Smorgasbord

In his guidebook, travel writer Rick Steves recommends that anyone staying overnight in Balestrand should splurge and have the smorgasbord at the grand old Kviknes Hotel.  He says that it is one of the best in Scandinavia.  (Technically, "smorgasbord" is a Swedish word, but this kind of buffet is found throughout the Scandinavian countries.)

So, last night I went to the Kviknes for supper.  The dining room is certainly elegant and has a wonderful view of the fjord.  

The selection of food on the food is enormous.  Even I, notorious as a big eater, would never be able to sample everything.  This being Scandinavia, the emphasis was more on fish and seafood  than on meat.  Seafood is not my favorite, but I took a bit of salmon poached in wine, salmon and goat cheese rolled up in a pancake, trout and smoked halibut.  The only thing I disliked was the smoked halibut.  I'm glad that I had tried reindeer the previous night, because surprisingly there was none on the buffet.

The bill for one person was around $70 US.  Was it worth it?  I really don't think so.  Although most everything was tasty, I wasn't in ecstasy over the food.  The one dish that stands out in my mind as really delicious was the potato stew.  (I guess I'm just the sort of person that likes peasant cooking!)  I don't regret having gone there, but I prefer the homey little place where I had reindeer.