Everything you'd want in a museum cafe. Definitely had Scandinavian flair. We opted for the Pork Tenderloin smørrebrød and the Salmom Gravlax. I was thinking I would prefer the salmon but hubs and I shared both. The Salmon Gravlax had creamy dill as a base, topped with pickled red onion & dill. Very tasty, very satisfying. Hubs was enjoying the pork, and once I tried it, I could see why. The horseradish aioli was the exact combination with the pork tenderloin. I think it was our favorite of the two. This was a great option after visiting the museum. Very enjoyable morning!! read more

Freya - Pork tenderloin sandwich - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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An amazing cafe right inside the entrance to the Nordic museum (no admission necessary)! They serve unique Scandinavian food like smørrebrød and pickled herring alongside staples like avocado toast and drip coffee. I LOVED my Stockholm steam (black tea with cardamom syrup, nutmeg, and steamed milk). Comfort in a cup. The star of the show was the Rømmegrøt, a Norwegian sour cream porridge. It tasted very rich, creamy, sweet and just slightly tangy with a velvety smooth texture. The generous toppings balanced it out perfectly and it was served in a beautiful Fortessa bowl. The presentation elevated the deliciousness. The staff also cleaned up a broken plate knocked down by a little girl and handled the situation with kindness and grace. Freya reminds me of the cafe Off the Rez at the Burke museum: a beautiful tribute to the museum's heritage and a way for visitors to experience its culture. read more

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The service here is soo good. There's a lady at the cashier who has pink hair and she's so kind. If I lived here I would definitely go here because the workers are so kind. The chocolate chip cookie is so big and delicious. Also I had the Stockholm tea which is like a London fog. Def recommend read more

Freya - Crossaint, Stockholm tea - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Freya is close to home and a wonderful option for breakfast in Ballard located in the Nordic Museum. Friendly, helpful service. My current favorite item on the menu is the their Autumn Salad had delicata squash, blue cheese, nuts, grains and a light vinaigrette. I usually get it with rye toast opted to add the cheese this time for $2.50 more I believe. My friend got the hash but can't do eggs so I added her soft boiled egg to my salad. We also got a couple of lattes mine with almond milk. Always love this space its well lit with lots of windows for natural lighting. Very open space. Wonder baked goods and grab and go items. read more

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Honestly this cafe was small but mighty. They had a small but seemingly authentic collection of small dishes and bakery and a decent selection of drinks. All of them seemed on theme with the Nordic Museum, where the cafe is housed. I loved my Stockholm Steamer (house-made cardamom syrup!). You don't have to go to the museum to visit the cafe, but I would recommend it if you haven't! The staff were very friendly and can answer questions if you have them. read more

Freya - Stockholm Steamer and hot chocolate - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

The lady at the front desk was incredibly patient and walked me through the menu, explaining each item in detail since I had specific preferences. I decided on the Rommegrot, and it did not disappoint! Both my friend and I loved its unique, housemade flavor. The potatoes were cooked to order, making them exceptionally fresh, soft, and delicious. I'll definitely be coming back to try more dishes. read more

This cafe inside the Nordic Museum is the only place I've ever seen serve Rømmegrøt, and happily theirs is terrific! It's a pretty unique dish. This sour cream porridge is super rich and smooth with a consistency that reminded me of mascarpone cheese. The flavor is very strong, sweet and a bit tangy. They add a few toppings that go great with it. Would highly recommend stopping to give it a try. read more

Freya - Rømmegrøt - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

The soup and sandwich were both excellent in taste. The cutlery is modern. it has nice view of troll Service was slow. This is a pay before they serve you place. You need to bus the table. So tip as you wish. read more

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Went to have some food before exploring The Nordic Museum and the food was really a highlight! I had the special latte with seaweed, the potato leek soup, and bread with herb butter. My partner got an amazingly delicious Norwegian Sour Cream Porridge (Rømmegrøt) and drip coffee. Service was great! It was busy so the barista asked about what coffee drink we would like and we only waited 5-10 minutes for our food to come out. Love the space, all windows and simple design at the front of the museum. read more

Freya - Seaweed latte with caramel I think? - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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The staff is sooo kind and helpful, and the atmosphere is pristine. Very Scandi with the big windows, wooden decor and of course the setting. The food is phenomenal. HIGHLY recommend getting lingonberry jam for your pastry! As a Nordic American myself, I was so happy to see authentic things like cardamom oat milk lattes, pickled eggs and herring, and Norwegian cheese. Lots of options for both sweet and savory! Can't really go wrong. read more

Freya - Croissant with lingonberry jam, pickled egg, raspberry oat scone and both a hot and an iced cardamom oat milk latte - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Delicious food! Quaint little museum cafe. I was in Sweden for a week two months ago and it reminded much of my Sweden trip. The food is so delicious. Fava bean salad -- beans are phenomenal read more

Freya - Fava bean salad, Beets, Gravlax, Cheese, Rye - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

It's ok, food is far too expensive to be doing sloppy counter service. There's better brunch in Seattle.

Nordic inspired cafe inside Nordic heritage museum. Tried Cardamom latte and English muffin. Pretty good. read more

Freya - Troll - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Best latte in town made with Stamp Act local coffee roasters. Incredible salads, sausages and pastries to die for! And to top it all off they have super fabulous cocktails beer and wine! read more

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Delicious desserts and small plates! Very clean and healthy feel good food. Service is wonderful and the cafe so bright and beautiful! Prices are fair considering the quality and care they put into their products. Highly recommended! read more

Excellent service and creative delicious options. Totally worth the visit. I recommend the jarlsburg grilled cheese with Lingonberry. Mmm.

Bright, sunny spot with fresh, delicious food and lots of beverage options from coffee to cocktails. read more

Freya - Asparagus salad, half order of rye bread. - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This place is in the nordic museum. The museum has $2/hr parking. The food is simple but yummy. I recommend the potato salad. The drinks (not shown) were a little pricey for the size, but there were some unique flavors that we enjoyed trying. read more

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I am giving Freya 5 stars based on the beautiful Seaweed Latte pictured and the totally inviting atmosphere of the National Nordic Museum , which houses it. I was there early for a coffee date with a friend and a quick jaunt through a specific exhibit, so we didn't have time to stay for the start of food service, but I loved the modern Nordic themed menu! read more

Freya - Seaweed Latte - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Lovely, light-filled cafe located in the National Nordic Museum in the Ballard neighborhood. The cafe can be entered without paying admission to the Museum. I have eaten there many times and found the service there to consistently prompt and friendly. I have really enjoyed the Danish hotdog, although I wish I had a better word to describe it than hotdog! Maybe sausage better describes it. I highly recommend Cafe Freya! read more

Excellent assortment of small portions emphasizing the heritage. Great quality and flavor

This restaurant used to be a wonderful little museum cafe. It had a great selection of nicely curated smorgasbord selections, as well as beer and wine. Apparently it closed during COVID and has been replaced by "Cafe Hagen Freya". Now you can buy an open faced sandwich, the size of a drink coaster, featuring some brie and ham and two pieces of arugula for $14. I should have taken a picture beforehand, but I was hungry. In fairness, the sandwich was fine, but I expected more. Also, no beer or wine. It's like a Starbucks. Honestly, it might as well be. I miss Freya. Freya, come back. read more

Freya - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Normally I would give a place like Freya the full five star treatment. They satisfy my inner Viking heritage in the middle of the amazing new Nordic Museum, but their popularity means a rather long wait for service and food with is unfortunate. I cannot blame people for wanting to wait in line though! The restaurant is inside the museum, although you do not need to pay admission to eat. Paid parking is available in the area. Most of the menu revolves around Scandinavian favorites including house smoked salmon, meatballs, pickled vegetables, and other eclectic fare. I chose the Mormor's Pantry which was a nice selection of everything. The quantity of food was great for a small lunch. The salmon and meatballs were excellent. Some of the vegetables were great to cut through the flavor of the meats, although I did pass on the egg. The restaurant is counter service with waiter delivery. I am not a huge fan of this concept due to tipping, but it seems to work for most. The view is excellent with large windows opening up onto the street tempting those passing by. Seating is fairly large with a few large tables and a nice window counter. There are not too many Scandinavian restaurants in the United States, but Freya works well given the neighborhood and museum. They have a few flaws, but the food is worth it. Upgrade from IKEA and satisfy your inner Viking. read more

Freya - Mormor's Pantry with Flowers - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Excellent restaurant located in the Nordic Museum! I'm not too sure how authentically Nordic the menu options are on here. There was some other customers that were disappointed that lutefisk was not on the menu but after learning everything that made up the dish I realized that Freya is probably a very Amercanized version of the food of the Nordic region. Some may say it isn't the same at all. I haven't been to the Nordic countries to put that to the test. But despite all of that I enjoyed what I ordered! I got a great tasting Shrimp Salad with hardboiled eggs dipped in beet juice to add a lively and colorful feature to the dish. The lettuce was fresh as well as the shrimp. The dressing that accompanied it was lovely. Steve got a Danish Dog... a hot dog that I believe was made out of chicken. I had a bite of it and it was very tasty. The hot dog was a bit unwieldy and he had to resort to eating with a fork but it was a good dish as well. We finished off with a cookie which was good... how could a cookie not be? Freya is a nice place to refuel after spending several hours pouring over the vast amounts of information pertaining to Nordic culture as well as spending time in the gift shop. read more

Freya - Cute little decorations in the cafe! - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I am obsessed with Danish culture. I own a bunch of candles to get those hygge vibes stirring up and visited for a bit to get my fill of pickled vegetables and smoked fish. With that being said - and while I'm no expert in Danish food/culture - I certainly appreciated how Freya executes. Their food was on-point and very authentic (according to someone more familiar with authentic Danish food) AND very reasonably-priced too. Just so you aren't surprised - this is basically a museum café, not a standalone restaurant. But I don't think that changed much for me in terms of ambiance or service. read more

Came with my sister for Museum Day and loved the little cafe! Lots of different Nordic foods offered and the atmosphere was fun and very clean! The staff were very friendly and I fell in love with the pastries! I ordered the Princess Tarte and got one to go! read more

Absolutely LOVE this little spot ! Great pastries & the breakfast bun is really tasty ! Great coffee & friendly staff! Check ''em out !

Fresh, homemade Scandinavian food in the ultramodern Nordic Museum. Often restaurants in museums are an afterthought but when I'm in Seattle I often go to this restaurant because the food is great & it's got a great atmosphere with floor to ceiling windows at street level. read more

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Really good casual Nordic cafe inside the Nordic museum. For food - Mormor's pantry smorgasbords was very good. The food is on the lighter side, so if you're hungry you might want to get two dishes. For cocktails - the Anker & Bertneas great. read more

Really good food and reasonable prices. Museum cafe but the menu items are so unique I would stop in on any occasion. read more

Nice little cafe to grab a bite before checking out the new Nordic Museum. The French press coffee is enough for 3 people. read more

Freya - Scandinavian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I haven't had much exposure to Scandinavian cuisine, but my family and I really enjoyed it. We tried several items and the best was the smorgasbord. read more

As a old country born Swede I am planning to go here for the first time this weekend and I noticed that someone mentioned in a September comment that lutefisk was not available.......this is a Christmas dish and most folks like me from the old country's "younger generation" hate the stuff anyway though the sauce is pretty good. So please disregard the lutefisk comment from September, I will return to comment after I actually eat here but I could not abide a lutefisk ignorant comment. read more

Awesome flavors Casual and classy....like Scandinavian tapas. Tons of unique flavors. The salmon was awesome! read more

I wanted to try something Norse, as I was visiting the Norse Museum. I was pleasantly surprised at the ability of this meal to satisfy my hunger and desire for something that tastes amazing! I got the personal smorgasbord Mormor's pantry meal with a dessert of blueberry crumble (see pics). The Salmon was perfectly smoked and the mustard complimented it well. The eggs were amazing. The pickled beats and beans were sweet and fresh, still crunchy and tasty. The meatballs had an interesting flavor and some kind of warming spice in them. The meatballs paired nicely with the lingonberry spread beneath them. The bread and krukost went well together and were full of flavor. This was a good sampler platter and should be paired with some skyr, which I did. The skyr was awesome and much better than regular yogurt. The blueberry crumble was ok, and would probably been better if mixed with the skyr. This was an excellent taste tour of Norse culture, perfect for a day at the Norse museum. It filled me up too, which I did not expect. read more

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Wonderful service in a spectacular building. Loved the food and the Nordic and PNW fushion. Best of both worlds! Thank you for the treats and great cup of french press! YOU ROCK! read more

My husband and I had a light lunch at Freya in the Nordic Museum today in Ballard. We both enjoyed the food. My husband had a Mormor's pantry smorgasbord and I had one of their sausages on a pretzel roll. The unique condiments on the sausage roll is what made it special. Too messy for me to eat it with my hands - had to use a knife and fork. It was the perfect place to take a break while visiting the museum. In fact, if I lived nearby, I'd drop in for lunch without a museum visit. read more

Smorbrod so good, the salad was good, the swedish cheesecake was good. Definitely reminds me of my time living in Copenhagen. Would recommend! read more

Great casual atmosphere and excellent food. Pickled vegetables, smoked salmon, herring, open faced sandwiches and personal smorgasbords. We liked it so much we went twice in two days. read more

Good food, BUT terrible service. We decided to have dinner at the museum on the night it's open till 8pm. Bad idea. We didn't get to see much of the museum. Instead we spent our time standing, in a line of about 20 people waiting to order dinner. For some reason, the cafe thinks its a good idea to have the order taker double as the craft-cocktail bar tender, slowing down the line even more. The cafe also thinks its a good idea to let individuals who are reading their newspapers or lingering over their computers to hog 4-person tables, right during the dinner rush. When the waiter brought out food he asked "Can I get you anything else?" I responded "Yes, another glass of wine, please." He said told that that for that I'd have to go back to the end of the line and wait another 15 minutes. Given the terrible procedures the cafe insists on, we definitely have been discouraged from trying to go the the Nordic Heritage Museum after work, on the night it's open late. I bet most of the other people who stood in that long line feel the same. read more