200 Best Restaurants in Norway

This popular organic bakery makes scrumptious cinnamon rolls (several different kinds) and delicious open-faced sandwiches to order.

An homage to Spitsbergen's coal mining history, Gruvelageret ('the mining warehouse') is unapologetically rustic. Housed in an old mining store above Longyear Glacier and by the entrance of mine 1B, this set-menu restaurant—the space feels more like a cozy trapper's cabin than an eatery—focuses on serving real, honest, yet elegant Arctic food. 

Attached to Trondheim’s art museum, Gubalari is a playful art-filled bistro inspired by traditional Norwegian cuisine and by the legendary Norwegian television chef Ingrid Espelid Hovig. Lunch is served à la carte until 3 pm, featuring dishes like open-faced sandwiches, seasonal salads, and a rotating house special, but after 3 pm, the focus shifts to a daily three- or five-course dinner menu based on available ingredients. On weekdays, a traditional hot dish is also offered at a budget-friendly price until 6 pm.

This charming ice-cream parlor feels a bit like an Italian gelateria. Homemade varieties like pistachio and caramel are churned out and transformed into cones, cups, or sundaes.

You wouldn't know it from the Scandinavian facade, but Harry Pepper combines Tex-Mex cuisine with Norwegian tastes. Prickly cacti and tacky souvenirs make for a lighthearted and fun interior. Try the traditional dishes with tequila pairing recommendations or opt for a shot or two at the lively Tequila Saloon. The bar is open late on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

A cozy, rustic restaurant with a casual atmosphere focusing on homemade burgers and fish-and-chips, but also offering some Norwegian specialties such as cured meat, salad, and local cheeses in addition to an impressive range of beers. Gets extra lively on the weekends.

If you're seeking creamed mussel soup or a range of other tasty local specialties paired with the perfect beer, Heim Gastropub is the place to be. It's also the right place for a burger and other pub grub. The atmosphere is relaxed, and the interiors are rustic with a modern, colorful twist. You can even pour your own beer with an ingenious system that locals seem to love.

This cozy bookshop and café serves homemade baked goods, great coffee, tea, and local beer. You'll find yourself surrounded by interesting books and some lovely antiques, many of the items for sale. 

Located at the lovely culture and event space Sentralen, this debonair dining room features an Asian street food–inspired menu that ranges from dumplings to spicy crispy duck. Whether you choose between the tasting menus or à la carte options, all dishes are made using local, organic ingredients. The lunch tasting menu is a great way to enjoy the dinner menu with a more reasonable price tag.

Fiskebrygga literally means "the fishing dock," and the name sets the tone for this restaurant on the waterfront in Lillesand. The menu consists mostly of fresh seafood, and throughout the summer they host live concerts on the dock.

An intimate yet lively dining experience awaits in this longtime favorite with a blue-and-white fleur-de-lis motif. From the open kitchen, Sergio Barcilon and the other chefs often serve the French and Spanish dishes themselves. The small menu lists just four entrée choices, but dishes like deer with blueberry sauce or turbot with lime and celery foam are always superbly prepared.

There's more to Huset than just food, as the building's history is also quite impressive—it served as an airport terminal, a school, and a hospital—with stories of its past preserved on the walls and in the retained artifacts in the space. As far as dining, Huset houses three different spaces and concepts: a café that bakes all its bread and pastries; a less formal bistro serving "Lørdagsbiff," a local Saturday roast tradition; and a fine dining restaurant with an innovative, Spanish-tinged New Nordic tasting menu that's open only for dinner. Game from local hunters and trappers is front and center, with the likes of salt-cured seal, cod tongue, and ptarmigan (grouse) breast.

Considered by locals to be one of Lillehammer’s best restaurants, Hvelvet---Norwegian for "The Vault"---offers fine wining and dining inside the former location of the Norwegian Bank. The interiors are decorated in a modern yet classic style with handsome wood floors and crisp white tablecloths. The service is attentive and friendly as they offer you the choice between à la carte options and three- and four-course menus.

Italy meets Norway at this cozy dockside eatery, a standout among the other casual restaurants on this popular restaurant row, specializing in a large selection of fresh pasta (many dishes capitalize on the local seafood), crostini, and a superb oven-fired pizza. The restaurant takes reservations, but walk-ins are welcome and food can be taken out. There's also a cozy bar area for drinks and a snack.

This café has taken Trondheim by storm, and most locals agree it serves the best coffee in the city. The minimalistic interior is not only inviting, but also cozy enough to make you want to linger on a cold winter's day.

In a former sardine factory, Kafe Kippers specializes in seafood dishes like arctic char with artichoke, radish, and dill, and steamed mussels with herbs and garlic. This large outdoor café on the waterfront is a pleasant stop for lunch or at sunset when you can warm up with a cozy wool blanket and enjoy a spectacular view of the North Sea.

Hiking aficionados, history lovers, and garden fanatics rub elbows at this palatial villa for simple, traditional meals by day (think open-faced sandwiches and cakes) and more filling fare by night. The garden is very pleasant on a warm day.

Oslo's answer to Starbucks (with much better coffee, locals would say), Kaffebrenneriet has 28 branches throughout the city, including in the trendy Grünerløkka neighborhood.

Norwegian home cooking is served at this casual eatery on the ground floor of the Hotell Bondeheimen. Classic dishes such as raspeballer (potato dumplings), boknafisk (dried and salted cod), and rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge) are always available. Vegetarian meals are available upon request. This is a good option for lunch or dinner.

An interesting and unusual restaurant, this eatery named for an Icelandic volcano blends Nordic, Asian, Latin American, and other cuisines. The cooking is done over gas grills or—a nod to the name—on hot lava stones. Watch chefs from around the world battle it out in the open kitchen where they prepare anything from shawarma to takoyaki. The seven-course tasting menu is available exclusively in the restaurant, with à la carte options at the bar.

This region's best-kept secret, this little red house perched at the water's edge serves delicious traditional dishes. Close to a pristine glacier, towering mountains, cascading waterfalls, and a shimmering lake, the scenery makes a visit to this laid-back eatery well worthwhile.

Modeled on a church cloister, complete with chanting monks and hundreds of twinkling candles, this underground lair dates back to 1899. (Its real history is more profane: it was a waffle bakery in the early 1900s.) A favorite for more than three decades, this Nordic-Germanic restaurant is a divine experience. Expect a heavy meal, with the seasonal menu focusing on meat and fish options served either à la carte or part of a set menu of four or six courses, along with wine pairings. Smoked halibut and veal escalopes often make an appearance.

A unique and personal coffee bar, all of the open sandwiches, salads, and cakes are made on-site, and the staff are known for their great mood. The interior is a mix of trendy and your grandma’s living room—it’s the kind of place where you’ll feel right at home—and it also sells art and gifts.

Not far out of Sentrum in the tiny Sofienberg district is this riveting sake bar and izakaya from those behind the original Izakaya. Slip through the doors into moody lighting and real Tokyo backstreet feels. Great records being spun, friendly staff, excellent sake imports and affordable Japanese fare. No website, classic vibes.

Swedish chef Mikael Svensson—recognized as one of the world's finest—is often spotted at this New Nordic restaurant offering one tasting menu with excellent (and sommelier-curated) wine or juice pairings. Every dish stands up against the next, and all the ingredients are ethically sourced. The dining room is sleek and minimalist, with concrete floors, exposed ductwork, and a fascinating open kitchen.

While the rough-hewn beams, stone fireplace, and driftwood-stump seating are reminiscent of a trapper’s cabin, the food at this casual and cozy eatery in downtown Longyearbyen is a far cry from what the hunters would have sustained themselves with. You can find very Norwegian-style pizzas (think beef and onion or chicken, corn, and pineapple) and burgers on the "pub favorites' menu," and also more traditional Norwegian specialties like moose burgers and klippfisk (salted cod).

With a view of the Lille Lungegårdsvann Lake, this longtime favorite offers delicious, authentic Thai dishes---some, like chicken soup with lemongrass, that you already know, and others, like steamed mussels in a pineapple sauce, that you might be meeting for the first time. There's an unusually wide range of vegetarian dishes.

Kulturhuset is a hub for music, art, design, architecture, and food. The restaurant's main focus is being green and sustainable, and it offers a wide range of vegetarian and vegan dishes but also serves meat and fish. 

Priding itself on a casual "breakfast, brunch, lunch, and munch" menu, the café at this cultural institution always seems to have a crowd. There's a fantastic array of delicious dishes that provide sustenance for the events that take place here day and night.