Dampsentralen — Restaurant in Ålesund

My husband and I visited Dampssentralen on 25 June 2025, but unfortunately, our experience was quite disappointing.

When we first arrived, we expected to be greeted and seated. Instead, we stood for several minutes while the waiters, who clearly saw us, continued serving other tables without acknowledging us. Even a simple “We’ll be with you shortly” would have been enough, but no one said anything. We were close to leaving because of this lack of basic courtesy, but decided to give the place one more chance and found ourselves a table.

After sitting for a while without being offered menus, my husband eventually went to get them himself. A waiter then came over and took our order. We both ordered Caesar salad.

We waited about 30 minutes for the food, and when it finally arrived, there was no cutlery. The waiter said he would bring it right away, but never returned. My husband was about to ask again when another waiter eventually brought it over.

Overall, the service felt inattentive and disrespectful, which overshadowed the meal itself. Sadly, we left with a poor impression...

A bit pricey, BUT ‼️‼️‼️ Amazing gluten free pizza (the dough was great, which is the biggest issue in most places) and also separately - amazing vegan pizza (with nicely melted vegan cheese which again is the biggest issue in most places)👌 Super staff - especially the Dutch guy who normally lives in Chille (forgot to ask for the name during the whole interesting conversation we had) - thank you for being so helpful and kind with our dietary needs, so friendly and chatty, you made our experience great 🙏 Chill atmosphere with good music choices 🙌 (Fyi - we paid €140 for 3 pizzas and 5 beers +10% tip, but that's just Norwegian prices...

Had the salad of the day, it was a salad with entrecôte meat and a balsamic vinegar sauce. By the gods, it was the absolute best salad - no, best DISH that I've had in a longggg time. I also had a taste of the caprese salad, and it was absolutely delicious too. To top it off, ordered a chocolate mousse for dessert - and of course, excellent as well. Nothing in the restaurant was negative in any way, from the music to the service to even the waiting time. All in all, definitely a 5 star...