[Editor’s Note: We are back in the States, but I have a few days left to blog.  We want to capture those memories, too.  Highlights include our favorite restaurant in Bergen, the “Bachelorette” hotel, and view from the top of an Olympic ski lift.]

We often get asked for restaurant recommendations in towns we visit.  And we want to remember the places we liked best.

So – to help us remember -here are some of our favorite spots – from super casual street food to fine dining.  All are within a few blocks of the Bryggen waterfront, so walking distance to most “tourist” hotels.

Fish Market

The Bergen Fish Market if famous, dating back to the 1500s.

It is fun to just walk through the fishmongers sing-songing to beckon customers. And they have everything – whale, sea urchin, salmon, dried cod, crab . . . .

You can take fish home or have the m fix a plate and eat on the covered picnic tables.  We got a platter of shrimp, whale, salmon (3 ways), stone crab, king crab and potato salad.  Super fresh and delicious.

Bar Barista

A very quirky place that our apartment greeter told us about – has the best waffles in town (they eat waffles here for every meal).

 Villani

A couple of blocks off the water in a neighborhood with a real Italian feel – complete with kids kicking soccer balls and locals doing their passeggiata.  We sat outside under the umbrellas with aperol spritzes and pumpkin almond taglietelle – fabulous.

Enhjorningen (The Unicorn)

The oldest seafood restaurant in Bergen, it is housed in one of the old wooden houses on the water.  Look for the unicorn statue on the front of the yellow house below.

We had the 4-course menu featuring carpaccio of whale and mussel soup, which were amazing.  And believe it or not the main entrée was . . .  baked catfish!

My granddaddy from Texas whose favorite restaurant was The Catfish Kitchen would have been proud!  Seriously, we aren’t sure, but we think it is a different fish than our home-grown variety – it was on the menu a lot and they were very proud of it.

Hans Haugesgate 1 [our address]

And best of all – our own balcony.  We love to go to the market and put together an antipasti plate with a bottle of wine.

Stay tuned for tomorrow for our VERY favorite.

Naturally, we had to take a boat to get there.