1877

1877 occupies the old Kjøttbasaren, the cast-iron meat market that opened at the foot of the Fløibanen funicular in the 1870s and gives the restaurant its name. The dining room opened here in 2013 and has become the city-centre's default serious-but-relaxed destination, a high-ceilinged modern-Norwegian room a short walk from the fish market.

Head chef Nikolas S. Carlsen, who came by way of Credo in Trondheim and Re-naa in Stavanger, runs a short à la carte alongside a “Kitchen's Choice” set menu at 995 NOK. The cooking is modern-Norwegian built on Western-Norway produce: a main of fish with beetroot, apple and beurre noisette at 469 NOK, and chicken with cabbage purée, oyster mushroom and lingonberry jus at 485 NOK, with scallop and langoustine among the openers.

The room is long and loud in a good way. Vaulted ceilings, long wooden tables, a centrepiece bar. And welcomes parties of six, eight, or twelve in a way the tasting-menu rooms around the corner do not. The upstairs mezzanine holds private dining for up to eighteen.

The wine list is strong on small producers from Germany, Austria, and the Jura, with a serious Burgundy section and a well-priced by-the-glass range. Pacing is quicker than at Lysverket. A two-hour dinner is entirely possible.

1877 is Bergen's team dinner. The long high-ceilinged room handles groups the tasting rooms cannot. The sharing-friendly menu suits a table that wants to order broadly and pass plates. The acoustics let colleagues actually talk. And the bill, without wine, sits around 900 NOK a head once a main and a course either side are in, roughly what a Bergen team dinner should cost.

Not for a tasting-menu occasion or a quiet table for two — 1877 is a long, loud, group-friendly hall, and the hushed fine-dining register belongs to rooms a few streets away such as Lysverket. It is also not the cheapest night out in Bergen; the set menu is 995 NOK before wine.

Who is the chef at 1877? The head chef is Nikolas S. Carlsen, who trained at Credo in Trondheim and Re-naa in Stavanger before taking the kitchen. The restaurant was founded in 2013 by Christer Økland and partners from the Cornelius seafood group, and still sits within that Bergen restaurant family.

What does dinner at 1877 cost? The à la carte mains run 469 to 485 NOK — fish with beetroot, apple and beurre noisette, or chicken with cabbage purée and lingonberry jus — and the “Kitchen's Choice” set menu is 995 NOK per person. Without wine, a full dinner lands around 900 NOK a head.

Where is 1877 and is it good for groups? It is in the Kjøttbasaren market hall at Vetrlidsallmenningen 2, at the foot of the Fløibanen funicular in central Bergen. The long vaulted room and an upstairs mezzanine seat parties of six, eight or twelve, with private dining for up to eighteen.

Is 1877 a Michelin-starred restaurant? No. 1877 does not hold a Michelin star; it is a modern-Norwegian city-centre room rather than a tasting-menu destination. Its draw is the converted 1877 meat-hall setting, a strong small-producer wine list, and a kitchen that handles large tables better than the starred rooms nearby.