in February on the to storey of the centre.

When finished the 200,000 sqft Watermark will have around 20 restaurants which are brand new to the area - only Nando's and TGI Friday have existing outlets in Southampton.

Sarah Fox, head of restaurants and leisure at Hammerson which owns the centre, said that it was rare to bring so many newcomers to a large city in one go.

When permission was first granted for the scheme in 2008 it was going to be a mix of retail, leisure and restaurants then the economic crash came.

By the time it came to start work on the site in 2015 the retail landscape had changed - on-line shopping had grown rapidly and the demand for more shops had declined so it was decided the development would be purely for leisure and would provide a magnet for what the city lacked.

Sarah explained that the city was short of restaurants and found it hard to attract them.

"I was a restaurateur myself and considered opening in Southampton but couldn't find anywhere, " she explained.

"Big name restaurants won't come to a new area if they are going to be on their own - it's too much of a leap. The first thing they ask is 'Who else is going to be there?'"

By providing eateries new to the south - some of whom like the Real Greek and Red Dog had never ventured outside of London - means that the Watermark will be a journey of 'exploration' for many Southampton diners, said Sarah.

This week it was announced that two new restaurants had signed up for the Watermark, meaning there is now only one vacant unit.

The latest recruits are KuPP, "the Scandi inspired casual all-day dining concept" and L'Osteria, the Austrian pasta pizza restaurant which are both due to open in early 2017.

KuPP has taken a 484 m2 space which will also include a coffee bar and store - this will be the chain's third UK outlet.

L'Osteria’s which operates 45 venues across Austria and Germany, is a new entrant to the UK market with its first due to open shortly at Cabot Circus in Bristol. It will take a split level unit on the curved corner of the Watermark at top of the promenade.

Sarah Fox said: “To attract KuPP’s third and L'Osteria's second UK restaurant to WestQuay Watermark is a fantastic result for the development.

"Both are great additions to the already culturally rich tenant mix at the scheme and will further strengthen its appeal as the south coast's premium leisure and dining destination.”

Steve Cox, managing director at KuPP, said: "It’s great to be involved in such an exciting development right in the heart of Southampton and we did not want to miss out on being a part of it.

"WestQuay Watermark provides a real destination for the people of Southampton and the surrounding areas.”

Highlights of Southampton's history will be beamed onto the city's walls as part of 'Luminate Southampton' an event to celebrate the opening of the Watermark.

The projection will be preceded by a lantern parade through the city, starting at 3pm in Guildhall Square. The procession will feature a display of drumming, giant birds and marching bands.

Among those taking part are students from Southampton University, 100 primary school children carrying homemade lanterns and the Love Soul Choir.

Following the parade, the digital light show will begin at 6pm in The Esplanade.

Visitors will be able to see these projections again from the following Sunday through to next Thursday with the seven-minute show starting on the hour from 5pm to 9pm.

The Esplanade, created with the help of cash from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, is “a new area of public realm that will become a vibrant focal point for the city” and its planned to stage more than 100 live events there during 2017.

During the first weekend entertainment will include face painters, live acrobats, ballet dancers and hip-hop dance troupes and a Heston Blumenthal lookalike on stilts.

The area will eventually have a water feature and an area which can be flooded to create a mirror pool which will reflect the new building above, which will be lit up at night once the cinema has opened.