85 Best Restaurants in Norway

If you drive to the end of the Lofoten Islands, you absolutely must stop at this traditional Norwegian bakery famous for its cinnamon buns. The bakers use traditional methods, so the pastries are always at their freshest.

The catch of the day often dictates the menu here, but crispy cod tongue is always available. For less adventurous eaters, there's also a variety of pasta dishes. The homemade waffles with chocolate have been made from the same recipe since 1959. There's an amazing patio where you can look out over the water.

This restaurant, one of the best seafood restaurants in town, is named after the unicorn that adorns the doorway of the old wooden building in which it is housed. It may look old-fashioned, but there's nothing medieval about Enhjørningen's menu—it's contemporary Norwegian and it changes according to the day's catch.

Looking for all the world like a traditional chalet, thanks to the massive beams and honey-color wood floors, you'll feel the Scandinavian hygge (coziness) as soon as you walk inside. The restaurant focuses on fresh local ingredients while encouraging creativity among its chefs. This makes for an exciting menu where traditional flavors meet unusual cooking techniques.

If you're in Oslo for just one night and want an authentic dining experience, head to the city's oldest restaurant—housed in Oslo's first town hall, a building that dates from 1641. It is known for its traditional fish and game dishes that take full advantage of the city's access to the best seasonal produce. An absolute must, if you're lucky enough to be visiting in December, is the house specialty, the lutefisk. Reserve well in advance for the julebord (pre-Christmas) season.

With an artful location in the KODE 4 museum and next to the Grieghallen concert hall, Lysverket offers New Nordic cuisine that makes clever use of seasonal, local ingredients in dishes like roasted redfish with grilled lettuce or king crab with nasturtium puree. The restaurant only offers a 10-course tasting menu, and has one Michelin star. The spare dining room is the best of Scandinavian design, making a meal here a pleasure for both the eyes and the mouth.

Europe's first underwater restaurant, Under sits well below sea level, with a massive wall of glass that gives you a look into the icy waters of the North Sea. It's an architectural and engineering marvel, looking like a modern building tipping gently into the ocean and connected to onshore rocks by a bridge. The seafood here is among the best that Norway has to offer. The price is for an 18-course set menu focusing on seafood.

For all the hyped natural wine bar-cum-bistros that now characterize casual-elegant, fun modern boozy dining in all major cities, there's one that sets the benchmark. In Trondheim (world-class chefs now flock/return to set up kitchens that feast on the land's fruits), Spontan is that one. Now in a much larger space, housing provocative art, open kitchen and visible wine cellar, this restaurant serves beguilingly fresh small plates that burst with color and character: char, scallop, chicken liver mousse, king crab.

Most dishes (note the cute, bric-a-brac pantry-like glass and earthenware) are served as melt-in-the-mouth bites, with radical accents and meticulously paired pours to compliment. Summer-in-a-bowl raspberries with milk ice cream and Comtè-filled petit-fours will leave you sounding off to fellow winer-diners around the world about this spontaneous find on a cobbled old street near the water.

A significant but worth it NKr 1,100 for the full tasting menu, NKr 875 for the generous wine pairing---with a smaller but just as robust and beautiful menu available for NKr 600/NKr 585 and bar snacks if you're just here for drinks.

An Oslo institution, Theatercafeen has been a meeting place for artists and intellectuals for more than a century. Today it still attracts Oslo's beau monde, and as it's right across the street from the National Theater, it's a good bet for celebrity spotting. The menu varies with the seasons; the oysters and seafood platters are impressive, as are the cheese and charcuterie boards. To have any chance of getting a table during the super-busy julebord (pre-Christmas) season, book well in advance.

In a 300-year-old building on the wharf, it's no surprise that the charming To Kokker has crooked floors and off-kilter molding. Ranked among Bergen's best restaurants, it serves excellent seafood and game prepared the traditional way with a contemporary twist. The menu---think fillet of venison with blackberry sauce---changes with the season and is always based on seasonal produce.

You'll feel right at home in this lovely restaurant in an elegant 200-year-old log farmhouse three miles from Brønnøysund, and its equally beautiful garden. Along with the wood-paneled, tapestry covered dining room, the Angel Lounge's cozy chairs are perfect for enjoying coffee and dessert, and the Aquavit Bar invites you to sip a glass of wine at your leisure. Traditional gourmet fare is lovingly prepared with herbs and produce from a charming kitchen garden, which you are encouraged to enjoy while touring the beautifully landscaped grounds. In summer (mid-June to mid-August) you can enjoy lunch or teatime in the garden café. The restaurant encourages diners to call ahead with any special dietary requests and is especially welcoming to children.

A bit east of Sentrum, this popular pub serves homemade traditional Norwegian food in an atmospheric setting under the slightly facetious motto, "nice place, bad service." The building, which dates from the 1730s, was once an orphanage. The big lunch menu features a good selection of smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches) as well as smoked-salmon salad and the traditional karbonade (a sort of open-faced hamburger, served with fried onions).

The elegant but spare mirrored dining room at this local favorite puts all the emphasis where it should be: on the creative dishes coming out of the kitchen. And you'll get to sample quite a few of them, depending on whether you opt for the "half menu" consisting of 7 courses or go all the way with an 11-course extravaganza. These traditional recipes are works of art, thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly presented. Bare has one Michelin star!

Toralf Bølgen and Trond Moi, two of Norway's most celebrated restaurateurs, run what's the southernmost addition to their chain of high-profile restaurants. Near the old fishing pier, the scene is more chic than rustic, with artwork and dinnerware designed by local artist Kjell Nupen. Norwegian game and fish are cooked in an international style.

Today's catch is all over the menu---crayfish, klippfisk (fish salted and dried in the sun on slabs of rock), and grilled monkfish, to name a few---at this casual eatery. The seemingly mismatched, umbrella-shape roof atop this rectangular blue waterfront restaurant offers a lesson in Norwegian history, culture, and cuisine: it's where locals of yesteryear dried fish by night. It's the modern day preparation, though, that's earned the restaurant a status as one of the best in town.