A Food Guide For Bergen, Norway- Featuring Some Of The Best Meals Of My Life

Happy Hump day amigos!  I hope you are all having wonderful weeks so far.

Today I am talking about one of my favorite things in the world- food!  Back in April my mom and I went on a trip to Europe to celebrate my engagement and a few weeks ago I shared my Bergen travel guide with you.  Today I am sharing my food guide for Bergen, Norway with you!  We had some of the best meals of our lives in Bergen so if you’re heading there this summer be sure to use this foodie guide!

Best lunch spots in Bergen

Fjellskal Fisk & Skalldyr

When in Bergen eating at the fish market is a must.  We tried a few restaurants at the fish market and Fjellskal Fisk & Skalldyr was by far our favorite! We started with smoked salmon and each tried fish soup, a dish Norway is famous for! They have a very large menu and everything coming our of the kitchen looked fabulous.  If you only eat at one restaurant in the fish market, make it this one!

Anne Madame

Anne Madame is a lovely lunch spot walking distance from the harbor. We sat by the window and enjoyed the pretty view and people watching while we had amazing fish and chips!  They have great lunch specials and their meatballs looked really really good too!

Tre Kroneren

We went to Tre Kroneren on a food tour (keep reading for details on the food tour) but it was so good I had to add it to my favorite lunch spots in Bergen.  At Tre Kroneren you HAVE to try the reindeer sausage. It was amazing! The sausage is served with a sweet berry sauce, brown mustard and crispy onions! Just typing about it makes my mouth water! It’s great for a quick, cheap casual lunch or even late night/post bar munchies.

Where to have fika in Bergen

Our favorite fika was at Sweet Rain. The coffee was beyond delicious and we each had cookies with our coffee which were simply perfect!  Norwegians aren’t real big on sugar, so while there we were huge fans of any of the sweets besides here at Sweet Rain.  Their cookies are to die for and they also make a wonderful cheese cake made with brown cheese and they’re the only bakery in the world to do so.  I would highly recommend an afternoon pick me up and treat here!

Best Dinner in Bergen

Enhjorningen

On our first night in Bergen we had dinner at Enhjorningen, which translates to “unicorn fish” located in the historic Hanseatic wharf.  And boy were we in for a treat! The décor was so charming and quaint- like you were in a Norwegian grandma’s living room. The building housing the restaurant was built before 1260! How crazy is that?! We sat and watched the snow fall onto the harbor and enjoyed one of the best meals of our lives! We started with warm and freshly baked sundried tomato bread and creamy butter (I don’t know what it is about the Norwegian butter, but it is amazing!). Not scared to try something new, I was intrigued by the thought of trying whale while in Norway. During my research prior to our trip, I saw it was featured on many menus. So, for our appetizer we split the smoked whale carpaccio. It was highly recommended by our waitress so we figured, when in Bergen! I was expecting it to look like a raw fatty pork chop and two taste, well, fishy. To our surprise it looked like very dark beef! And wow, was it delicious! The flavor wasn’t fishy at all! It was served with goat cheese and a berry jam and we pretty much licked our plates! After seeing we were adventurous eaters and not afraid to try something out of our comfort zones, our waiter brought us fried fish tongues to try! Yes, you read that correct. To our shock they were really really good! They tasted very sweet, almost like crab. Next we had cod. First of all, the cod was so much different than the cod we have here in the states. It almost tasted like seabass! It was so moist and buttery and unbelievably delicious! The cod was served in a creamy egg and olive sauce accompanied by potatoes and roasted veggies. It was simply to die for! For dessert we had a berry crumble.  Enhjorningen is an absolute MUST when in Bergen.  Their dishes are big enough for lighter eaters to share (my mom and I split everything) but I would recommend individual dishes for the bigger eaters in your party.  If you only order a few things, make sure it’s the whale- it is literally amazing and the cod.

Bryggeloftet & Stuene

We went to Bryggeloftet & Stuene for dinner on our second night in Bergen and it was our favorite meal of the entire trip.  We sat in the window over looking the harbor (I highly recommend requesting a window seat) and sipped on wine in the cozy restaurant. We started with mussels which we both agreed were the best mussels we’d ever had in our lives! Literally mind blowing! For our entrée we split the duck which was paired with beets and it was also very good! We wrapped up our meal with apple cake and briefly thought about ordering second of everything because it was all so good! This would be my top restaurant recommendation for Bergen restaurants and you cannot leave this charming and cozy eatery without experiencing the muscles! After our mountain and railway excursion we were absolutely starving and craving Italian food.

Olivia’s

I feel kinda weird recommending an Italian restaurant on my Norwegian food guide, but the food was so good and the atmosphere was killer too! Olivia’s  is located right on the water allowing for amazing views as well. We sat outside under heat lamps and snuggled up with fur blankets. We started our meal with venison capriccio served with a yummy cream sauce and fried capers. Yum! For our entrée we split shrimp and zucchini pasta which was to die for! For dessert we had amazing chocolate soufflé! It was the best dessert we’d had in Norway! I would highly recommend making a reservation here. Especially on a weekend night.

Best Bars in Bergen

The Flying Dutchman

We walked to this adorable water front pub from our hotel (Magic Hotel Kløverhuset).  The Flying Dutchman‘s  interior is cozy and nautically decorated but we opted to sit outside on their charming deck to enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Their patio is absolutely charming and has amazing views of the water and the Bryggen-a medieval wharf known for its colorful, wooden-clad boat houses.  They don’t serve food, so this spot is just a watering hole, but I highly recommend getting a drink on their beautiful patio!

No Stress

No Stress is one of the best bars in Bergen. We both ordered “ginger slappers” which were whiskey drinks with you guessed it, ginger, and also rosemary and apricot. They were amazing and the bar was so cozy and charming! They have a huge drink menu with beautiful craft cocktails for everyone.  I highly recommend this bar for pre or post dinner drinks while in Bergen.  It’s slightly difficult to find (it’s kind of down an alley) but well worth it!

Frille og Dyvekes Vinkjeller

Frille og Dyvekes Vinkjeller is THE oldest bar in all of Norway! It is so cozy and charming inside and also has great prices on wine (you will find wine is VERY expensive in Norway). They have live music every Thursday and I highly recommend going if your stay falls on a Thursday. This is a must when in Bregen!

The Magic Ice Bar

The Magic Ice Bar is a bar made completely out of ice and it’s pretty impressive!  Here, we sipped our cocktails our served in ice glasses in the freezing bar while wearing fur lined capes and gloves for warmth. It was so cool! Though touristy, if you haven’t been to an ice bar you should totally do this!  Show them your room key when purchasing tickets because they offer discounts for guests staying at certain hotels.

Bergen Food Tour

While in Bergen we went on a food tour with Bergen Food Tours. I could not recommend this tour more! Cheyenne, the tour guide, could not have been sweeter and the food was wonderful! We began our food tour just outside our hotel and our first stop was Søstrene Hagelin for fish soup made from a recipe from 1920! It was delicious and much different than the other fish soups we had tried in Norway. Next, we went to Sweet Rain and it was as sweet a treat on our tour as it was for fika just days before. Here at Sweet Rain we had brown cheese cake. After the bakery, we went to the fish market and sampled many types of smoked salmon, rainbow trout and whale. They were all fabulous! Next we visited Tre Kroneren to try reindeer sausage. It was amazing! The sausage was served with a sweet berry sauce, brown mustard and crispy onions! Just typing about it makes my mouth water! If you decide not to partake on the food tour adventure while in Bergen this sausage cart is still a must! It’s great for a quick, cheap casual lunch or even late night/post bar munchies. Next we stopped by Bare Vestland to try plukkfisk, a traditional Norwegian dish made of mashed fish and potatoes. I know mushy fish mixed up with mashed potatoes does not sound appealing, but this was our favorite dish of the day! It was absolutely amazing. Trying plukkfisk while in Norway is a must and Vestland’s is supposed to be the best!  We didn’t eat here outside the tour, but I think this would also be a great dinner option while in Bergen as well! Our last stop of the day was back to the fish market for beer tasting!

I hope this Bergen food guide got your mouth watering!  Stay tuned over the next few weeks because I will be sharing my Stockholm travel and food guides as well!

Kisses and foodie wishes,