We'll be in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo in June and are looking for reasonably priced, centrally located restaurants with tasty food. We prefer to spend no more than $70 or so on dinner for two, although if a place is really terrific, we'll splurge. We love family-owned restaurants and have been lucky to find many good choices in Italy and France. Can we manage eating well on a budget in Scandinavia? I hope so and await your helpful responses.

I am cant speak for Stockholm or Denmark but if Bergen, Norway is any indication of food prices in Oslo, bring lots of money. I spent about $17 for a hamburger and drink at McDonalds.

McDonalds is about $12 for burger,fries and a drink in Denmark and Sweden, not that this is any indication of anything.

I think $70 for two is a bit of a challenge, Brasserie Degas has set menus and their cooking is great. Top floor Magasin department store has inexpensive meals, things like roast pork etc and various open sandwiches. Inexpensive lunches can be had in Gilleleje by the fishing harbour. Places like Chicos in Copenhagen are inexpensive, but don't compare to Mexican places that you get in the US so don't think you would be impressed.

If you go to Christiania, this is close by:-

http://copenhagenstreetfood.dk/en/

Stockholm

I like the sushi dining room in Berns, but it's upmarket.

J, at Nacka Strand (go by boat from Stockholm) has amazing Archipelago views

Prinsen was nice and Restaurant Ekstedt was amazing for the way they use their wood fired oven.

You'll find that lunch deals are usually very good value, more so than dinner. So why not concentrate on having lunch out and a quick bite to eat in the evening?

Traditional Swedish meatball dinner at Pelikan in Stockholm was well worth a visit and can be done for pretty close to your price limit: http://pdfmeny.se/pelikan/PELIKAN-meny-1501web-ENG.pdf

For a beautiful view and riverside location Hermans offers a vegetarian buffet:
http://www.hermans.se

If you go to Djurgarden and visit Rosendals Garden, there is a fine little cafe and bakery for lunch:
http://www.rosendalstradgard.se/sect...?id=0000000051

Sorry but not even in Norway do you pay USD17 = NOK 125 for a Big Mac and a coke - costs about half that.
You can eat for around NOK 100 in Greenland area.
What really puts the cost up in Norway (and Scandinavia in general) is the price of alcohol. Expect around NOK 80 or more for a beer or glass of wine with your meal. If you can stick to just a main course and a glass of water then there are plenty of places under NOK 200. Avoid starters and deserts - they're overpriced too.
For traditional Norwegian food try http://www.kaffistova.com/en/

Here are some affordable places in Oslo that I go to every now and then:

Have a "Dagens" (todays special) in traditional Dovrehallen or Schrøder, two Oslo classics. Norwegian food, and a "Dagens" and a beer or glass of wine for two would be about $70:
Dovrehallen: http://www.dovrehallen.no/dagens-retter
Schrøder: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...rn_Norway.html

Hearty Indian food in Curry & Ketchup in Majorstua. Consistently fine quality over dozens of visits the past fifteen years. A main course and a beer or glass of wine for two would be about $70. My wife need at least one monthly fix here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/curry-og-ketchup-oslo

Excellent Thai food in Tasty Thai in Thereses gate 51 (Bislett). No alcohol. Mains at $15-20: http://www.tasty-thai.no/

Excellent Vietnamese food in Lille Saigon (both in Birkelunden at Grünerløkka and in Bernt Ankers gate down-town): http://restaurantguiden.osloby.no/gr...-1-grunerlokka
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lille-saigon-1-oslo
A main course and a beer or glass of wine for two would be about $70.

And the best Dim sum in town in Beijing Palace. Sharing 5-6 plates would be a full meal, and with two beers or glasses of wine, it would be some $80-85.
http://restaurantguiden.osloby.no/se...beijing-palace

Plenty of excellent Turkish kebab etc restaurants from the bottom of Trondheimsveien and some 250 meters up. Also an Arab restaurant as well as some cafes. All affordable. My favourite is Istanbul Kebab in Trondheimsveien 8. A huge and hearty real deal kebab and a beer for two would set you back some $50. http://www.istanbulkebab.no/restaurant/

Eat as much as you like in one of the many Peppes pizza restaurants for some $13-14 until 3 pm. A Oslo classic since the early 1970's, "everybody" in Oslo has been to Peppes more than a few times. https://www.peppes.no/pp13/s/frontpage/?35

...and regarding Beijing Palace in Pilsetredet in Oslo, you can have an excellent meal even cheaper.

Start with one of their tasty $8 soups (wonton, chicken or spicy Beijing Palace soup). Then I would highly recommend the out of this world Steamed squid with curry sauce and the very rich Braised pieces of beef with Chinese spices (both on the Dim sum menu). Order some rice to go with the squid and the beef, and you'll have an excellent full meal for $38 excl. drinks. And as in most Oslo restaurants, the top quality ice cold tap water is for free.

We are currently at a small cozy restaurant in Gamla Stan area of Stockholm at a charming cozy place called Kryp Inn. Reservations are a good idea. It's a block off the Stortorget. The street is Prastgatan 17. Phone 08/208-841. Hope this helps.

Dyoll. Actually I did pay 17$ for a bottle of water and hamburger at the McDonald's up from the wharf not too far from the Floybannen. I have the credit card receipt. Trust me. Bergen is very expensive. My DD and her family are living there and I'm fairly familiar with the city now.

We stayed at Berns in Stockholm. I love sushi and before booking the room I hadn't realised that they had a sushi restaurant. It was wonderful, really good quality and interesting combinations. The issue with sushi is that you can order as much or little as you like.

We absolutely went to town on that night, for three I think the bill came to £175 but it really wouldn't be difficult to get the cost way down.

The main fun about the place is that it is fairly trendy and on a warm evening, sitting outside, there is a great vibe.

Outside Stockholm, Sweden isn't that expensive, probably similar to the US or UK.

Norway is a whole different ball game. It is outside the EU, has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and everything is hugely taxed. Prices to non-Norwegians can be just simply shocking. Trondheim was worst, in one bar beer was £20 a pint. We ate at BurgerKing two nights out of three and that was £15 for a whatever meal. Fast food is usually absolutely off our radar.

I'd love to give you some inside advice as to how to eat cheaply in Norway, I can't.
Well just book and bed and breakfast deal at a chain hotel and just steal from the buffet breakfast to stockpile for lunch and dinner.

Nanabee

Hey! We ate there.

Great food, lovely staff. It's a great. find. Spent all afternoon on a sunny day in August. It was the real memory of a great first visit to Sweden.

Are you going on a trip throught the Archipelago?

T

Thank you all so much. It appears that Copenhagen has two interesting chains--Madklubben and Cofoco. Delicious sounding food at not crazy prices. Anyway, I'll be checking out all your recommendations--at least on the web. We drink very little alcohol--so that clearly will save $. No,we are not going to the Swedish archipelago--just the 3 cities and a fjord trip with an overnight stay.

In that case, a visit to Nacka Strand will get your toes wet a little.

Norway is expensive, but some of the numbers here are way off the mark.

<beer was £20 a pint> That would be $31. I've had my fair share of pints in Norwegian bars the past 32 years, and they are now usually at $9-10, or under a third of what BritishCaicos writes. Made it to the news when a pint was $18 at an outdoor restaurant during the Tall Ship Races in Bergen last summer.

<17$ for a bottle of water and hamburger at the McDonald's>

A Big mac, french fries and water/coke etc in Norwegian McDonald's is currently $11-12.

See my suggestions above for plenty of Oslo restaurants where you can have an excellent meal (traditional Norwegian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Turkish, American pizza) for two people for less than $40 excl. drinks.

Dweislaw, thanks for the recommendations. We just now walked back from Sodermalm where both restaurants (Pelikan and Hermans) are so we hope to catch either one of those tomorrow (our last day). Our DD also recommended Hermans.

Hi British Caicos, no we only have 3 days here in Stockholm so we hope to do more exploring on another trip back.

Menachem, thanks for mentioning Prinsen. We hope to get reservations on short notice tonight. The desk receptionist's eyes lit up when I asked about it. It's his favorite place he said.

I'm not sure what "way off the mark" means.

That's what was on the menu.

By "way off the mark" I meant "totally misleading/false".

The most expensive pint in Oslo is now £11, and that is far from <beer was £20 a pint> (Oslo is in general most expensive in Norway). The cheapest pint in Oslo is now £3, and the norm would be £6-7. http://www.osloby.no/sulten/Her-far-...--7985179.html

You also stated that a meal at Burger king was £15. A Whopper cheese menu in Norway (with French fries and drink) is exactly half that prize (7,50£ or 12$). Or you meant the prize for two?

Of course agree that Norway is very expensive, but no need to give totally misleading information, seems like you double the prize as a norm.

RizRaz in Copenhagen is an OK vegetarian buffet.

Wherever you go in Scandinavia, look for "ethnic" restaurants. Indian, Bengali, Chinese, Iranian restaurants all had somewhat cheaper options, to my recollection.