The highlight of my trip was a visit to the fjords - they are truly stunning and a site to be seen in person. Most people do the "Norway in a Nutshell" track where you take a combination of trains and ferries from Oslo to Bergen to take in the sights. It's basically you and a thousand tourists taking the same route across the fjords, which is fine but a bit annoying. Most people transfer at the Flam station to either catch the train back to Oslo or the ferries onward to the fjords.
Flam is definitely one of the more developed villages along the fjords but even then I was still surprised that when we got off at the station that there was a mini food truck situation. There is a Thai food truck, seafood food truck, hot dog stand, ice cream and a crepe stand. So a pretty decent line-up of food. I, of course, go straight for the seafood one. They had a giant seafood paella pan, fish and chips and other varieties of seafood dishes. I saw that they had a green mussel plate and I had to get it because they are one of my favorite seafood dishes. Unlike the common black mussels, the green New Zealand ones are usually much plumper and filling. I got a plate of them (149 Krone = $18 USD) and they were covered in a curry cream sauce (I should have asked for it on the side). While the mussels were meaty and satisfying, texture wise they were a bit tough and old - you could kind of tell that they had been sitting in that vat of curry sauce for a while. But hey, I'm in the middle of nowhere Norway, I can't complain too much about it.
I was still a bit hungry, so I searched the grounds for another snack. Strangely, hot dogs are all the rage in Scandinavia (I noticed that when I was in Iceland a few years ago). Since I never got one while I was in Copenhagen, I figured that I might as well give it a go here. It's an expensive street dog at $8 USD and it wasn't anything mind blowing but it did taste a bit less processed than the ones back home. It was more along the lines of a home made pork sausage than a ballpark frank.
If you're doing the whole Norway in a Nutshell thing, definitely bring some snacks with you but rest assured that when you get to Flam, you will have some interesting food truck options, even if they are a bit overpriced.
Gekkens Holmen 15, 6899 Balestrand, Norway 3.5 Forks
Finally, after 2 trains and a boat, we arrived in stunning Balestrand. It's a tiny village off the fjord with less than 800 people - I'm generally not a nature person but this place was really really special. There is absolutely nothing to do there but to take in the beauty.
Unfortunately, that also means that there's not much to eat either. We stayed in a super cute "hotel" that was more like a B&B which didn't have a on site restaurant. I think the girl who checked us in mentioned that there were literally 3 restaurants in town. After looking at the menus, they were pretty much all the same and within 5 minutes of each other. We picked Gekkens because it looked to be the most veggie friendly.
It was totally packed when we got there but since it was pretty cold there, we were able to get a table outside (they provide wool blankets for you). The place is very mom & pop (as is everything in town) and was run by what looked to be a Thai family? It felt like you were having dinner in someone's home which was nice. The menu was as expected in a place like this - pretty basic - some local fish and meatball dishes and randomly pizza. I opted for the fish soup (89 Krone = $11 USD) and the cod while Lav got a veggie pizza and fries (again, life saver on the trip).
Norway is known for their fish soup, which is why I got it here and to be honest, it wasn't all that. I had expected it to be a chunky chowder or stew but this was watery, thin and heavy on the celery and carrots instead of fish. As for the cod dish, the fish itself was fine, it was similar to the cod I get at Trader Joe's and it was covered in a cream sauce. The dish was served with steamed broccoli (maybe the first green I had seen on this trip in a while), carrots and potatoes and a very small garden salad with 1,000 Island dressing on it. Given how low of an expectation I had, the meal was totally fine - it actually was a meal that reminded me of what a Norweigan would eat at home.
Luckily, you aren't coming to Balestrand for the culinary scene - you just need food that doesn't suck and will last you through the day. The highlight was actually the fries, which I think were essentially frozen ones they bought at the grocery store next door but they were the yummy crinkle cut kind and it was sprinkled with some chili flakes to give it some heat. The waitress was very nice and I liked that it was a family affair here. I'm sure it can't be easy to run a restaurant in a tiny town with the limited supplies and ingredients they get but if you're in Balestrand for more than a few days, I'm sure you'll end up here at some point. We had originally wanted to go to the Cider House, which was set on a orchard but they were closed for dinner, so do your research before you go so that you're not disappointed. Total bill: 340 Krone = $40 USD
Photo Credit: TripAdvisor
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