Do Norwegians eat with their hands? Table manners in Norway

Mostly no. Hot food in Norway is eaten with a knife and fork, and at a laid table even an open sandwich or a piece of cake is cut on the plate. Bread meals are the exception: a packed lunch, a hot dog, a waffle or a slice of pizza is held in the hand. Wait for the host to say «Vær så god» before you start.

Updated 27 September 2026. Every figure below has a source and a check date at the end of the article.

Knife and fork, or hands?

Anything hot and anything on a laid table is eaten with cutlery: fish, meat, potatoes, cake, and the open sandwich you are served on a plate. Food that belongs to the bread meals is held in the hand — the packed lunch at work, a waffle at a café, a hot dog from a kiosk, a slice of pizza on the sofa. If you are unsure, look at the plate: if a knife and fork are laid out, use them.

The Norwegian day has four meals

Breakfast (frokost) is bread with toppings. Lunch (lunsj) is short and often cold: the matpakke — two to four slices of wholemeal bread with cheese, ham or fish, wrapped in paper. About four of ten adults eat a homemade matpakke three days a week or more. Dinner (middag) is the hot meal of the day and today lands late in the afternoon or early in the evening, after work and school. Late in the evening many people have kveldsmat, bread again. What all of it costs is in our guide to food prices in Norway.

Invited to a Norwegian home: six rules

• Arrive at the time on the invitation, not later. Twenty minutes late is not fashionable here.
• Take your shoes off in the hallway unless the host says otherwise.
• Do not start eating until everyone is served and the host says «Vær så god».
• Keep the phone off the table.
• Take a modest portion the first time round: seconds are offered, and taking them is a compliment.
• Say «Takk for maten» to the person who cooked before you leave the table.

A small gift is normal: flowers, chocolate, or a bottle. Wine and spirits are sold only at Vinmonopolet, which closes earlier than the shops — the opening hours and the age limits are in our guide to alcohol in Norway.

Skål: how toasting works

The host opens with a «Skål». You raise the glass, look the others in the eye, drink, and look at them again before you put the glass down. At a table of several people the host or the guest of honour goes first, and nobody drinks the first glass before that. At a private dinner it is polite to wait for the first skål even if the glass is already full.

Do you tip in a Norwegian restaurant?

A tip is voluntary and it is not part of the price. Waiters are paid a wage, and since 2019 the employer has to report tips and pay tax on them, so rounding up the card payment is a gift and not a duty. Nobody will chase you for it. How much cash and how many cards you need is in our guide to money, cards and tipping in Norway.

A formal dinner: toastmaster and seating

At a wedding or a company dinner there is usually a toastmaster who runs the speeches, place cards that decide where you sit, and a fixed order: the host welcomes, the first skål, then the courses. You talk to the person on either side of you, you do not swap seats, and you do not leave the table while a speech is being made. If you are asked to give a speech, keep it short and thank the hosts.

Janteloven at the table

Norwegian table talk avoids boasting, loud comparisons and questions about salary or the price of a house. This is the everyday side of Janteloven — the unwritten rule that nobody should put themselves above the group. Ask about the cabin, the skiing or the weather instead, and you will be on safe ground.

Where to practise: restaurants in our catalogue

Restaurants in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger and Tromsø — with addresses, opening hours and reviews.

You may also want to read

• Food prices in Norway: groceries, coffee, beer and restaurants
• Which supermarket is cheapest: Kiwi, Rema 1000 or Coop
• Alcohol in Norway: Vinmonopolet, opening hours and age limits
• Money in Norway: cards, cash and tipping