We will be staying in Bergen for 5 nights in late May and would appreciate any recommendations for eateries, especially for dinner and seafood as well as causal lunch spots. Also are there any particular places anyone could recommend in the fish market to grab a bite?
Thx, Jim S.
Chicago
Posted by
USA/SF Bay Area
216 posts
I was in Bergen in 2024 and only 2 days and somewhat on a budget. I enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Fish Market. Honestly, just walk around and take a look and what they offer. So many options! I don't recall name of the place I ate but it was good!
I had a really nice lunch at a very casual place, felt like where locals go. It's close to the Information Office called The Hagelin Sisters or Søstrene Hagelin. Prices were reasonable and food was good - it looks like a hole in the wall but it was packed and was popular.
But I enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate with the best cookies ever at Fjåk Chocolate (it was pouring rain outside so it tasted even better), and also tried the famous reindeer hotdog at the Trekroneren not too far from there.
Posted by
66 posts
We were in Bergen last year and had two awesome meals. Villani Osteria was excellent, with fresh salad, tasty chicken & potatoes and delicious pizza. We had a delicious seafood lunch at Fjellskall Sjomatrestaurant on the waterfront, with excellent oysters, mussels and clams. But it was a splurge. Bergen is gorgeous, enjoy!
Posted by
Calgary
2080 posts
It was a while ago, but we ate at Pingvinen, which was recommended in the RS guidebook. It serves some traditional dishes, such as reindeer. We had whale, and it was surprisingly good.
Posted by
Chicagoland
2174 posts
In 2023 we had a wonderful dinner at Bryggeloftet on the waterfront. Reservations required. We also enjoyed King Crab Legs at the Fish Market. Just wander around the stalls until you see something that catches you.
Posted by
Washington DC
30559 posts
I had lunch twice at the cafe inside one of the branches of the KODE art museum. One day I had the smoked-fish chowder; the next day I took advantage of a fish special. I liked both, and the price was very good for Norway. This is most definitely a "casual lunch spot". The menu is very short, so take a good look before committing.
I didn't care for Pingvin, but I think that was mostly because the menu options didn't particularly appeal (it's quite a short list) rather than any questions about ingredient quality or preparation. I figure my dissatisfaction there was pretty much my own fault.
Norwegian restaurants are expensive. I agree with Rick that Norway's a country where spending a bit more can be important in terms of having a quality experience. A large part of the cost of dining at a very inexpensive place is just paying to open the doors and compensate the servers. I wasn't thrilled about paying the price of a mid-range restaurant meal in Norway, so I ended up buying a lot of food at supermarkets--cheese, Wasa crispbread, yogurt, fruit, peanuts. It wasn't interesting, but it didn't bankrupt me.
Two things I found reliable and not terribly expensive at multiple casual places were smoked-fish chowder and toast Skagen. The latter is an open-faced sandwich piled high with shrimp salad (but you need to like dill).