It was 1 degree when we reached the Tromso airport. It was snowing.

We finally reached our hotel, Clarion Hotel The Edge, at about 4pm.

After reaching the hotel, we met the guide at 4:30pm to walk to the town area where all the shops and restaurants were. After that, we were left to our own devices.

I chose to take my mother to Pastafabrikken, a very popular restaurant on Red Note.

I used Google Map to find my directions but keying in the address brought me to a hotel near the actual place!

I asked the receptionist and she directed me to the restaurant.

It looked like a decent restaurant with soft lighting and fabric chairs and large wick lamps.

We had to remove our spikes before we were given a table as the spikes might damage the wooden flooring.

We were informed that we had to scan the QR code to place our order and I remembered to make sure the payment went through to confirm that the orders were placed. I exercised caution and ordered the two most strongly recommended dishes: Zuppa nettuno (fish soup) at 184 kr and Pasta nettuno (seafood spaghetti with tomato base) at 275 kr. That came up to about S$63. Tips were optional.

Pasta nettuno in the background and Zuppa nettuno in the foreground

We found the fish soup too salty for our tastebud. I am surprised nobody mentioned that. Does everybody eat so salty?

I later found out from my tour guide that Norwegian food is on the salty side due to their cold weather. Many food types are preserved.

Nonetheless, it was creamy and rich with various seafood like shrimps and fish pieces. Quite delicious I would say.

The Pasta nettuno was tomato-based but it did not have the domineering taste of tomato puree. The prawns and mussels were fresh, unlike most mussels which have a strong shellfish smell I have tasted in Singapore.

Service was ok. I read on Red Note that they were racist or disliked Chinese as they served their own kind enthusiastically and volunteered to take their orders for them. The guy who served us was polite and didn’t give off a ‘I hate Chinese/Asians’ vibe. I was ok with him informing me that I had to order via the QR code. The guy also obliged me when I requested a change of table before I sat down twice. He also explained that a four-seater had been reserved so I could not sit there.

I think the food was fine. Perhaps I had too high an expectation for it. It’s a super strongly recommended restaurant on Red Note. I had FOMO-ed. It’s spaghetti. How heavenly do I want it to be?

Ambience was great. It was my first day in Tromso. I didn’t know what to expect but the restaurant was cosy and quiet with comfortable distance between each table.

Would I recommend Pastafabrikken? Yes.

Would I go there again if I had a choice? Probably not since I am not a big fan of spaghetti or seafood.

We were walking around the city area after having our lunner at Pastafabrikken when I saw the famous hundred-year-old hotdog bar. There was a short queue. I was thinking of coming back to it after walking around to work up an appetite. However, a quick search on the internet shows that it would close at 7pm, which was five minutes later!

FOMO kicked in again. I joined the queue and bought the famous reindeer and beef hotdog bun.

The sausage was dry and hard

I honestly was hugely disappointed. It didn’t even come close to ikea’s $1 hotdog bun. I don’t know what the fuss is about. 70 nok is about $9.58. That’s exorbitant for such an awful hotdog bun.

No prize for guessing if I would ever recommend it.

My thrifty mother who tried her best to eat as much as she could of the hotdog bun

Something funny happened after buying the hotdog.

I asked my mother to help me take a picture of me holding the hotdog in front of the bar. My other would take a long time to get a picture taken, and when it is taken, you would find that the picture is slanted beyond Photoshop surgery or she had taken a picture of you asking “Have you taken the picture yet?” after freezing your smile for 10 seconds.

When she had finally taken the picture, I asked her disappointedly,”Why did you take a picture when a man was walking by?”

You know what she replied? “Ya lor!” with a frown on her face, like the fault lay with the man.

I explained to her,”You see the man walking into the picture. You don’t have to photograph him.”

At this, a guy probably in his 30s stood up from a bench nearby and offered,”Let me help you.”

I laughed and thanked him.

He subsequently helped me take two pictures.

My mother was overjoyed when she saw the outdoor heater beside the hotdog bar

After that, we walked around the streets to explore the area, popped into shops to check them out and bought postcards from the northernmost Mcdonald's.