Eating in Oslo - Our Oslo food guide to the city trip!

Good food in Oslo - Here you eat better than you think

Okay, okay, I admit it, I'm always sceptical about Norway, including this fourth trip to Oslo. I've been to Norway before on trips to all regions of the country. What I've come to know as Norwegian food has not always been culinary appealing. Okay, fish is great, but it's rarely on the menu, especially in the north. Why should it? You catch it yourself and then prepare it.

But when we were in Oslo again for a short trip, I was proven wrong. Before the trip, we did a lot of research on where to find really. good food in Oslo. Of course, it's not always "typically Norwegian" - who eats whale?

But if, like me, you can do without it, you will certainly find some excellent restaurants in the following recommendations. And above all, you will be reassured that although eating out in Norway is incredibly expensive (compared to our prices), it can also be quite good.

At the end of the article you will find a map to save offline on your mobile phone. We have summarised all the locations and many other tips for Oslo for you.

Enjoy our tips for good and often cheap food in Oslo. Our food guide with restaurant tips, great cafés and street food.

Syverkiosken

Syverkiosken is Oslo's last hot dog kiosk, serving hot dogs with fiery mustard. It's cheap and tastes wonderful. Everyone in Oslo will tell you that you can eat the best hot dogs in Norway here. But it's not a hot dog as we know it. The sausages (there are vegetarian ones too), although traditionally prepared here, don't come in a bun, but in lompe. Lompe is a flat bread made from potatoes, alternatively with new innovative flavour combinations.
The toppings are always homemade, and the sausages are cooked in a rich broth (secret recipe of the current chef Erlend's father) made according to Syverkiosken's secret traditional recipe.

Also try a bottle of the local lemonade Tøyen-Cola. The taste is delicious, spiced with a particularly fiery mustard variety.

• Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 11pm, Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 11.30pm.

• Address: Maridalsveien 45B

Ling Ling Oslo

Hakkasan's first restaurant in Scandinavia is inspired by an izakaya, a Japanese pub. Only nobler, the Japanese pubs are dark and smoky. The restaurant has an outdoor area (open weather permitting) and a rooftop bar with a beautiful view over the Aker Brygge waterfront and the Oslofjord.

Ling Ling's Cantonese menu is based on Hakkasan's signature dishes, prepared from local ingredients. We chose the King Krab Salad as a starter, as well as the LingLing premium steamed dim sum basket. For mains, scallops with asparagus and black truffle, and the Spicy Wagyu with Szechuan Mala Sauce. We chose rice and asparagus as side dishes. Everything was excellent, only the Wagyu was very tough for us. We are used to different and better quality from Japan. The price was absolutely not justified.

Music plays an important role at Ling Ling, and every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, local DJs provide a good atmosphere in the "Hidden Lounge" all evening long.

• Address: Stranden 30

• Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday16.30 to 0, Saturday 13 to 0; outdoor terrace open depending on the weather.

The Salmon

We had our best meal in Oslo at The Salmon. The Salmon is located on Tjuvholmen near the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. The restaurant specialises in fish dishes, especially Norwegian salmon. Inside you will find an experience centre that shows the process from roe to final product.

The salmon dishes are prepared according to old traditions, but also with new and modern interpretations. You don't have to miss out on oysters and other seafood, as well as sushi.

The Salmon has its own smokehouse and offers a sale with a counter and freshly smoked salmon and traditional gravlax.

What we ate:

• Starter: Oyster trilogy - Fiesta, Mignonette and Kaki

• Starter: Salmon tartar

• Main course: Grilled salmon with asparagus, truffled potato cream and brown butter sauce.

• Address: Beachfront 11

• Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 11.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11.30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Harald's Vaffel

The story of Haralds Vaffel waffle shop began in the summer of 2013, when Jonathan had the idea to sell waffles from the window of his bedroom in Oslo's Old Town. He really loved waffles and wanted to pass this love on to his fellow citizens in Oslo. Word spread and every Saturday and Sunday Harald served delicious waffles to the hungry who came from all over the city.

In 2017, he opened his real waffle shop, Haralds Vaffel, in Grünerløkka. Since then, business has boomed and everyone wants to try the typical Norwegian waffle with brown cheese.

Larsson wants the greatness of the Norwegian waffle to be recognised internationally and even compete with the famous Belgian waffle. His creative menu includes waffles with blue cheese, waffles with sausage, waffles with coconut, the "favaffle" (inspired by falafel) and several vegan and gluten-free waffles.

Oslo Street Food

Oslo Street Food is a large indoor market with street food stalls in the centre. Here you'll find 16 different food stalls with dishes from all over the world: from Japanese to Greek to Peruvian, there's everything your hungry stomach could want to eat. There are also plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians.

The market hall is a popular meeting place for locals and we surprisingly didn't encounter any other tourists. Strange, because the location in the centre is ideal for a cheap meal away from the real restaurants.

At weekends, Oslo Street Food becomes Klubb Torggata, one of Oslo's best clubs with DJs and live music. The food stalls are then open longer (until 1am).

• Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday 11am to 1am, Thursday 11am to 2am, Friday and Saturday 11am to 3am and Sunday 12pm to 10pm.

Barcode Street Food

Centrally located in the middle of the newly developed Barcode project, Barcode Street Food offers unique taste experiences from around the world. This is a food court with 14 different food stalls serving street food from many different locations. It is also one of the largest bars in Norway.

At Barcode Streetfood, different cultures meet in a casual atmosphere. Both traditional food and innovative and unusual international cuisine and drinks are on the menu here. The large venue turns into a nightclub on Fridays and Saturdays with DJs, disco lights and dancing. If you prefer a quieter evening, you can sit back and relax in one of the many lounge areas around the venue.

Our tip: Greek vegan gyros and the mezze platter with additional falafel.

• Address: Dronning Eufemias gate 14

• Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday 11am to 11pm, Thursday 11am to midnight, Friday and Saturday 11am - 1am and Sunday 12pm to 10pm.

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• Mezze platter with falafel, plus vegan gyros at Barcode Street Food

Mathallen Market Hall Oslo

Oslo's best-known market hall is Mathallen. Located on the former Vulkan factory site in Grünerlokka, it is a central place for shopping. Most of the time, however, you will only meet tourists here. Still, you can buy from local producers and foreign importers: Fish and seafood (the oysters were very expensive, but good), bakers, butchers and delicatessens for cheese, sausages and other specialities.

There are also many organic and fair trade products. For eating and drinking, there is a coffee bar, a wine bar, a beer bar and small places like Cebiche by Aymara, Peru. Besides the oysters, we had to order ceviche from the Peruvian. We had Inca Cola and Peruvian beer to go with it. Here you can satisfy your long-distance craving for Peru.

• Address: Mathallen, Vulkan 5

• Opening hours: 2 August to 22 December: Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 10 pm and Sunday 11 am to 6 pm. Closed on Mondays.

W.B. Samson

We had the best kanelboller (cinnamon buns) in Oslo at one of the bakery branches of W.B. Samson (Egertorget). They were still warm and fresh from the oven. Simply delicious. You can find the bakery several times in Oslo. Just check your map to see which one is closest to you.

The best cinnamon bun in Oslo is at W.B. Samson. SALT

We went to SALT several times. For a burger at the Langkaia jetty with a view of the most beautiful buildings in Oslo with the Opera, the Munch Museum and the Deichmann Library on warm summer nights, there is hardly a comparable place. Before our visit to the sauna, we were here again for a beer with a view to enjoy the nice atmosphere in the café or beer garden built from driftwood.

The entire location consists of several longhouses, as they are used in northern Norway for drying fish. There are also six barrel saunas (for 6 to 80 people). Nevertheless, we chose the sauna directly opposite the opera house. You can find more about this sauna in our insider tips for Oslo.

To the website with event calendar and prices for sauna

• Open all year. In winter with bonfire.

• Address: Langkaia 1

Eataly

The well-known Eataly restaurant concept is also available in Oslo's modern Aker Brygge district. The restaurant is rustic made hip and we like it very much. We get a seat in the outdoor area and order two pizzas: one vegetarian and one capricciosa.

The pizzas are delicious and the prices are Norwegian. If you want to come during peak meal times, you should make a reservation.

• Address: Bryggetorget 18,

General info on eating out in Oslo

Take a food tour

All over the world, we take part in food tours to explore the city's culinary scene and get insider tips from local guides. In Oslo, we took the street food culture tour street food culture tour.

On it, we started at Mathallen market hall and tried waffles, hotdogs, cocoa and a tasting platter. We saw a waterfall in the city, strolled through the hipster district Grünerlokka and could also explore street art there. The tour lasted 3 hours and was perfectly fine for the price.

• Duration: 2.5 hours (it lasted 3 hours for us)

• Cost: 67 euros (depending on exchange rate

Costs for eating and drinking in Oslo

The most painful thing first: Oslo is expensive and in our opinion one of the most expensive cities in Europe. But don't worry, if you plan a little ahead, you can eat out here on a normal travel budget. The costs for Oslo are generally higher than in Germany.

As a guideline, we have converted a few things into euros to give you a feel for what you should expect to spend:

• Breakfast: 2 sandwiches at the train station with 2 coffees: 50 euros

• Dinner: 40 - 60 euros per person on average

• Beer: 8 euros

• Cocktail from 18 to 30 euros

• Pizza: approx. 20 euros

How much do you tip in Norway?

In Norway they are not as strict about it as we are. The salary for staff in the catering trade is already included in the bill.

Nevertheless, a tip of 5-10% is considered appropriate for good service. However, tipping is not obligatory, but really voluntary. We always rounded up and probably gave too much rather than too little (compared to Norwegian conditions).

Since everything in Norway is paid for by credit card, you can enter a tip amount directly when paying. Pay attention to this when you pay your bill, because in Norway the tip is printed separately on the receipt.

Our tips for cheap food in Oslo

As already mentioned, Oslo is a rather expensive place. However, we can give you a few tips to help you save money on your holiday.

1. Eat at street food markets: Here you can eat very cheaply and at fair prices that are reasonable for Oslo.

2. Don't eat in the city centre, but in neighbourhoods like Grünerlokka or other up-and-coming districts. It's often cheaper here.

3. Takeaways: At takeaways like Syverkiosken you can eat quite cheaply and you will definitely get your fill.

4. If you want to treat yourself to something special once a day, save on the other meals. There are many bakeries where you can eat delicious cinnamon buns.

Oslo map with all food tips

You can save all our restaurant tips and other sights to your smartphone offline for free with our Google map.

Conclusion on eating out in Oslo

I wasn't a fan of Oslo after three trips, but this time it thrilled me and Dom without exception. Once again, we had a perfect culinary trip where nothing was lacking. A hearty "Mhhhhh" crossed each of our lips at least once a day.

Oslo is simply a great place to eat. There's just one thing we can't get over: for a city trip, most cafés open way too late for breakfast (10 am at the earliest, sometimes later), so we often had breakfast at the hotel. We will definitely come back and try out more. In a modern metropolis like Oslo, there are new restaurants, bars and cafés to discover every month.