Read the definitions of the categories if you want to know how the restaurants are evaluated.

Only restaurants in downtown Tromsø included in this list.

High quality restaurants –  The best Tromsø has to offer (comparable to good/high quality national and international restaurants in their respective fields/categories)

  • MS «Bjørnvåg» (Casual fine dining with focus on seasonal raw materials. Tasting menu only. The dishes might initially seem like simple dishes when first served, but really is the result of excellent skills by the chef in handling some extraordinary raw materials. A unique experience, not just because of the food, but also the people working there and the ambiance of the place. )
  • Restaurant Smak (Fine dining. Tasting menu only. Almost (in my opinion) 1 michelin star quality, especially if compared to the typical michelin stared restaurants in the mediterranean countries (Spain, Italy). Recommendation: Full tasting menu)
  • Mathallen (Fine dining. A small a la carte menu available for lunch and dinner. Tasting menu available and recommended. Bonus recommendation: their hamburger is really good (only available for lunch).)
  • Risø mat & kaffebar (Coffee shop with lunch and breakfast. Recommendation: Omelette with goat cheese, walnuts and honey. Bonus recommendation: Amazing homemade cinnamon roll/bun. Really. You should take a detour just to try their cinnamon roll. So good!)
  • Hildr Gastro Bar (This is the go-to-place for sharing plates of food in Tromsø. Tasting menu available. Recommendation: For two persons, order 4-6 different plates of food and share (~2-3 plates of food per person). )
  • Fiskekompaniet (Seafood restaurant. The quality here vary, but at their best, they are really great at what they do: preparing fresh and clean seafood. Only place in Tromsø which always offers a wide variety of shellfish such as crab (king and snow), oysters, lobster, prawns, mussels etc. Recommendation: The Seafood Platter – usually contains a selection of some/all the above)
  • Arctandria (Seafood restaurant of Skarven. I only go here for their dried and/or dried and salted cod. Recommendations: Try the stockfish, clipfish or the boknafish (all are varieties of dried and/or dried and salted cod). My favorite is the boknafish. Bonus recommendation for dessert: Kalvedans (first milk pudding) with cinnamon, sugar and milk (not always available))
  • Helmersen Delikatesser (Great sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. Great small dishes after 15:00 for dinner or as snack. Probably the best place in Tromsø for natural wine)
  • Nitty Gritty (Great food for dinner. Skilled chefs which you can tell really care about the food and the guests. Some dishes here might even get a foodie excited)

Medium quality restaurants

Top medium (These restaurants are solid and have decent quality food. But if you’re a foodie, you will probably not be very excited after a meal here.)

 

  • Bardus Bistro (Lunch and dinner. Small menu changing monthly. Great food with a variety of styles. Recommendation: Barley risotto (not always on the menu))
  • Burgr (Probably the best hamburger place in Tromsø, and a bit different from other «best» hamburger places elsewhere. Their fries are incredible, but controversial (some of my friends agree, some don’t). Varying quality depending on which chef is on, which is a shame. If it weren’t for this they would be on the top list.)
  • Casa Inferno (Best pizza in Tromsø – by far. Woodfired owen. I really enjoy this pizza, but can’t compete with the best places in e.g. Oslo)
  • Presis Tapas (Tapas. Recommendation: Cured reindeer)
  • Emmas Drømmekjøkken (The same as Emmas Under. They are not as good as they used to be with extremely varying quality. A very famous restaurant in Tromsø. Tasting menu available. Worth a visit for their «Emma’s fish au gratin» (fiskegrateng) which is their staple lunch. Also try their clip fish (dried and salted fish – usually cod). They are also famous for their lutefisk (seasonal dish – served from ~autumn until Christmas))
  • Kafe Globus (Different food from Africa, Middle East etc.. Some of the dishes are quite good.)
  • Suvi (Decent Asian/Vietnamese. I only eat their vietnamese stuff, which is not the greates, but sometimes I crave bún thịt nướng, and Suvi has a decent one.)
  • Søstrene Ingebrigtsen (Butcher shop with sandwiches where you choose your own filling. Sometimes the bread is a bit dry.)
  • Art Cafe (Solid homemade food. Best homemade, and only (as far as I know), ravioli in Tromsø. Very good bread.)

Bottom medium (While the following of the «medium» restaurants are not necessarily bad, there are much better alternatives above.)

  • Rå Sushi (Not great sushi, but probably the best in Tromsø.)
  • Graffi Grill (Food from the grill. Decent place for a large group with widely different food preferences.)
  • Kaffebønna (Local coffee chain. Decent panini, but overpriced. If you’re used to good croissants, don’t buy it here. I really like the glasses they use for their cortado – I keep coming back for that.)
  • Elefant (Indian/Pakistani. Decent flavored paneer dish which is listed as spicy, but is not. Dry chicken and compact naan bread. I’d say way overpriced. As an example: 2 main dishes + 2 naan, extra mango chutney, one coke and a beer: ~800 NOK.)
  • Blårock Cafe (OK hamburgers, bad fries. Nice selection of beers.)
  • T-Tapas (Tapas. Can’t compete with Presis)
  • Skirri (Tourist Trap with medium quality food)
  • Kitchen & Table (Hotel chain restaurant (Marcus Samuelsson) with varying quality. Some of the food is decent, some is bland and boring. )
  • Kala (Only place regularly serving ramen in downtown Tromsø. Got some decent plates of food, but their sushi is substandard. )
  • Asian Healthy Foods (Surprisingly decent Thai food.)
  • Roast
  • Compagniet Restaurant
  • Steakers
  • Huken Pub (Baked potato and pancake place for late night snack. )
  • Torghuken Sør (Baked potato and pancake place for late night snack.)
  • Biffhuset (Steakhouse of Skarven. )
  • Pastafabrikken (pasta and pizza place)
  • Indie (Indian food. Same owner as Steakers, Pastafabrikken and T Tapas. Much more juicy chicken than Elefant. )
  • Cous (Neighbourhood restaurant with a varied menu. Decent take away pizza. )

Poor quality/tourist traps

    • Tangs (Chinese)
    • Yonas Pizza
    • Egon
    • Kaia Bar & Bistro (Pub/bar serving “Traditional and authentic food” during the day. There’s nothing traditional and authentic about this place, except for the beer they serve.)
    • O’Learys (Irish(?)-American sports bar chain. Good place to watch football and have a beer, though.)
    • Peppes Pizza (Fast food pizza chain)
    • Studentsamfunnet Driv (The student house. Nice place to have a beer in the evening. Perhaps the largest organizer of concerts and cultural events in Northern-Norway, so definitely check them out, just not for food.)
    • Sushi Point

Not yet placed on a list (I’ve not eaten here or been too long .)

  • Full steam (recently opened restaurant and experience center. Serving mostly seafood like whale, seal and stockfish. Small menu. They have stated that they will have ramen every saturday soon. Will definitely check out the ramen when they start serving it.)
  • Agenturet (Wine and beer bar serving lunch)
  • Prelaten Kro og Scene (Mostly a bar.)
  • Flavours Café & Restaurant (African food. They recently moved from Tromsdalen to downtown Tromsø. Might have closed down.)
  • Charlys (Hotel restaurant. Not recommended by friends already visited)
  • Flyt (Bar with hamburgers)
  • DuVerden

Upcoming restaurants

  • Norø (Opening March 2019. Cocktail bar with small dishes.)
  • Lotus (Closed for restoration March 2019. Previous placement on the list: poor restaurants. Will open again with a new menu serving dim sum and noodle soups. Hopefully they will be able to take a few steps up the list. On the other hand, if they only serve reheated frozen dim sum bought in bulk (which is far more frequent than what one might expect) they will stay at the very bottom of the list.)

Closed restaurants

  • Barents Sea Restaurant and Bar (Closed winter 2019. Bankrupt. I’ve not eaten here. Owned and operated by someone owning and operating other tourist shops in Tromsø. This is a shady place. Stay away. Most likely shut down – no activity there since late December 2018.)
  • Arctic Asian Restaurant (Closed autumn 2018. I’ve not eaten here. Owned and/or operated by the same as above. Opened around the same time as Barents Sea Restaurant and Bar. This restaurant went bankrupt around a year ago due to poor food and no guests. My forecast is that they will again shortly. Stay away.)
  • Aunegården (Went bankrupt June 2018)
  • Circa (Hip bar serving pizza during the day/early evening. Extremely good value for money. The space they occupied will be taken over by Presis (find them at the top medium quality restaurants). Same owners.)
  • Da Pinocchio (Closed spring 2019. Most likely due to slow business. Previous placement on the list: poor restaurants)