Lofoten Restaurants

There are no many restaurants in the Lofoten, and most of them are in the hotels. My experience about food there is not fantastic, so I can't recommend any good place.

Favorite Dish: Avoid soups in touristy places, as they are systematically made of powder with disgustingly artificial flavours. Despite being a place whose economy is based upon fishing, I must say I had here some of the worst fish I have ever tried: overcooked and totally insipid. Maybe it was just bad luck.

A wonderful restaurant specialising in seafood and located in a 200 years old red rorbue that once had been the general store in Reine. It's really nicely done - simple but characteristic - and with a turf fireplace.

Favorite Dish: Seafood - fresh seafood everything. It's the place where I first tried the fried cod-liver tongues! Delicious - I must say, but they are very heavy. My stomach ached for a couple of days after that - but it was well-worth it.

This place feels very traditionally Norwegian, complementing the low-key and unobstrusive community it serves. Actually, it seemed to me that most of the patrons were visitors to Reine, staying at Rorbuer or the local guesthouse. The food was tasty, well-prepared, and very satisfying, and it was delightful to sit out on the patio in the evening light.

Favorite Dish: A guilty pleasure: grill whalesteaks served in a mushroom sauce! (Tastes like sirloin!)

I would heartily recommend the little cafe in the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum. It's a little stroll up the hill, and the large tourist groups don't go here, so it's quieter and less hectic than the seaside Restaurant. I had an excellent bowl of fish soup, and salmon that tasted as if it had just been caught that morning. The bread is all baked in the village itself, too. The cafe is located in what was once a modest but comfortable villa, and inside there is a small and interesting gallery showing the work of local artists.

I had thought about eating here but I decided against it where two large groups of German tourists suddenly descended upon the restaurant. They seem to have a contract for tourist groups here; and while there's nothing necessarily wrong with tourists, I have a natural disinclination to being submerged with in a throng. (I'm sure the fish stew here is quite good.)

The Skjærbrygga is a 150 years old building which was originally used as a building for fish production and as a packing house for stock fish. Later it was also used as a steamship central.
Today it has been thoroughly restored, and is has been turned into a wonderful and really stylish lodgement and restaurant, still with its authentic ambience intact.
See their website for photos from the interior.

Favorite Dish: The restaurant's fish soup is excellent and is a must try. Local chef and arctic menu. The bar is nice, and when I visited they had a delicious cake buffet.