Red Viking Restaurant, Solvang

The Red Viking is a poor excuse of a “Danish” restaurant. I am Danish and grew up eating “authentic” Danish food. The food served at the Red Viking is not even closely related to something that a Dane would consider being Danish food. The other review noting poor service and cold food is spot on accurate. I’ve been to Solvang many, many times and stopped in for breakfast one morning to try the Red Viking out. In Denmark Abelskivers usually can only be had in a restaurant during the Jule (Christmas) season, and if you’re lucky at Easter. So, I’m trying the Abelskivers. As noted… poor service, long wait, and they were warm, not hot as they should be when they arrived. “Real” Danish Abelskivers are very flavorful, light and airy… served HOT from the pan. The Red Viking’s Abelskivers are tasteless, heavy and doughy (oh, by the way… Abelskivers are NOT “pancake balls” or “Danish Doughnuts”. Abelskivers are a pastry… that’s why they’re supposed to be light and airy, but Americans make them out of a slam bam quickly made pancake batter, which is NOT the same as what “authentic” Abelskivers are made from). The only flavor was from the jam in which the Abelskivers were served with, but not from the Abelskivers themselves. When I cut into one, inside I found a sizable lump of dry, unmixed, uncooked ingredients. I believe this lump was Bisquick. This “authentic” Danish food served at the Red Viking was made with Bisquick? I’m sorry, people… Bisquick is NOT what is used in authentic Danish cooking, under any circumstances. Ridiculously poor service, ridiculously poor quality of ingredients, rediculously poor food preparation, ridiculously poor wait time for your food, ridiculously poor tasting food rendered from the ridiculously poor quality ingredients used, and should you choose to try out the Red Viking, as I did, you will be ridiculously disappointed and disenchanted with what you may believe as being “authentic” Danish food. The Red Viking is a gross misrepresentation of Danish food (similar to telling a Mexican that Taco Bell is authentic Mexican food. uh, NO!). Don’t waste your time, don’t waste your money, don’t waste your patience, and don’t offend your taste buds. For Abelskivers, try out the Solvang restaurant. Not “really or completely a real Dane” Abelskiver… but much closer and much more superior to the Red Viking. For other Dane foods, try out Bit of Denmark. Service might be a little on the slow side and the place is a little too dimly lit for my liking, but the food is pretty good.

I used to frequent this place many years ago when I lived in Solvang. It's food was much much better back then. Although it's not a fancy restaurant, it is missing it's spunk and fresh food flavor. I went again this week and was miffed when I had to request condiments twice, and the restaurant was NOT busy. We also had to hunt our server down for coffee. We didn't wait too long for our food, but what got me was the fact that my eggs and country potatoes were cold! I don't mean warm, I mean cold like they had been pre-made ahead of time or sat for many minutes in a refrigerator lol. We only waited about 10 minutes for our food and I found this very mind boggling. They have hot lamps you can see in the kitchen, so how did my food get cold? My daughter had Abelskievers and they were very warm lol..go figure. My husbands omelet and potatoes were as cold as mine and the melted cheese was stiff not stringy. The serving portions were a bit on the small side. We won't go back again that's for sure. I do recommend Arnies next door to them. Jeff and George will treat you right. I have eaten there recently and it's as good as usual! And the food is HOT!