Happy Elefante - Bar, Grill & Music — Restaurant in Ålesund

We arrived in Ålesund hungry after being on the road the whole day. We searched for a restaurant to eat at for an hour. Eventually we asked a local who highly recomended Happy Elefante. What a mistake that was. When we entered the restaurant we we’re barely given a greeting or a welcome from the personel. Instead of showing us to our table, the staff nonchalantly pointed at a table in the corner and said ”you can sit there”. When we sat down at the table we could feel in our stomach’s that something wasn’t right. We should have listened to that feeling.

We ordered the burgers and some coke. The staff didn’t understand norwegian very good so we had to go with english, which they barely understood aswell. The wait for the food wasn’t that bad, and when the food came in it showed why. The burgers were obviously half-fabricate, and the pommes-frites to. The ”dip”, which was just some burger dressing, came in a plastic cup with a lid. What serious restaurant serves their dip in a plastic cup? My friend’s cup with dip barely contained enough dip for 3 fries. When he asked for another cup, the staff didn’t understand english and thaught he wanted an extra cup of dip and said that they will charge extra for it.

The burger tasted like it showed; bland and grey. We looked at eachother and laughed. Honestly Burger King or McDonalds is better, and with the price in mind, you’re better of eating there. We knew Norway is expensive, but 285 kr for that burger and 65 kr for a can of cake should be criminal. They should be ashamed for serving that.

Lastly the vibe of the place was catastrophic. The music was the kind you hear in an elevator. The tables were sticky and the menus had old food stain’s on them. The light in the bathroom didn’t work so it went black every other minute. I don’t understand the people who have given this place a rating over 1/5. They must be living a miserable life to have enjoyed that experience. Me and my friends felt dirty after that visit.

Save your time and spend your money elsewhere, I can garantuee it...

It’s 4pm, me and my pals leaves the wonderful Loen with its breathtaking fjords in our campervan. Excited and very hungry we set of the wheel to Ålesund to spend the night finding a good place to eat. We talked to some locals and got a good understanding of what the city had to offer in terms of food. It was rather fish, asian food or hamburger, and as burger experts we could not resist to try the talk of the town: Happy Elephante.

With big smiles on our faces we stepped in and were greeted by a guy who pointed towards a table where we could sit. We ordered three burgers, and they were not cheap, 300nok, so we had big hopes.

After around 30 minutes we got our food, or left overs to be more accurate , with dip served in a plastic container, mine was half the size my friends dip, so I askes politely if I could get a new one, they answered ”then we’ll have to charge you an extra 40 nok” to get a dip the size that I ordered, the same size as my friends, top quality service right there! Moving on to the burger, we encountered dry frosen meat, no seasoning what so ever, soggy and old salad, a bun that tasted like it belonged to a cheap dessert, funky and mushy fries with a dip served in a plastic container on a plate on the side. Minutes after I finished the so called burger, I was forced to spend the following 20 minutes sick in the bathroom at the resturang. No one of the staff asked us if we enjoyed the food or not, no one showed any signs of what regular service stands for. This was a total embaressment to the whole of Ålesund.

This resturant, became the reason for us to evacuate the city the same night, to go sleep in the middle of nowhere and eat canned tuna to finish the night of, (The tuna tasted better and was 15 times cheaper and with better service and atmosphere.)

So for your own safety, PLEASE! dont visit this resturant, it’s a total scam.

P.S pictures on the food that shows on google, is years old and do not represent what they’re...

We ordered BBQ spareribs, salmon and wings as a starter. Starter was supposed to come before the main dishes - it came all together and everything was almost cold. We also waited a long time. The biggest issue with the food is that it doesn't have any flavour, just like if the chef/cook had never heard of seasoning, salt. Ribs were overcooked and tasted only like cold bbq sauce. Salad on the side was absolutely bad, It consisted of some greens completely submerged in dressing. Fries were cold, dry and without salt. The only "good" thing was corn, only because it is acceptable without any additive like butter or salt, which it didn't have. Still a huge downside. Salmon was way overcooked and completely lacked any taste and seasoning. The sauce for the fish was absolutely bland, not to mention the fact that in the menu it never says it is served in sauce. Combination of certain vegetables with cream based sauce didn't go well either. Wings were cooked quite ok inside BUT... cold and soaked in SOUR sauce, which we did not expect. Dip and veggies are a nice touch, but do not save the dish at all. It might be a coincidence OR NOT, but 1hour after the food, one of us got very upset stomach. Portion size was OK, waiters/waitresses were very kind. For the money we spend, it was an...