Trondheim - Norway - page 350

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 whiskey sauce.
Kongsgårdsgata 1. & 73-51-66-80. Reservations recommended. Main courses 200NOK-290NOK
($28-$41). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-9pm. Closed Mon Jan-Apr. Bus: 2, 5, 6, 7,
or 9.
Havfruen (Mermaid) SEAFOOD Set amid a cluster of some of the old-
est warehouses in town, along the Nidelven River, this is the most important fish
restaurant in Trondheim, and the most atmospheric. Built around 1800 on the
site of a much older warehouse, it's studded with old beams and trusses and lots
of authentic antique charm. Meals are prepared in the open-to-view kitchen and
served by a staff with impeccable manners and technique. Consider a drink in
the cozy bar downstairs, where the modern look of a bubbling aquarium offsets
an otherwise vintage setting of enormous warmth, coziness, and charm. The
staff seems to enjoy evaluating and offering advice about the daily harvest of fish.
The menu changes each season, based on local fish migration patterns. You
might begin enticingly enough with the steamed mussels in white wine or the
smoked trout served with a sauce made of mussels, oysters, and mushrooms. The
creamy fish chowder is the town's best. For a main course, you are likely to be
won over by the poached arctic char served with chorizo and an herb-orange
sauce or the grilled tuna with a vegetable roulade and a tomato beurre blanc
(white butter).
Kjøpmannsgata 7. & 73-87-40-70. Reservations required. Main courses 245NOK-275NOK ($35-$39). AE,
DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat 6pm-midnight. Closed Dec 23-Jan 7. Bus: 2, 5, 6, 7, or 9.
Jonathan's NORWEGIAN/FRENCH One of the best hotel restaurants
in town, Jonathan's is designed in the manner of a Mediterranean wine cellar,
with antiques, a big, open fireplace, and waiters colorfully dressed as trouba-
dours. The beautifully prepared food relies on high-quality ingredients. Dinner
might include canapés of shrimp, smoked salmon, and local caviar, followed by
grilled salmon garnished with shellfish and fresh vegetables, or a grilled steak—
perhaps a veal schnitzel.
In the Britannia Hotel, Dronningens Gate 5. & 73-53-53-53. Reservations required. Main courses
210NOK-245NOK ($30-$35). AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 5-11pm. Bus: 2, 5, 6, 7, or 9.
Palm Garden NORWEGIAN/INTERNATIONAL This is the most
elegant restaurant in Trondheim, housed in the first-rate Britannia Hotel (see
above). Illuminated with a Victorian-era skylight, it is ringed with exotic-look-
ing columns inspired by the Corinthian/Moorish look. There is some of the
atmosphere of the ambulatory of a medieval cloister here, as well as the Belle
Epoque era. True to its namesake, the restaurant is filled with palms. Lunch is
served as a sandwich-and-salad buffet, attracting many of the town's leading
business clients. Dinner is grandly elaborate, with an array of top-quality dishes
prepared with the finest of ingredients. Standards remain high here—the classic
cuisine never seems to bog down on repeated visits over the years. The service is
also the most grandly formal in town.
Begin, perhaps, with a marinated wild salmon in a fennel bouillon with apple
salsa, or else a delightful creamed curry mussel soup (the little ravioli in the soup