Bergen - Norway - page 291

service Monday and Tuesday from noon to 10pm and Wednesday to Sunday from
noon to 11pm. Bar service continues nightly till between 1 and 1:30am, depend-
ing on business. Tapas cost from 39NOK to 59NOK ($5.55-$8.40); burgers,
sandwiches, and salads cost 82NOK to 99NOK ($12-$14), and meal-size platters
cost 239NOK to 249NOK ($34-$35). Kong Oscarsgate 12. & 55-56-03-12. Bus: 6.
Dyvekes Vinkjeller A sense of spookiness permeates this cozy drinking den.
In 1849 a famous Norwegian bandit (Gjest Baardsen, the “Robin Hood” of
Norway) drank himself to death here. Recently, drinkers have reported sightings
of a young serving wench in 17th-century costume who takes drink orders from
patrons and then disappears without bringing the desired quaffs. Come here for
glasses of wine, priced from 61NOK to 85NOK ($8.65-$12); glasses of beer;
colorful patrons (both living and dead)—and in a wide age range—and a gen-
uine sense of Norwegian history. It's open Sunday to Friday 6pm to 12:30am,
Saturday 3pm to 12:30am. Hollendergaten 7. & 55-32-30-60. Bus: 20, 21, or 22.
The English Pub This is one of the most authentic duplications of a merry
olde English pub in Norway, with battered paneling, a pool table, much-used
dartboards, foaming mugs of beer, and a clientele composed of equal parts local
office workers and nearby residents of various ages. It's open Monday to Thurs-
day from 7pm to 1am, Friday to Sunday from 3pm till 2am. Ole Bulls Plass. & 55-
30-71-39. Bus: 2, 3, or 4.
Fotballpuben This is the biggest sports pub in Bergen, a rocking and rolling
beer-soaked place with an undeniable affection for football (that is, soccer), and
to a lesser degree, rugby. Feel free to wander through this crowded establishment's
labyrinth of inner chambers—joining a 20s-to-50s crowd—whose corners and
edges are sometimes upholstered with vinyl padding (installed with a fear of falls
from inebriated sports fans?). Screens blow up the action of sports events in
progress (or prerecorded) whenever there's a soccer stadium with an intensely
contested match. The staff prides itself on serving the cheapest beer in Bergen,
priced from 35NOK to 42NOK ($4.95-$5.95) per mug, depending on the time
of day. It's open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 1am, Friday and Saturday
9am to 2am, and Sunday noon to 1am. Vestre Torgate 9. & 55-36-66-61. Bus: 1 or 9.
Kontoret (The Office) The most frequented pub in the city center, the Kon-
toret is next to the Dickens restaurant and pub. Drinkers in the 20-to-50 age
group can wander freely between the two places, which are connected. In the
Kontoret Pub you can order the same food served at Dickens, although most
people seem to come here to drink. The local brew is called Hansa; a half-liter
of draft beer is 55NOK ($7.80). It's open Sunday to Thursday from 4pm to
1am, and Friday and Saturday 4pm to 3am. Olav Kyrres Gate 5. & 55-36-31-33.
Landmark Café You wouldn't expect such a hip nightclub and pub to be
within an art museum, but in the case of this large, high-ceilinged cube of a
room on the museum's rear side, that's exactly the case. Patrons in their 20s and
30s are drawn to the danceable music emerging from a DJ's station on one side;
a bar at another end of the room serves beer and sandwiches, and electronic art
in kaleidoscopic color is beamed against yet another. It's open daily from noon
to 2am, rocking and rolling long after the museum is closed tight like a drum.
Windows directly overlook the large, octagonal reflecting pool on the museum's
back side. Pastas and salads cost from 48NOK to 72NOK ($6.80-$10) each. In
the Bergen Art Museum, Rasmus Meyers Allé 3 and 7. & 55-31-77-55. Bus: 1, 5, or 9.
Margarita's Bar & Restaurant Set a few steps downhill from the lower
stage of the Fløibanen cable car, this is Bergen's most animated, popular, and