Trondheim - Norway - page 353

into a family-friendly burger, pizza, and steak joint with a menu that's equiva-
lent to what you might find in an American Denny's or IHOP. The result incor-
porates all the engineering marvels of the original upscale restaurant (a revolving
deck that takes about an hour for a full circle, and big-windowed views that
sweep out for kilometers in all directions) with a burger-and-fries menu that's
much more affordable than the setting and the circumstances would suggest.
Expect a menu that features club sandwiches and BLTs, about a dozen kinds of
pizza, stuffed baked potatoes, meal-size salads, Tex-Mex tacos and fajitas, black-
ened chicken, ribs, and grilled steaks. An elevator will carry you, without charge,
from the parking lot to the restaurant's upper levels.
Otto Nielsensveien 4. & 73-87-35-00. Reservations recommended Fri-Sat nights. Pizzas, burgers, salads,
and platters 85NOK-209NOK ($12-$30). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Thurs 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat 11am-11:30pm;
Sun noon-10pm. Bus: 20 or 60.
Restaurant Egon AMERICAN Nothing about this place even pretends to
be gourmet or even upscale. It's set in the center of town in an early-20th-cen-
tury stone building that was originally built as a bank. Within a labyrinth of
dark, woodsy-looking pub areas and dining rooms, the restaurant serves the
Norwegian equivalent of American-style diner food. There's a beery kind of
sudsiness to the place, an appropriate foil for the pizzas that emerge from the
open-to-view brick-lined ovens. In summer the venue spills out onto the terrace
outside. This is a member of the same chain, incidentally, as the also-recom-
mended Egon Tårnet (see above), a short distance outside of town.
Thomas Angellsgate 8 (entrance on Søndregate). & 73-51-79-75. Pizzas, burgers, salads, and platters
85NOK-209NOK ($12-$30). AE, DC, MC, V. Sun-Thurs 11am-midnight; Fri-Sat 11am-12:30am. Bus: 1 or 4.
Tavern På Sverresborg NORWEGIAN No restaurant in town
offers more authentic Norwegian cuisine than this historic eatery, 4.8km
(3 miles) south of Trondheim's commercial center. Built as a private merchant's
house in 1739 and later transformed into a clapboard-sided tavern, it's one of
the few wooden buildings of its age in this area. Cramped and cozy, it's the
town's most vivid reminder of the past, with wide-plank flooring and antique
rustic accessories. The most desirable and oft-requested table is directly in front
of a fireplace in a side room, and as such it's usually reserved in advance. There's
an emphasis on 18th- and 19th-century recipes. Try the blandet spekemat, served
with flatbrød; it consists of thinly sliced smoked ham, diced meat, slices of
salami, smoked mutton, and garnishes of lettuce and tomato. For a real taste of
Norway, opt for the creamy fish soup or the Norwegian-style meatballs (the size
of Ping-Pong balls), and most definitely the pancakes and platters of herring.
Rhubarb soup is their summer specialty.
Sverresborg Allé, at Trøndelag Folk Museum. & 73-87-80-70. Reservations recommended. Snack-style main
dishes 68NOK-80NOK ($9.65-$11); main courses 68NOK-245NOK ($9.65-$35). MC, V. Mon-Fri 4-10pm;
Sat 2-10pm; Sun 2-9pm. Bus: 8 or 9.
THE LEADING CAFES
Café-Conditorei E. Erichsen PASTRIES/LIGHT FARE Set beside Trond-
heim's busiest all-pedestrian street, this is a cafe and pastry shop that many local
residents remember with fondness from their childhoods. In the 1850s well-
heeled travelers from England, in Trondheim for salmon fishing, made the place
into something approaching a private club, and throughout the post-World War
II era, it was transformed into an occasional hotbed of political discussion.
Today, much mellowed by time, it features tables that extend from its Beaux Arts
interior out onto the sidewalk during clement weather. Every evening after

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