HX Expeditions Adds Rotating Menus at Fredheim

Published on Aug 29, 2025, 2:41 pm CDT

5 min read

HX Expeditions has expanded dining on MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen with new rotating international menus at Restaurant Fredheim. Introduced fleetwide after a June pilot, the concept runs three to four nights per voyage, with vegan, vegetarian, and dietary-friendly choices. A Filipino menu, inspired by the line's many Filipino crew members, joins South American, Italian, and Indian lineups. The program complements the brand's culinary storytelling, including a Greenland initiative launched in May 2025.

Key Points

Why it matters: More variety and cultural storytelling in expedition dining.
Travel impact: Added choice on select nights, reservations recommended.
What's next: Continued ties to destination cuisine and crew heritage.
Fredheim menus rotate by voyage, covering South American, Italian, Indian, and Filipino themes.
Dietary-friendly options available, including vegan and vegetarian dishes.

Snapshot

Restaurant Fredheim, the casual venue on HX's newest hybrid-powered ships, now hosts themed dinners several nights per sailing. The Filipino menu features dishes such as kinilaw na isda, hipon sinigang bisque, a lechon kawali and adobo duet, and turon mille-feuille. Other rotations include a South American selection with empanadas and an asado board, an Italian spread with Tuscan classics, and an Indian journey anchored by small plates and a thali. The program follows a June 2025 pilot that proved popular and dovetails with HX's Culinary Ambassador initiative in Greenland that began on May 24, 2025. Reservations are encouraged, especially on peak nights.

Background

HX Expeditions, formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions, has emphasized authentic, locally rooted dining alongside science programming and small-ship exploration. On sister ships MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen, Restaurant Fredheim has long served as a relaxed social hub, complementing main dining rooms and specialty venues. The new menus extend that role, tying cuisine to crew heritage and destination seasons. The South America set nods to the ships' Antarctic season staging through Argentina, while the Italian and Indian lineups broaden palate coverage on longer itineraries. The Filipino menu was developed with shipboard chefs, channeling family recipes and regional techniques, a through-line to how expedition travel connects guests to people as much as to places.

Latest Developments

Filipino menu celebrates crew heritage

HX has elevated crew stories at the table by spotlighting Filipino flavors. Highlights include kinilaw na isda with coconut cream and roe, a refined hipon sinigang bisque, crispy lechon kawali paired with adobo sauce and jasmine rice, and a vegetarian kare-kare reinterpretation as risotto. Dessert caps with turon mille-feuille layered with banana custard and salted caramel ice cream. Executives say celebrating the culinary roots of shipboard teams deepens community onboard and gives travelers a window into heritage cooking. The focus aligns with HX's broader push to make dining an interpretive element of the voyage, not just a service amenity.

Ties to destination cuisine in Greenland

In parallel, HX launched a Culinary Ambassador program in Greenland on May 24, 2025, bringing Greenlandic chefs aboard for seasonal menus, talks, and locally sourced ingredients. The effort aims to source roughly 30 percent of products regionally during the program, including seafood and craft beer, and reinforces how expedition itineraries can translate landscapes into flavors. For travelers, the Greenland initiative signals that rotating themes at Fredheim are part of a larger culinary narrative, one that now stretches from Arctic traditions to Filipino home cooking, with Italian and Indian menus rounding out global range.

How to book and what to expect at Fredheim

The themed dinners run three to four nights per voyage, subject to itinerary and demand. Reservations are recommended due to limited seating and strong interest seen during the pilot. Menus present clear vegan, vegetarian, and dietary-friendly options. Travelers can expect casual pacing, shareable plates, and storytelling that ties dishes to crew backgrounds or destinations on the route. The concept lives alongside day-to-day restaurant service, so guests can mix themed nights with regular offerings and expedition activities without losing flexibility.

Analysis

Expedition cruising has leaned into science programming and small-group landings, but dining is increasingly a differentiator. HX's approach, centered on crew heritage and destination ingredients, pushes beyond generic fine dining toward narrative cuisine that matches the expedition brief. The Filipino menu stands out because it channels the lived experience of a large segment of HX's workforce, turning service teams into cultural ambassadors. That authenticity is likely to resonate with travelers who choose small ships for human connection and place-based learning. The Greenland Culinary Ambassador track, with its commitment to local sourcing, further raises the bar by anchoring menus in seasonality and community partnerships. Operationally, a rotating schedule at Fredheim adds variety without overcomplicating provisioning, since themes repeat predictably by voyage. For competitors, the signal is clear, elevate dining through storytelling, or risk ceding mindshare to lines that make cuisine a core interpretive pillar. For travelers, the result is a richer onboard arc that complements landings, lectures, and wildlife encounters.

Final Thoughts

With themed dinners at Restaurant Fredheim now rolled out across MS Roald Amundsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen, HX gives travelers more reasons to linger over dinner and more stories to take home. Expect menus that feel personal, paced for expedition days, and aligned with where the ships sail and who runs them. For those weighing small-ship options, this culinary step strengthens the brand's value proposition and broadens appeal to food-forward travelers. It is a thoughtful evolution for expedition dining, and a strong win for the HX Expeditions Restaurant Fredheim experience.