Food and drink in Tromsø

Visit Tromsø describes northern Norwegian food as local and sustainable, with ingredients from the coast to the mountain plateau. In practice that means a lot of cod, plus king crab and reindeer. From January to April it is also the season for skrei, the cod that comes to the coast to spawn.

Skrei, the winter cod

Skrei is the name for the large Atlantic cod that migrates from the Barents Sea to the coast of northern Norway to spawn. The Norwegian Seafood Council gives the season for fresh skrei as January to April. Visit Norway says the fish are particularly abundant off Lofoten, Senja and Vesterålen in those months. If you visit between January and April, look for it on the menu as a fresh fish dish.

Stockfish, clipfish and bacalao

Northern Norway has two ways of preserving cod, and they are easy to mix up.

• Stockfish (tørrfisk) is usually made from skrei. The fish is hung on racks and dries naturally in the open air. The racks are found all over northern Norway, most of all in Lofoten and Vesterålen. Stockfish is one of Norway's oldest exports.
• Clipfish (klippfisk) is salted first and then dried. It used to be laid out on flat rocks by the sea; today the drying is done indoors.

In Tromsø, Visit Norway points to Vertshuset Skarven, where stockfish is served the traditional way with mashed carrots and bacon. Bacalao is the other dish that uses dried cod. Visit Norway describes it as a tomato-based stew with vegetables and clipfish, and notes that it is also often made from stockfish. Together with fish soup, it is one of the cheaper traditional dishes you will find in northern Norway.

Fish soup

Visit Norway recommends fiskesuppe (fish soup) as a budget option, and Visit Tromsø's list of local food places says the fish soup at Skarven provides warmth on a cold day. Several of the fishing trips from Tromsø serve fish soup on board, which is an easy way to try it after a few hours on the water.

King crab

Visit Tromsø's list of local food places includes Fiskekompaniet, which serves everything from king crab to cod. According to Visit Norway, king crab is usually served plain with melted butter and chives. It is not a native species. According to the Institute of Marine Research (Havforskningsinstituttet), Russian scientists released king crabs into the Murmansk fjord in the 1960s to create a new fishery. It is caught with pots, mainly in the fjords and coastal waters of East Finnmark. Our page on fishing and king crab trips covers the boat trips where you see the pots hauled up.

Reindeer and bidus

Reindeer meat is the starting point for many traditional Sámi dishes. The best known is bidus (also written bidos), a slow-cooked soup of reindeer meat, carrots and potatoes that is typically served at Sámi weddings and other celebrations. Reindeer is also served at some of the best restaurants in the region, for example as carpaccio or fillet.

Evenings at a reindeer camp with a bidos dinner are listed on tromso-reindeer.com.

Whale meat

Whale meat is legally on some menus in Norway. Norway has objected to the international moratorium on commercial whaling and, according to the Norwegian government, is therefore not bound by it. Whether to try it is a personal decision.

Where to eat

We do not test restaurants, so we only pass on what Visit Tromsø lists in its guide to local food. One of the places it names is Mathallen, a restaurant that is also a shop for locally produced food; Mathallen describes its own cooking as northern Norwegian, based on local Arctic ingredients. The same list includes Bardus Bistro, Fiskekompaniet, Maskinverkstedet, Helmersen Delikatesser, Skirri, Smak, Hildr Gastro Bar, Skarven and Emma's Drømmekjøkken. Check each restaurant's own site for opening hours.

For a beer, Ølhallen on Storgata opened in 1928 in the cellar of the Mack brewery and is described by Arctic Norway as the town's oldest pub. Mack itself was founded in 1877 by Ludwig Markus Mack.

Tasting tours

If you would rather try several things in one go, the walking tours below are built around tasting. The food walk starts at the Arctic Hunter statue on Stortorget and lasts three hours, with 12–15 tastings along the way plus water and coffee or tea; alcohol costs extra. The operator says the menu may change with the season. The beer safari starts at the Tromsø Visitor Centre at Samuel Arnesens gate 5 at 14:45 and takes about three hours. It visits three bars with a guide, with ten local beers and Arctic tapas such as reindeer carpaccio or cold-smoked salmon.

Buying alcohol

Beer is sold in all grocery shops, but not for as long as the shops are open. In Tromsø the sales hours for beer are Monday to Friday 10:00–20:00 and Saturday 10:00–18:00. Most shops and supermarkets are closed on Sundays, although a few grocery shops open every day. Normal grocery hours are Monday to Friday 08:00–23:00 and Saturday 08:00–22:00, so you can still buy food after the beer counter has closed.

Wine and spirits are only sold at Vinmonopolet. Tromsø has three shops, each in a shopping centre: Jekta near the airport, Nerstranda in the centre and Pyramiden on the mainland side of the bridge. Visit Tromsø gives the hours as Monday to Friday 10:00–18:00 and Saturday 10:00–16:00; check the official site before you go, as individual shops can differ. Vinmonopolet is closed on Sundays and public holidays, and on the day before a Sunday or holiday it closes at 16:00.

The minimum age is 18 for beer and wine and 20 for spirits.

Water, tipping and paying

You do not need to buy bottled water. Visit Tromsø says the tap water is very pure and often of better quality than bottled water.

Tipping is common in Norway but not expected. If you are happy with the service in a restaurant or bar, around 10 per cent is considered a standard tip. It is less usual to tip taxi drivers. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club are widely accepted, and our page with practical tips has more on cash and payment.