Escalon Restaurant
Vertrlidsalmenningen 21
Cuisines: Spanish
About
Set immediately adjacent to the lowest stage of the Fløibanen cable car, this is a charming, convivial, and unpretentious bar and tapas joint that has consistently won awards as one of the best restaurants of its type in Bergen. The setting lies a few steps down from street level, allowing diners a pavement-level view out over the neighborhood outside or, if they progress into the back of the place, a cavelike interior that's cozy, warm, and dotted with mostly Iberian paintings. Two or -- more often -- three tapas platters comprise a full meal, depending on your hunger level. The best examples include grilled mushrooms filled with Manchego cheese, Spanish-style potato omelets, meatballs in salsa, scampi in a garlic wine sauce, tuna marinated in olive oil and capers, and shellfish crepes. A wide assortment of Spanish wines is also available. A second branch (Lilla Escalón) is at Neumannsgate 5 (tel. 55-32-90-99), with the same tapas-based food choices and similar prices. Ironically, despite its name (lilla means small), it's almost twice the size of its original counterpart and sits over a cellar that was built in the 18th century for the storage of wine. Lilla Escalón is open daily from noon to 1am.
