The summer stalls
King crab and salmon laid out on ice.
Nik — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wolfmann — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · trolvag — CC BY-SA 3.0
Walk two streets back from the quay. The side lanes off Bryggen and the streets behind the market hold restaurants the city's own people use at roughly half what the market asks, and the catch is the same because the supply is the same. Try the fish soup as well — Bergen's traditional dish — or fiskekaker, fried fish cakes, a cheap meal sold in several shops. And note that alcohol is served in most Norwegian restaurants; ask what is in the sauces if that matters to you.
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The fish market stands at the head of Vågen, the harbour inlet where the boats tie up, and fish has been sold on this spot since the thirteenth century — since Bergen was Norway's largest city and the northern hub of Hanseatic trade. The market today has two forms. The open stalls on the quay run in summer only, and they are the scene you see in photographs: king crab, lobster and salmon laid out on ice. Beside them is Mathallen, the covered food hall opened in 2012, which works all year and holds small restaurants that cook what you pick. Be realistic about it: this is a market that lives on visitors, its prices are clearly above any ordinary restaurant in the city, and vendors quote by the kilo so a bill climbs fast. Ask the price before anything goes on a plate. **Whale meat is sold here** alongside the seafood.
King crab and salmon laid out on ice.
Covered, open all year, cooking what you choose.
Torget, 5014 Bergen