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I've been here a couple of times since it reopened in the spring. As a recent New York transplant, I've been getting a feel for where to get great food in the city, and Haakon's Hall is one of the more successful experiments. I love the Norwegian menu (half my family is Scandinavian), and the ambiance of the restaurant itself is great--well-lit and big, but full of nice little nooks where you can sit and have some privacy. The chicken is tender and flavorful, and the cookie plate--while a bit pricey--is great for splitting, and worth the wait. Definitely a neighborhood spot I want to visit more.

Been twice this week. Everyday Pasta was tasty, the chicken salad sandwich I had today was good but not great. Atmosphere is nice, although not significantly nicer than Amsterdam one block away. I'm very irrate though - I just noticed that they do not have free refills, so without warning I ended up having to pay $7 for coke. This explains why my share of yesterday's bill was high too. LAME. Soda is already a high profit margin item, charging for every refill is ridiculous. At least one refill should be free. Probably not going there again.

The desserts here are no joke. Get the warm chocolate cake. There is no flour so it is so light and airy! Roasted chicken was awesome and moist, Veggie paella was amazing, BBQ pork loin was perfect and came with a couple of ribs! (nice surprise) and the mussels with gorgonzola and pancetta are out of this world! Just incredible...everybody needs to make this their breakfast, lunch and dinner spot. Oh right, and they have this awesome table for large groups...FINALLY a drama free place to go with friends for birthdays!!!! Highly recommended!!!

This is an excellent restaurant! The food is solid and consistant, not to mention delicious. It is unpretentious and really wonderful. This is not just a place for students, I am a young professional and my friends and I all love it there. Who can beat the value eaither. I really appreciate them opening at such a hard time when so many places are closing. My thanks will come in visits! Tasty Food, Solid Menu, Great atmosphere! 5 stars for sure!

I ate here the other day and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with good food. There isn't anything 'exotic' on the menu, but what they do make, they make well. I had the Rotisserie Chicken and it really hit the spot. This used to be Radio Perfecto and where Haakon's falls short is in the bartending area. I am an open minded liberal NYer, but the owner needs to add more women bartenders. It is stocked with metrosexual male bartenders which is fine, but sometimes, after a day of work (or classes at Columbia), you want to look at a pretty female bartender as you drink your beer. Overall Haakon's is off to a good start and better than AmCaf, but please Mr Owner... hire some women bartenders!

New restaurant for M.side Heights (aka Columbia U area) brings new light to Amsterdam Avenue. Homey food but not boring, they serve excellent portions especially for the reasonable prices. Went for lunch with a friend and we (he a picky eater) were very pleased with the quality, freshness, complexity (a weird word for American-type food! but true) and prices. Female server very unattentive, had to wave her down for water, ketchup (for the burger & fries, duh!) (which were great and hearty!) and the bill. Upon entry weird dirty aproned guy sitting on the patio (associated w/restaurant) "welcomed" us in but if he really is the owner/chef/proprietor as the sign says, he needs to either (1) not be sitting outside greeting people in the greasy stained sweaty aproned look or (2) stay in the kitchen and get a clean host. All said, high ratings because the place deserves it. Great menu options and much needed in this area...I'd been waiting for this opening for months...finally! Dont believe the negatives in these reviews.

First of all the food is really phenomenal. I ordered the chicken liver appetizer which was really just amazing with perfectly carmelized onion and apples. I am not vegetarian but I try to eat vegetarian a lot and so I had the vegetarian quinoa Paella. I am so used to disappointment in restaurants with horrible grilled veggie sandwiches as the only option for vegetarians but the Paella was really a marvel. Perfectly fresh, perfectly cooked veggies including peppers asparagus, zucchini and eggplant. Quinoa is a favorite of mine and that was mixed with rice. The Sauce is what really made the dish--somehow amazingly delicate and rich at the same time, based on tomato but not really a tomato sauce per se, fabulous spices and RICH despite no egg and cheese. There might be butter in it--you should ask, if thats a problem. In any case so much bettter than i ever imagined. Service is "newbie"--but surely not as bad as folks here report. Just kind of inexperienced. I got my food fine. Decor I thought kind of blah but nice enough. And Prices are reasonable. So I really recommend this place, based on my one visit. I came at lunch so maybe that was why my visit was so good--maybe when they are busy it all goes downhill. But I can't really find fault with this place.