What I Ate In Norway
Buckle up for an epic post about a lot of food.
When food writer Nevada Berg announced on her Instagram that she’d be leading a weeklong culinary tour of Norway, I was intrigued. The itinerary read like a dream: a Michelin star restaurant, crab fishing, a herring producer, fjords! I had to go. I urgently forwarded the tour to friends who I thought might be equally excited by it, but no one seemed able to join. I would have to go… solo.
It seemed like a scary prospect at first - flying alone to a foreign country, only to meet up with a bunch of strangers. What if I didn’t like them? What if they were annoying?? But then I thought about all the times I’ve reassured Watch What Crappens listeners that it’s completely viable to attend one of our live shows alone. I needed to take my own advice. We do so many things by ourselves — shopping, eating, watching TV, driving — that it’s really not so difficult to expand the scope to, say, traipsing off to Oslo. Right?
So I did it. And the reward for my boldness: one of the most incredible vacations of my life. I met wonderful, smart people from every literal corner of the States; I traveled to destinations I never would have found on my own; and of course, I ate handsomely. It was a week of bread, butter, cream, and fish. Oh, and some intoxicating Norwegian chocolate thrown in for good measure.
Now, 8 lbs later, I bring you a full report of all the wonderful items I consumed. At the end of this post, I’ll include some helpful links in case you find yourself meandering up to Norway.
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Day 1
Bon Lio
I arrived in Oslo in the early evening, and after one adorable cat nap, I headed off to Bon Lio, a restaurant that honors “the fresh produce of Norway and find[s] inspiration from the creative world of modern Spanish cuisine.” I was immediately greeted with a refreshing beverage courtesy of the charming bartender. He announced it was his version of Soho House’s famed Picante cocktail. Indeed it was. Bon Lio’s was better.
I was then led upstairs for an 11 course meal , which I have to admit, was a wild decision on my part. Coasting on 90 minutes of sleep in the past 24 hours, I wasn’t really sure how I was going to survive a multi-course tasting menu. Luckily, the omnipresent sunlight did some heavy lifting in the stamina department.
Truthfully, it was near impossible to feel sleepy when so many exciting dishes by chef Cato Wara descended on the table. Highlights from the meal: a gazpacho encased in a delicate shell (think gum ball, but make it soup). A delicately fried bomba (or was it a croqueta?) filled with squid. Cabbage cooked with anchovies and Spanish almonds. Langoustine, bisque and habanero. An “espresso martini” that was in fact a foam-topped mushroom soup loaded with so much umami flavor that my tastebuds nearly cried for mercy. And a brandy ice cream served in a sunchoke crisp. Sunchokes and ice cream - my new favorite pairing?
I absolutely loved Bon Lio and struggled to imagine any better way to kick off my first night in Oslo.
HimKok
After Bon Lio, I was stuffed and tired, but since my stay in Oslo would only be about 36 hours, I pushed myself to cram in another activity. I walked down the street to a trendy bar named HimKok, recommended by my friend Esther, who’s a member of the World’s 50 Best Bars organization. I trusted her about this.
A cute bartender with a little hipster mustache (annoying in LA, somehow adorable in Oslo) did some neat ice-tossing tricks à la Cocktail and served me a refreshing “Oslo Mule.” I wasn’t sure what made it Oslo instead of Moscow, but according to Internet sleuthing, it seems the vodka is swapped out for aquavit. Fun fact: Himkok actually sells their Oslo Mules by the can. Nevertheless, I sidled up to a cozy table and enjoyed my beverage while occasionally pausing to take pics of the not-quite-dark sky at 11:30 PM.
Day 2
Scandinavian Hotel Breakfast
This was my Day To Do Everything In Oslo™: the Munch Museum, the opera house, a park, a shopping district, a flea market, the Astrup Fearnley Museum. I fueled this heavy tourist activity with a hearty hotel breakfast. I’m generally not a fan of free hotel breakfasts since they tend to just be sad chafers of powdery eggs or meats that are somehow too wet and too dry at the same time. But the lesson I’ve learned from my time in both Sweden and Norway is that the Scandi hotel breakfast is a thing of beauty. Sure, the chafers are still around (and pretty damn good), but so are fresh loaves of bread, piles of tender smoked salmon, jars of pickled herring, and much more (including but not limited to cheeses, charcuterie meats, and lovely little pastries). In other words, it’s my dream spread.
Street Foods
After much tromping about Oslo, I wound up ambling into what I later learned was a chain: Koffeedepartment. Various people had informed me that you could walk into any bakery and get a good pastry in Oslo. Unfortunately, I had mistaken a generic chain shop for a cute local bakery. I ordered a ubiquitous cinnamon bun, which was dry, sad, and a complete bummer. Probably the worst thing I had all vacation. To be fair, it’s like walking into a Starbucks and being mad about how crappy the croissant is.
Afterwards I dropped by another bakery that looked a bit more legit. My eyes widened when in the display case I saw what appeared to be a breakfast pancake folded over the famous brown cheese (brunost) of Norway. A pancake street food? I WAS 100 PERCENT ON BOARD. Later on I would learn this was a svelle, a common snack enjoyed particularly on a ferry. I liked this first one just fine — but my American tastebuds wanted more cheese. It wasn’t a flop, but it wasn’t a revelation either. I wound up eating several svelles over the course of the week, and each one tasted better than the last. I suspect it was less about an increase in quality as it was me acclimating to another culture’s snack food.
Kontrast
I was determined to get some Michelin stars under my belt in Norway. Two, specifically. And they both resided in the fantastic restaurant Kontrast.
This was a truly special meal. One I don’t think I’ll forget anytime soon. I began with small bites in a loungey room with sofas and low tables. First to arrive was my cocktail, curiously named “The T.V.” It featured beetroot, white rum, Italicus, and honey. I’m always wary of honey cocktails since mixologists always seem to have a heavy hand with the sweetness, but this was perfectly — dare I say orgasmically? — balanced. A pure beet joy for a beet lover like me. Two weeks later, I can still remember exactly how it tasted, and I’m sad I can’t have one right now.
Next - a series of amuse bouche, including a divine (DIVINE, I say) “pork blood croustade with Holtefjetl and beer vinegar.” All you really need to know is that the chef, Mikael Svensson, fashioned a cheese-stuffed shell out of pork’s blood. Some may be weirded out by that, and that’s fair. It IS weird, I suppose. But also heaven.
After four small dishes, I was ushered into an industrial main room where diners sat, chairs teased towards the open kitchen like we were watching a very small concert. Over the next several hours a parade of fascinating dishes — and one very swoonworthy loaf of bread — arrived at my table. Scallops, roe, and asparagus made me giddy. Grilled langoustines with fermented carrots and a grilled carrot miso (for real??) were otherworldly. Salt baked chicken proved that humble poultry could actually hang with more highfalutin fare. Beef tongue in a coffee shoyu sabayon — I don’t even know what to say at this point. Everything I write sounds like utterly pretentious foodie babble, but that’s only because I can’t just sit here and say “IT WAS SO GOOD” after each dish. But maybe I can?
At one point I was served oxidized sunflower seed ice cream, which on paper makes me roll my eyes, but in reality, I just chuckled at the inventiveness. Every dish was an innovative surprise, and I couldn’t have left Oslo on any higher note.
Day 3
Hotel Brosundet
I trekked north to the small city of Ålesund ahead of my tour, which would be starting the next day. On Sundays, pretty much everything shuts down in Norway; so my food was limited to generic snacks at the airport and a giant bowl of fish soup at the new hotel, Hotel Brosundet. Little did I realize I was embarking on a week of Norwegian fish soup. I think I may have eaten it four times in various forms? And honestly, no complaints here. Various bits and bobs of seafood and potatoes swam in a white broth that wasn’t quite thin, but not quite thick — the shmedium of soups. It was reminiscent of a chowder, but the flavor was more tangy and sour. This may be due to the white vinegar I learned Norwegians love to use. The whole thing was topped with an electric green chive oil, a trend that followed me from location to location. No complaints!
Day 4
A Food Tour of Ålesund
Monday morning I finally met up with my tour group and became fast friends with the likes of Fran, Julie, Juli, Larry, Alan, and Kristen as well as our fearless leaders Nevada and Janne. We then trotted across Ålesund to try the various culinary offerings within. First, salt cod (klippfisk) fritters with a green aioli, served with a slice of pizza on the side. Not really sure why there was a slice of pizza, but apparently Norwegians eat the most pizza in the world; so why not throw in a slice with your fritters?
We then headed off to a roadside stand to enjoy Mør — a sausage of lamb, pork, and beef, seasoned with allspice and served with mashed potatoes. Afterwards, more pizza and more klippfisk — this time, together! Yes, some fresh pizza topped with klippfisk and pesto, which may sound a strange but isn’t terribly far removed from anchovies or clams on a slice.
Next, we headed back to the Hotel Brosundet for more milky fish soup, but this time there were mussels in the mix as well as a thicker broth. My cholesterol may not agree with me, but I was kind of digging this daily fish soup lifestyle.
We rounded out the afternoon by enjoying first some fancy svelles (this time with butter and sugar) at another hotel, and then a scoop of brunost ice cream across town. There’s a lot of snobbery around Norwegian brown cheese outside of Norway, and no matter what your stance is about it, I can assure you that it translates very well into ice cream.
Apotekergata No 5
Heading back to the Brosundet in the evening, we dined at the hotel’s high end restaurant, Apotekergata No 5. Green oils returned — first on butter (mmm European butter — so dreamy) and then under a stick-to-the-ribs beef cheek entree featuring mashed potatoes, sunchoke chips, and snow peas. This was fine cold weather food.
After dinner, because the sun was still out at 10:30 PM, I decided to then climb nearly 500 steps to an observatory and take pics of Ålesund from on high. The views were epic. But maybe not the smartest thing to climb a mountain with a stomach full of beef cheek.
Day 5
Norwegian Chocolate
We departed Ålesund early in the morning and drove by coach and ferry to the remote island of Ona. Along the way we stopped by a grocery store, which was vastly important to me because a) I love going to foreign grocery stores, and b) I was able to stock up on Norwegian chocolate. Fun fact: Norwegian chocolate may be my new favorite chocolate.
Of the items I sampled, here’s my definitive ranking:
Freia Melkesjokolade with orange and “Kvikk Lunsj” added. I’m obsessed with chocolate and orange, and this bar not only had that combination BUT also a crispy texture (think Nestlé Crunch but more delicate). It’s a literal chocolate Xanadu for me. Sadly, I only took my first bites when I returned to the States, which meant I didn’t have the opportunity to stock up on extras. A huge failure on my part. If only I had known this would wind up as my favorite!
Smil. While making one of our many ferry crossings, Nevada highly recommended I purchase a roll of Smil. One bite, and I immediately understood her enthusiasm. Smil delivers on the dream that Rolo’s promise. Chocolate and caramel, but the most perfect version.
Smash. A Crappens listener in Oslo (shout out to Casey!) insisted that I must try Smash. So glad she steered me in this direction. Basically, Smash are Bugles dipped in delicious Norwegian milk chocolate. Why don’t we have this in the States?
Kvikk Lunsj. Translated to “Quick Lunch,” this is basically like a much better Kit-Kat. “But Kit-Kats are already so excellent!” you might say. Yes, they are. But these are BETTER. Imagine such a thing!
Freia Melkesjokolade. Just a chocolate bar. But so good.
Someone please tell me how to get this chocolate in America.
Ona Havstuer
Ona has only 17 full time residences, a knitting shop, and two ceramic studios. In other words, it’s pretty lowkey. Luckily there’s also a hotel: the Ona Havstuer. Upon arrival, we were served a warming lunch of pan fried cod, fennel, broccolini, carrots, and mashed potatoes. If there’s anything people on a remote island know how to do, it’s cook fish. The delicious cod was a sneak preview of the lovely meals to come on the island.
There had already been so much food on this trip that I wasn’t sure I would ever be hungry again, but that afternoon we went crab fishing (!), which did wonders for the appetite. I’m not sure the crabs enjoyed the experience as much as we did.
For dinner, we enjoyed a cod ceviche with beetroot, followed by a truly excellent halibut with roasted vegetables. This was a real A+ day for a fish skin enthusiast like me.
Dessert was a creme brûlée topped with blueberries. I’ve been very vocal about my dislike for berries, but I was determined to act like an actual adult on this culinary tour. In other words, I ate the food on my plate, including all berries — strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. And honestly… [shrinks a bit]… they were good. Growth!
I’m taking a mid-newsletter break to present a thrilling multi-media moment. In addition to what you’re reading here, I actually created even more Norway trip content. I sat and talked through a much larger collection of photos from my trip; so if you feel like seeing and hearing more, check out the following video, which JUST happens to be the inaugural video on my new NBD Fancy YouTube channel!
Day 6
Adventures on Ona
The hotel made us fun open-faced sandwiches for breakfast - mine was a lox and egg salad ditty that made my heart sing. The lox (or was it smoked salmon?) in Norway is exemplary; so I took any chance I could to eat it. I was so happy. At one point later in the day we passed a facility that provides all the salmon for Costco, and I was oddly starstruck by it.
For lunch: more fish soup, more scallion oil, more joy.
Afterwards, local resident Hilde gave us a walking tour of the island, which culminated in her bringing us to her knitting shop, “Two Round Needles and Happy Cups.” There she served us hot coffee and homemade coconut buns. Note to self: make more coconut buns.
The plan for the evening was to eat the crabs we had caught the day before, but first an essential detour: an aquavit tasting! My experience with aquavit had been embarrassingly limited to just, er, a shot I took once at Epcot center in the early 2010s; so this was a nice way to reacquaint myself with the spirit. Aquavit is commonly flavored with dill, fennel, and caraway — some of my favorite ingredients — so I’m really not sure why I haven’t had more of it. A personal failure.
We enjoyed the first three aquavits solo (and at room temperature, per the recommendation of our guide / hotel owner Frode). Our fourth and final glass we paired with a surprising dish: whale carpaccio.
Whale hunting has been part of Norway’s food culture for centuries, particularly in the North, and these days it’s done sustainably, targeting only the common Minke whale, which has been classified as Not At Risk. In this preparation, the whale tasted not unlike roast beef, but with a gamey, chopped-liver finish. Perhaps not a selling point for some palates, but I liked it. And it paired nicely with the aquavit.
Then, the main event. Our crabs! The staff brought out three heaping bowls of crab claws (including some that we did not fish, just in case there wasn’t enough to go around). The flesh was so sweet and tender that it barely needed any seasoning, let alone butter. I quite literally could not stop eating the crab, ultimately leading to a situation where the entire group was just watching me eat for 30 minutes, long after they had all thrown in the towel.
Afterwards, we stepped outside and enjoyed a double rainbow spanning the ocean and the island. Not a bad finale at Ona.
Day 7
Journey North
A 90 minute ferry ride awaited us the next morning, and that meant we could partake in a classic Norwegian tradition: enjoying a fresh svelle on the seas. Seven days into my Scandinavian odyssey, I was now a full svelle convert. My fellow traveler Alan, however, struggled with the leavening agent used in the svelle: hornsalt. Made from ground antlers — at least back in the day, perhaps synthetically now — hornsalt has a strong ammonia scent, mainly because it’s basically ammonia. But delicious ammonia!
Eventually we wound up on the island of Gossa where we took a tour of a local salt producer named Havsnø. Run by a Portland, OR, expat named Michael, Havsnø uses inventive materials drawn from the fishing industry to produce some of the loveliest, tastiest flake salt you’ve ever had. I’m hoping the company is able to make inroads Stateside because it is a true Maldon killer for me.
As a fun perk, Michael made Nevada’s rhubarb cake for us and plied us with many cheeses and meats. Plus, we each took turns shoveling salt crystals out of the baths, which I think means we were now officially salt-of-the-earth people.
Next stop was the destination I was arguably most excited for: a herring producer! I LOVE herring, and this was like going to Disneyland for me — a Disneyland that showcased pickled fish instead of cartoonish whimsy. (Speaking of, did you know that Norwegians are obsessed with Donald Duck? Now you know.)
The herring producer in question was Juviksild, an operation intent on modernizing the humble herring since apparently the young people aren’t so into it anymore (shameful). We didn’t get to see the industrial steps that go into the pickling of the fish, but what we DID get was lots and lots of herring: on a bed of arugula; in a fruit salad (bizarre, but it worked); and as just a simple, pure fillet. Then there were the commercial preparations: herring in mustard, herring in tomato sauce, in raspberry brine, dill brine, sour cream. It was herring-palooza for me. Maybe not great for my sodium levels, but certainly a boon to my happiness.
Hustadvika Havhotell
We spent the night at the Hustadvika Havhotell, a property perched on the Atlantic Ocean, where we all cooked dinner together in Nevada and Janne’s guest cabin. First we assembled a seter salad, which Nevada was testing out for her newest cookbook. It involved fresh greens topped with oven-crisped cheese rounds, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a shallot-raisin vinaigrette we had sautéed on the stovetop. Filling out the plate were slices of reindeer sausage and other meets, and because why not, a dollop of sour cream (or was it very thick butter milk?). Indeed I felt very much like a seter, or a mountain farmer, as I ate this substantial and nicely balanced dish. This could have been an entree all unto itself, but there was more to do.
A brunost burger with lingonberry-bacon jam. This decadent burger followed a similar flavor trajectory as the salad: rich, creamy textures contrasted with sweet and salty notes. The rich and creamy here came from ground beef, mayo, lardons, and most intriguingly: brunost (that’s the brown cheese, for those who may have forgotten). Meanwhile, the lingonberries and caramelized onions provided sweetness (as did the brown cheese). This was a really delicious and indulgent coda to an active day.
Oh but wait! A simple dessert: stewed apples layered with whipped cream and sugar-cinnamon breadcrumbs. This Norwegian classic had an intriguing name — Veiled Peasant Girls. There’s a story behind it, but I missed it because I was too busy taking pictures of the sunset. I also may have been a little drunk due to the aquavit cocktails Nevada and Janne made for us. Notably, they were garnished with spruce tips — the tender new growths at the end of a pine branch. They’re edible, tart, and not unlike chewing on the most intense sorrel you’ve ever encountered.
Day 8
Tingvoll Ost
We departed Hustadvika and headed north to the city of Trondheim, stopping over at a Tingvoll Ost, a quaint dairy farm that just so happens to produce Kraftkar, a cheese that in 2017 won the title of “World Champion” in the World Cheese Awards (a real thing that I demand to be a judge of). Not only that, Kraftkar won the only ever Champion of Champions competition which pitted the past 30 World Champions against each other (think Survivor: All-Stars but with cheese). This is all to say that we were well fed at this destination.
For such a lauded cheese, the Kraftkar operations were pretty cozy. Cows ambled from pasture to milking shed at their own pace, voluntarily hoofing their way into a stall where a robo-arm would use infrared sensors to locate their udders and get to squeezing. These were happy bovines, and they made us happy humans.
Sadly, Kraftkar isn’t easily available Stateside. The small operations at Tingvoll Ost produce enough cheese to supply local vendors and not much beyond that. This meant that when we were graced with a cheese tasting, I was sure to savor every last bite of the Kraftkar (as well as the other varieties from the farm). Dreamy.
Smia Fiske Restaurant
Prior to Tingvoll Ost, we dropped by Smia Fiske restaurant in Kristiansund where we enjoyed warm bowls of Norwegian bacalao, a tomato-based salt cod stew. The dish, a product of 18th century trading with the Iberian peninsula, was a cozy antidote to the cold rains we were experiencing that day. I can see why it caught on in the frigid north.
To Rom Og Kjøkken
That evening we rolled into the third biggest city in Norway, Trondheim. The past few days of crab fishing, cheese tasting, salt shoveling, and herring bingeing had been wonderful, but now it was time to do some high end city eating. That brought us to To Rom Og Kjøokken (Two Rooms and a Kitchen) where we enjoyed a very fine five course meal. A creamy, shrimpy toast skagen was the best I’d had, and a scallop over celery root purée was the warming comfort I needed after a long day of rainy travel.
Day 9
Nidaros Cathedral and Baklandet Skydsstation
We spent our last day together walking around Trondheim, starting with a breezy tour of a nearby cathedral. I mention this solely because afterwards we dropped by the cathedral’s coffeeshop where I enjoyed a slice of Success Tart. Every time I leaf through Nevada’s book, Norwegian Baking, I see this almond-sponged, custard-topped cake, and I’m always tempted to make it — almost entirely for the name alone. Who wouldn’t want to make something called Success Tart? Now that I’ve finally tasted one, I’m pretty much dead set on fast tracking Success Tart in my kitchen.
After more walking through the city, our group wound up at Baklandet Skydsstation, a local institution serving traditional Norwegian fare. I once again indulged my pickled fish obsession by ordering a giant platter of herring (I’m starting to think I have a problem) while my table-mate Alan opted for a traditional reindeer stew. There’s really not much I can say about the herring that I haven’t already babbled on about ten times in this newsletter. It was more of the same. The delicious same. I did try Alan’s juniper-scented stew, and for a moment I did have reindeer FOMO, but after a week of bread, butter, cream, and more bread, I was happy to forgo a rich stew for a herring sampler.
For dessert, we enjoyed a tasty apple cake and a waffle folded over brunost. It was very svelle coded.
Tollbua
The grand finale of our trip: a visit to the Michelin-starred restaurant Tollbua. We gathered for one last group dinner, and it was a special one. Six courses of refined food included a veal tartar, lamb with harissa and yogurt, and my favorite — arctic char with tomatoes and jalapeno and sesame. This was a perfect send-off for an unforgettable week of sights and flavors.
Afterwards, our little group — now something of a family — tumbled out into the streets of Trondheim where the sun was setting and the sky was full of pink and orange hues. Never mind that it was nearly midnight. It was the most beautiful postscript to a truly special vacation.
I hope I can go back to Norway someday. Circling back to countries is always hard, especially when there are so many I’ve yet to visit, but this one seems to demand more time. Even if I never return, perhaps this lengthy travelogue will inspire some of you to consider a Norwegian holiday.
Here are some helpful links:
Resources:
Northwild Kitchen (Nevada’s site)
My friend Esi is moonlighting in travel booking, and her taste is 100 percent aligned with mine. She recommended and booked my Oslo restaurants and hotel, as well as the hotel in Ålesund. Definitely reach out to her here if you’re planning a vacation.
Hotel Recommendations:
The Thief (Oslo)
Hotel Brosundet (Ålesund)
Ona Havstuer (Ona)
Hustadvik Havhotell (Storholmen)
Restaurant Recommendations:
Bon Lio (Spanish, Oslo)
Kontrast (Oslo)
Himkok (Oslo)
Apotekergata No. 5 (Ålesund)
To Rom Og Kjøkken (Trondheim)
Baklandet Skydsstation (Trondheim)
Tollbua (Trondheim)
Recipes:
Social Links
Oh Ben! This looks like the most wonderful adventure. I’m so happy you got to do this for yourself.
And, I’d love to see more YouTube videos of your culinary adventures when you have the time.
Ben! Thanks for sharing your trip and lovely prose <3
I might have a tip for the Swedish snack dilemma, there's a Reddit sub called r/snackexchange for international snack enthusiasts that could be an easy and fun solution to get those Norwegian treats to the US. Much love from a Crappens Fan in Berlin, please do another European tour!!