Nordis Restaurant Svolvær — Restaurant in Vågan

Before booking a table at Du Verden, I was extremely uncertain, given how many disappointed reviews that I read; which ultimately proved to be warranted. However, I wanted to ensure I could eat somewhere outside my hotel.

Despite the signage at the entrance to Du Verden, the staff do not expect anyone to book a table. While those who simply turn up can seat themselves, those who have booked need to wait to be seated. However, the staff chose to simply walk around in their other tasks, ignoring waiting patrons. This was probably the sign to leave immediately, but eventually got the attention of one of the staff.

Whether it is usually the case, I don't know, but at least now, ordering food and drink is done via Du Verden's website, which sounds fine in theory, except for the shortcomings, including:

. No automatic email / SMS order confirmation . The wait staff have no idea whether and what each table has ordered . The wait staff not being responsible for particular tables or areas, and showing no desire to check how patrons are faring . All in all, an ordering service with no great deal of actual service

Bizarrely, you can choose to give a tip when ordering - before you have received any service. Thank goodness I did not fall for that. Despite the shortcomings, it was at least easy enough to navigate the ordering system and to pay.

In the end, I chose a Nordlandspils, Fish & Chips (battered cod, remulade, råkost and fries), and Creme Brulee.

The beer came out quickly, and went down quite nicely; although I did ration it to last the length of the meal; which was much longer than possibly imagined.

The fish and chips came out after what felt like too long, and I saw a good-looking slab of battered fish settled on top of straggly, dry-looking fries (only saved by dunking in the remulade) and saturated råkost. On average the fries and råkost had an appropriate level of moisture, but as individual components, they did nothing for me. The fish itself was quite good, although I never resolved whether a thinner batter or a tastier batter would have better lifted the fish.

Then came some serious waiting. I am no expert in food preparation times, but eventually I began to seriously wonder where my dessert was. Again, with the staff not actually waiting tables, there was no one checking with me how my meal was going, or that I could easily grab the attention of.

Some 2 hours after having ordered, I finally got the attention of one of the staff as they were returning from delivering meals to the adjoining table. Per the above, they were of course entirely oblivious that I had ordered dessert. I don’t know if they checked, because they didn't come back to give an update. But as I had already paid for it, I also didn't intend to simply leave. Sometime later that staff member did come back to find me still sitting there and asked whether I had received the dessert. And again, the evidence suggests that there is no responsibility. Finally, after over 2.5 hours from ordering, the dessert arrived along with the most meaningless apology for the wait.

The creme brulee itself, topped with berries, was actually quite enjoyable. However, as the closing time was fast approaching, and I had quite frankly had enough of the experience, I ate it much more quickly than allowed for proper enjoyment of the dessert. The upside, at least, of having already paid and the lack of interaction by the staff with patrons, meant that I could simply walk out when I was finished.

Having already removed customer service from the responsibility of the wait staff, perhaps the restaurant should keep going down that route and require patrons to collect their food and drink orders themselves. I can't speak to how the staff themselves find their jobs, but as a patron, this experience from underwhelming.

The short story is that I won't be returning to this restaurant when I am in Svolvær next time, nor will I be actively seeking out their restaurants in other cities when...

Too many amazing things to say about Du Verden! The atmosphere was so beautiful and Christmasy! I ordered the Mixed plate Christmas Dinner with ribs and lamb. I haven’t had anything so delicious and so well prepared in…. I can’t remember when! The flavors and textures were wonderful. And I can’t forget the “christmas sauce”! The chef was kind enough to tell me what ingredients to use so I can make it once I get home! There were nine components and two sauces in this dish, which meant your taste buds never got bored! Additionally, the service was wonderful! The night I dined almost every single table in the restaurant was full (with appropriate capicity regulations in place obviously) and there was only one server who was also the hostess. There was also only one chef in the kitchen, but it seemed they never fell behind! The server (I wish I could remember her name!! She had blonde hair) had a smile that never left her eyes (I say eyes because she was wearing a mask, but you can still tell by someone’s eyes when they’re smiling) even when every single table that she sat (including me :/) asked to be seated elsewhere for a view or some other reason. It’s very rare that you find a restaurant that checks all of the boxes, but DV definitely did! I went home so full that even my stretchy pants were screaming! Thank you for such a wonderful dining experience, I can’t wait to return...

Blended feelings, we found a table and found out we had to go get the menu's ourself and then when we found something to order we did not get table service... we had to go down to the register and make the order, witch is strange for a fine resturante, the service was poor, had to pay before we got the food and i never give tip if i dont know if the service is going to be good or if the food is going to be good, so i think you loose a lot of cash from that strange system, most resturants allways take payment after the we are finnished and have a full opinion on the experience. We ordered hamburgers witch was delivered fast ! And tasted amazing, great aioli dip, the taste of the food and speed of the delivery is whar gives the 3 stars, other than that we asked one of the staff for water and she said we had to go down and get it ourselfs in a frige.... wow, never been in a resturant where you had to get everything yourself... will not go here again just for the service, there is a lot of amazing places to eat in...