Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
snacks and sandwiches ranging in price from 75NOK to 98NOK ($11-$14),
are available on the outside dining terrace in the summer.
Øvre Slottsgate 13.
&
23-10-06-70.
Main courses 138NOK-222NOK ($20-$32). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat
4pm-1am. Street-level bar Mon-Sat 11pm-2:30am; piano bar Wed-Sat 5pm-2:30am. Bus: 27, 29, or 30.
INEXPENSIVE
Engebret Café
NORWEGIAN A favorite since 1857, this restaurant sits
directly north of Akershus Castle in two buildings that have been joined
together to form this establishment. The facade of the buildings has been pre-
served as an architectural landmark. It has an old-fashioned atmosphere and
good food, served in a former bohemian literati haunt. During lunch, a tempt-
ing selection of open-faced sandwiches is available. The evening menu is more
elaborate; you might begin with a terrine of game with blackberry port-wine
sauce, or Engebret's fish soup. Main dishes include red wild boar with whortle-
berry sauce, Norwegian reindeer, salmon Christiania, or Engebret's big fish pot.
For dessert, try the cloudberry parfait.
Bankplassen 1.
&
22-33-66-94.
Reservations recommended. Main courses 245NOK-345NOK ($35-$49).
AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat 11am-11pm. Bus: 27, 29, or 30.
Friskport Vegeta Vertshus
VEGETARIAN Since 1938 this basement cafe-
teria near the Rådhus has been Oslo's major vegetarian restaurant. It's a strong-
hold of social activism and news of countercultural activities. At street level is a
cafe with a buffet of 25 salad dishes and many hot dishes, along with bread, but-
ter, cheese, and coffee. A new, smoke-free bar downstairs serves a special student
buffet for 112NOK ($16) from Tuesday to Saturday. The kitchen is also proud
of its pizza. You can order juices, mineral water, soft drinks, or nonalcoholic
wine. To go to the buffet once, a small plate costs 85NOK ($12), a large plate,
95NOK ($13).
Munkedamsveien 3B.
&
22-83-42-32.
Soups and salads 65NOK ($9.25); buffet 145NOK ($21). AE, DC, MC,
V. Sun-Fri 11am-9pm; Sat 11am-11pm. Bus: 27.
Jens & Co.
NORWEGIAN Breezy, airy, lighthearted, and set immediately
adjacent to the more formal (and more serious) Den Gamle Rådhus, this place
draws a busy lunch crowd throughout the afternoon, and a very active bar crowd
after 6pm. In wintertime its woodsy, hip-looking interior is jammed, and as
soon as the weather turns balmy, the entire venue moves outside to a big terrace
overlooking a cobble-covered plaza. A half liter of beer costs 62NOK ($8.80);
lunchtime platters include focaccia-style sandwiches, salads, omelets, and Amer-
ican-style brownies. The strawberry daiquiri is the most popular cocktail here,
priced at 88NOK ($12), but lots of people also enjoy the beer.
Rådhusgate 30.
&
22-42-11-62.
Reservations not necessary. Lunch platters 59NOK-118NOK ($8.40-$17).
AE, DC, MC, V. Food Mon-Sat 11am-6pm; Sun noon-6pm. Bar Mon-Wed 11am-midnight; Thurs-Sat
11am-3am; Sun noon-midnight. Bus: 27, 29, 30, 41, or 61.
Mamma Rosa
ITALIAN Established by two Tuscan brothers, this tratto-
ria enjoys popularity that's a good indication of Norwegians' changing tastes. The
second-floor dining room is decorated in “reproduction rococo.” You can order
10 kinds of pizza, fried scampi and squid, rigatoni, pasta Mamma Rosa (three
kinds of pasta with three sauces), grilled steaks, and gelato. Frankly, some of the
dishes have lost a bit of flavor on the trip this far north, but Mamma Rosa is
nonetheless a marvelous change of taste and texture. Families, both foreign and
Oslovian, frequent this restaurant in large numbers nightly. Children can always
find something on the menu to fill up on, especially the pizzas and pastas.
Kids
