Grenaderen
Kongsgårdsgata 1
About
For rustic charm and an authentic taste-of-Norway dishes, this longtime favorite is hard to beat. The setting of this place is a much-gentrified update of what was built more than a century ago as a blacksmith shop. Today, amid flickering candles and a collection of 19th-century wood- and metal-working artifacts, you get a sense of rustic, old-fashioned Norway, much spiffed up from the dingy, smoke-filled days when the place would have been a lot less appealing. Menu items include some of the time-tested workhorses of the Norwegian culinary repertoire, including gin-marinated smoked salmon; cream of fish and shellfish soup; small-scale platters of fish roe, served with very fresh bread and Norwegian butter; a traditional air-dried fish specialty, lutefisk, that's notoriously difficult to make and, in this case, is served with bacon; several kinds of grilled beefsteaks, some accompanied with grilled shrimp; barbecued pork ribs; and a dessert specialty: wild-berry parfait with whisky sauce. One of the town's best values is the lunchtime buffet, served year-round; in autumn, it focuses on fresh game dishes from the surrounding tundras and forests. A more elaborate version of that same buffet is also served throughout the day on Sunday.
