Fet-Fisk Royal Market Review - A Smorgasbord Feast in Pittsburgh

Last Updated on November 10, 2020 by Jeremy

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Fet-Fisk started out as a pop-up dinner series in Pittsburgh. But thanks to the craziness that was 2020, the folks behind the series adapted it into a storefront known as the Fet-Fisk Royal Market just north of the city. But rather than offering in-house dining, they focused on producing Scandinavian smorgasbords to go!

We put an order in for one of their weekly smorgasbords shortly after this one opened, and it was one of those moments where we wondered why it took this long for this to be a thing.

Get Your Weekly Smorgasbord Fix With Fet-Fisk

When it comes to dining, there is something wonderful about grazing your way through a large platter- and that is exactly what a smorgasbord is. A large array of dishes, some hot, some cold, a good loaf of bread, condiments, and more come together for a feast where the flavor combinations you can put together are virtually endless.

The bords here change weekly, and during our visit included a Klassic Bord (featuring a mix of meat and non-meat options), a Vegan Bord, and a Deluxe Bord which includes everything. Where I'd normally order the Deluxe Bord without hesitation for the maximum amount of food, the week we ordered a few dishes contained nuts (allergy) and at the time they were unable to accommodate one-off menu customizations based on how everything is prepared and packaged (which is understandable).

So the order went in for the Klassic Bord and we eagerly awaited our pickup.

All bord orders during the week included a loaf of sandwich bread from Saturn Bakery, vegan condiments (including homemade mustard, tomato jam, and arugula pesto- noted nut-free), and pickled fruits and vegetables like watermelon and turnip. The Klassic Bord package also included a smoked chicken and pork sausage, cold braised beef in porcini aspic, French radishes with a Roquefort dip, pumpkin and bacon jam (one of the most flavorful spreads we've had in recent memory), and potato salad with a lobster mayonnaise (although we couldn't detect any lobster- the one downside).

It was a veritable feast.

As previously mentioned, we love grazing dining as a way to try numerous flavor combinations together, and this selection did not disappoint on that end. Some combinations were stellar, others not so much. Sausage with arugula pesto? Not our ideal combo. Sausage with pumpkin and bacon jam? Give me that all day.

Testing combinations was one of the most enjoyable parts of having this kit as you never knew what combo would be stellar. Even some dishes may not have been our style outright (like the cold braised beef in aspic) became something wonderful tossed on a piece of bread with condiments.

As a result, the meats disappeared quickly when testing the flavor combinations alone. The vegetarian options plus the monster loaf of bread were enough to round out a rather large feast with enough left over for a modest lunch the next day. As such, any longing for the Deluxe Bord vanished away as we were more than stuffed splitting the Klassic Bord between the two of us- although we'll definitely order that one in the future pending the ingredients as we would never turn down more delicious smorgasbord options.

That being said, if you are ordering for a larger group, you should look towards the Deluxe Bord one straight away. These kinds of meals are best served with a sufficient volume!

Overall, we're really excited that we have pick-up smorgasbords available in Pittsburgh and eagerly wait for the postings each week to see what the newest boards are like. And if we can get that pumpkin bacon spread again, even better.

Fet-Fisk Royal Market is located at 800 Mt Royal Road #9 in Glenshaw- just off of route 8. At the time of publishing, they were only serving smorgasbord kits with advance purchase and the features in each bord change weekly.