Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4 Where to Dine
You can now “dine around the world” without leaving the city of Oslo. The
biggest concentration of restaurants is at Aker Brygge. This former shipbuilding
yard on the harborfront is now the smartest dining and shopping complex in
Norway.
The influx of foreigners in recent years has led to the growth of Mexican,
Turkish, Moroccan, Chinese, Greek, and other international restaurants.
Among European cuisines, French and Italian are the most popular. Many
restaurants offer American-style food.
Not all restaurants in Oslo are new. Some have long been associated with
artists and writers—the Grand Café, for example, was the stamping ground of
Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Munch.
At nearly all restaurants recommended below, a 15% service charge and the
20% value-added tax are included in the bill. No further tipping is required,
although it's customary to leave some small change if the service has been satis-
factory.
Wine and beer can be lethal to your final bill, so be careful.
CENTRAL OSLO
VERY EXPENSIVE
Annen Etage
CONTINENTAL This impeccable grande dame of
social propriety with vast amounts of bourgeois conservatism and, frankly, not a
lot of humor, has long been a staple of Oslo's dining scene. One of the great
restaurants of Norway, it caters to business diners, extended Norwegian families
celebrating rites of passage, and anyone looking for superb food in a setting
that's about as solid as the National Bank of Norway. (True, both Elton John and
Gérard Depardieu have been spotted here, but the usual clientele is a lot less
flashy.) The high-ceilinged dining room is one floor above the lobby of the
Hotel Continental—thus its name (
Annen Etage
translates as “first floor”).
The cuisine here makes up for a certain stuffiness—only Oro does it better.
The sautéed scallops with chicken liver purée, suckling pig with an apple com-
pote, and passion-fruit soufflé were among the finest dishes we've had in the
country. We've also taken delight in the terrine of foie gras served here with
Sauternes jelly. The pan-fried bay scallops with a saffron vanilla sauce don't get
much better in Norway, nor does the grilled turbot with a vichyssoise of poached
oysters. Our table rejoiced when it came time for dessert and we were served a
memorable lemon tart, a white chocolate mousse, and mango-ginger sorbet.
In the Hotel Continental, Stortingsgaten 24-26.
&
22-82-40-70.
Reservations recommended. Main courses
295NOK-351NOK ($42-$50); fixed-price menus 570NOK-890NOK ($81-$126) for 3-7 courses. AE, DC, MC,
V. Dinner only Mon-Sat 6-11pm. Closed July. T-banen: Nationaltheatret.
Oro
CONTINENTAL Gallons of ink have been used in the Norwe-
gian press to describe this hyperstylish restaurant, winner of a Michelin star in
2004. Norwegian-born chef Mads Larsson directs the kitchen of a three-faceted
establishment that includes a European gourmet restaurant, a separate but still
very glamorous tapas bar, and a boutique-style deli (open Mon-Fri
11:30am-3pm) for enthusiasts who want to haul some of its raw ingredients
back home. The restaurant and the tapas bar are curvaceous, slick-looking testi-
monials to the appeal of stainless steel and warm-toned hardwoods. We recom-
mend the fixed-price menus, although be warned that each of them will be
prepared only for every member of the table at the same time. The 955NOK
($136) menu includes nine different courses, each of them composed differently
