Where to Eat in Longyearbyen

On a remote island in the Arctic Circle halfway between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole, where do the ~2,000 residents go out to eat? Would it surprise you to know one restaurant has a wine cellar with 20,000+ bottles?

There are a handful of restaurants in Longyearbyen, but I am only going to discuss three.

For our breakfast in the morning, we enjoyed coffee and pastries in Rabalder Café and Bakery, a cozy coffee shop with delicious food and drink. Baristas are pro here and the fruit smoothies and fresh-baked cookies are amazing.

Our favorite restaurant, however, was Kroa. We returned back from Pyramiden around 10:30p and were famished, having not had anything since breakfast. We walked into town and added our name to the waiting list — it would be about an hour before our table was ready. That seemed like a lot on a late Saturday evening when we were so hungry, but it was definitely worth the wait.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was amazing: a hip Norwegian hunting lodge with seats covered in animal skins and a long wooden tables. My uncle loved his steak and my cheeseburger was phenomenal.

The restaurant was just packed and I can see why. Lucky also enjoyed it.

The Norwegians ladies I walked around Pyramiden with highly recommended a restaurant called Huset. This is the “fine dining” restaurant in Longyearbyen and the one with the 20,000+ bottle of wine collection I mentioned in my opening paragraph. If I return to Svalbard, I look forward to trying Huset.

CONCLUSION

Don’t think just because you are on a remote island there will not be good food. With a big Thai population, there is also more reasonably priced Thai takeaway and a full-stocked grocery store if my somewhat pricey recommendations above don’t appeal to you. I was surprised at how great the food was on Svalbard.

6 Comments

Joanna Reply

July 19, 2017 at 5:36 pm

we were there last summer and we were amazed how great food was. Pyramiden trip was a blast too.
I think we had drinks in ice liquor glasses on our way there.
DaninMCI Reply

July 19, 2017 at 8:02 pm

The bar looks like the one in the Walter Mitty movie 🙂
Great post btw.
- Matthew Reply
  
  July 20, 2017 at 3:59 am
  
  Thanks!
Ben Reply

July 20, 2017 at 4:17 am

Hi Matthew
Im packing for my Svalbard trip tonight. How cold was it there and pyramiden? Will I need thermals or is a t-shirt, jumper and medium-weight jacket sufficient? Will I need a beanie?
Thanks
- Matthew Reply
  
  July 20, 2017 at 4:34 am
  
  It never dipped below 40ºF while I was in Pyramiden. It dropped to the high 30ºs my final day in Longyearbyen. I was fine without thermals, though I think they would have been comfortable. Beanie was not needed accept during the gusty boat trip to Pyramiden (though thermal suits were provided onboard boat).
John Reply

July 20, 2017 at 12:54 pm

The breakfast buffet at the Radisson Blu is extensive and quite good. It is included in most or all of the room rates.