The food

We certainly had some different food on our holiday. When I visited Norway in 1974 the only food we ate out were some wonderful prawn open sandwiches. Now these delicacies seem to have disappeared. (Food & safety gone mad perhaps.)  Otherwise we cooked & ate in the house my father rented while he was working there. I remember the quality of the meats were exceptional even if they were expensive. So it was with great optimism I looked forward to having what I thought would be good traditional Norwegian food, with probably an emphasis on fish & seafood – something I love. Our only other Norwegian experience was our cruise last year to Norway but there the food was essentially English designed to be eaten by predominantly British passengers.

Some things we did enjoy. The simply cooked Arctic char was beautiful, not dissimilar to the Windermere/Coniston char we’ve had here. Beetroot seemed to be a favoured vegetable, again something to which I’m partial.

At the hotel, in the afternoon, there was free make-your-own waffles. I’ve never used a waffle iron before or had waffles. These made a delicious snack, especially with the raspberry jam, more like a homemade jam than the sort you usually buy from shops here.

Our first doubts arose when we were offered “pigs’ wings” for dinner at the hotel – there was no other choice except for having a salad. Personally I had no idea pigs had wings but that was the translation. Even having tried some I still have no idea what part of the anatomy of a pig they come from. I manage mine but the Fox just found them utterly disgusting, on a par with pig’s snout. And that was before he fell ill & lost his appetite. It’s the one day we just had to find somewhere else to eat - no mean task when most of the restaurants were either full or upstairs without a lift. It was with relief we discovered on our return from the cruise, the hotel clearly did not repeat the same menu week in week out. We were not offered more pigs’ wings.

I did try reindeer on ship. It is something I wouldn’t hesitate to try again. It was a far milder taste than that of venison which I’d assumed it would be like.

All sorts of things came pickled. I enjoyed the pickled fennel & the soused herrings.

Fruit appeared as part of many meals including the meat/fish courses.  I was disappointed by the flavour of cloudberries, but the lingonberries were fine.

The thing that really got me down was the raw fish. I’m happy to have it smoked or pickled. I will eat gravlax but a two inch chunk of raw mackerel I couldn’t bring myself to even try. Just watching a fellow diner at the table was enough for me as he chewed away before spitting it out in disgust.  One day the starter for dinner involved an inch thick piece of raw salmon. I had a go. I can just about manage it if the fish is sliced paper thin as the Japanese tend to but not in a great lump like this. I soon abandoned it.

On the whole I was very disappointed by the standard of the food on ship. Even when we had what should have been a nice slice of roast lamb or slow-cooked pork shoulder, it was bland & tasteless. The fish was generally better.

I suppose I have to admit both breakfast & lunch was spoilt for me by the scrum involved with the self-serve buffet. There was barely room for two people in the space between the bars of food. People were constantly stepping back onto me in my wheelchair. I couldn’t even see what was in the soup tureen as I was too low down. Most of the food was lukewarm at best. I kept finding myself wondering why I was bothering to even try to get food. The Fox most of the time was too ill in our cabin to assist me in this ordeal. Even some of the evening meals were buffet meals & so ordeals too. When I breakfasted with the priest fromHonningsvåg I was reassured even he, a Norwegian, felt the food was poor on board ship.

At the end of the day my food memories of Norway are now tarnished. Full marks for the char but that was about it. Some of it was just too disgusting for my English palette.