Tapas Restaurant in Bygdøy Alle: Schiller's

You can find a Schiller's tapas restaurant at two places in Oslo: Bygdøy Alle and Folketeateret. We tried the one in Bygdoy Alle on Friday and here is a short summary of our diner experience.

We had not booked which is probably a mistake as the restaurant was almost full. After some thinking, they managed to find us a table in the room below but booking a table is recommended.
The inside design is elegant, including that room. In the corner, there was even a real fire place. One regret maybe: the lights may be too dim and towards the end of the meal we felt it was too dark.

It was our first time in a Schiller's restaurant so we simply ordered a predefined combination of tapas. There were two options: Tapas Classico and Tapas Variada.  We chose Tapas Classico.

Tapas Classico for 2, part 1/2, 309 NOK pp

The tapas came in 2 servings. First, we had bread, aioli, olives, cheese and ham. Everything tasted good and it was a lovely way to start the dinner.

Tapas Classico for 2, part 2/2, 309 NOK pp

Then, the second serving came. From top to bottom, left to right, there was: chorizo (warm), meatballs albondigas, entrecote with thyme, gratinated mushrooms, tiger shrimps and potatoes.

My wife and I both liked the mushrooms tapas very much. It was the type of Paris mushrooms. I am generally not a big fan of these mushrooms but here it was a perfect combination with the cheese and the sauce.

The tapas based on potatoes was also quite nice. Not sure what they used to make it but I liked it.

The chorizo was also quite good. My wife find its taste a bit too strong but I suppose this is what one can expect from chorizo.

I didn't find the remaining 3 other taps particularly good. Not bad but not exceptional either.

Fondant de Chocolate: 89 NOK and Lemon Dessert with Rasberries: 94 NOK

To conclude this meal, we ordered a chocolate cake for my wife ("fondant de chocolate") and a lemon dessert for me which had strawberry on it. Both desserts tasted good: the chocolate dessert was not too sweet and the lemon one was well-balanced as well (not too sweet, not too acid).

The service was good but there were some small hiccups. For example, the food was quite quick to come - which is a good thing - but the drinks did not follow. I got my glass of wine when we were pretty much done with the starters. Also it took quite some time to get the desserts and after that to get to pay. The bill came quickly but without the credit card machine. No big deal and surely something to expect with a fully booked restaurant.

All in all a good experience.

New Review of Delicatessen Majorstua

I already reviewed this restaurant here but I went there a few days ago with my family and one adult friend and thought I would write a quick update on it.

If you didn't read the previous review, let me present the restaurant in a few words: it is a tapas bar-restaurant where customers generally order a few dishes and can share them.

Here are some tapas we ordered:

Going from the nearer to the farthest, you can see:

- pan con tomate (toasted bread with tomatoes and garlic): 38 NOK

- albondigas (meatballs): 94 NOK

- asparagus beans (the long green peas): 62 NOK

- a nice mix of artichokes, tomatoes (probably other vegetables) and chevre cream cheese 82 NOK

Here is another set of tapas:

From left to right:

- Chevre salad with red beets (probably my favorite)

- croquetas (nice but I should probably have ordered 2 of them as they aren't easy to share)

- Octopus and potatoes (not for me but my friends really enjoyed it)

We ordered two more tapas that I forgot to take pictures of.

Everything we ordered tasted good and we were really happy with the overall quality of these tapas.

At the end, we were quite full and only ordered 1 dessert and shared it:

Crema Catalana, 104 NOK

It was an apple cream with a berry and lime sorbet. My wife found the sorbet a bit acid but I really enjoyed it this way (I like the lime or lemon taste). The top of the cream was thin and crispy as we like it.

The service was good despite the restaurant being full. The only delay was with the dessert at the end (which took more time than the food) but well, we didn't mind much as it gave us a small digestive break.

To sum up, we are still happy with this restaurant. It may be a bit pricey but it is worth it as each of these tapas is very good. Avoid busy hours or book a table in advance (we were lucky to get the last available table).

Blue Elephant: Nice Little Thai Restaurant Near Solli

"Blue Elephant" is the name of a group of very classy Thai restaurants that you can find for example in London or Copenhagen. When my wife heard there was a restaurant called "Blue Elephant" in Oslo, we were quite curious to see whether this restaurant was a part of this group or not. So we went there a few days ago.

The restaurant is not a part of the mentioned restaurant group and is more modest. Not as "chic" and smaller. It is located near Solli, just behind the Niels Juels Gata tram stop.

I decided to start the meal with a glass noodle salad.

Thai Glass Noodle Salad, 149 NOK

It was a wonderful dish. Both my wife (who tasted it) and I liked it. The glass noodles were actually served warm (something new to me), the dish had some chili but not too much (just a bit spicy) and it had just the proper amount of lemon/citrus juice. Another thing that I hadn't had in other restaurants: it was served with rice.

The only thing about this starter is that it is big, and I believe I could have contented myself with it. Or maybe order it to share between several people.

My wife went for fried spring rolls because she had seen a stunning picture of them on the website of the restaurant.

Springrolls, 69 NOK

There was nothing wrong with these spring rolls but the presentation was very basic and it was therefore a small deception for my wife. The salad with the spring rolls has a sweet dressing which did not convince her either.

Our son was not too hungry so we didn't order a starter for him. The restaurant didn't have a children menu, so we ordered some fried rice.

Fried Rice, 135 NOK

The meal was quite good but there was one issue with it: a bit too much pepper from a general perspective and as it was intended for my son (the waitress knew it), this was way too much pepper. A shame because otherwise, it tasted nice.

My wife chose a green curry as her main dish.

Green Curry, 135 NOK

The taste was good. Just the level of spice my wife wanted (not so spicy it burns the mouth but still enough spice to make it a curry). The only bad thing about it is that it was a bit too liquid.

I had chosen a noodle dish myself

Pad-Se-Ew (Fried Noodles), 145 NOK

The noodles looked a bit "dark" but the dish was good. A bit sweet but not too much thanks to the fresh lime juice.

The service was nice and friendly. When we arrived in the restaurants, we were the only guests so the food came quickly but after that the restaurant became quite crowded and the waiting time increased (the kitchen isn't that big).

A concern of mine iss the lack of children menu or "small children"-friendly dishes. Otherwise, this is a nice little restaurant.

Cafe Laundromat: Best Burger in Oslo?

A few days ago, a friend of mine wrote on her Facebook wall that the cafe Laundromat had the best burger in Oslo (she was having the Jamaican burger). And of course, it made me want to have it!

The cafe Laundromat is in Bislett, near the stadium. It was quite full even though it was quite early a week day.

My wife ordered the "Classic Burger" with bacon and cheese:

Classic Burger, 154 NOK

The quality of the patty was better than in most restaurants we have tried in Oslo. My wife found the taste to be a bit too sweet though (I am guessing some BBQ-like sauce was used when the meat was grilled). The potatoes were nothing special and a bit disappointing (the menu said they would come with a home-made ketchup but we didn't see any ketchup).

Jamaican Burger, 156 NOK

I went of course for the Jamaican burger. It looked better than in the picture above, sorry I am a terrible photograph.

The meat quality was the same as in the Classic Burger, not sweetened this time. The burger was quite original as it had... mango, shrimps and garlic dressing! But altogether it worked well and this was a good burger.

My son wanted a burger too and we took the kid's burger for him.

It was a smaller/simpler version of the Classic burger, with the same meat quality and the same taste (a bit sweet). My son liked it. The potatoes were OK.

So, is the Jamaican burger served at the Cafe Laundromat the best burger in town? Not sure, I need to try many more places before I say this but I agree that it was a very good burger.

Restaurant Caspar Brambani in Sandvika: Better than Expected

Yesterday we went to Sandvika Storsenter for a shopping day. For lunch we decided to go away a bit and eat at the Caspar Brambani restaurant. It is only 5-10 minutes away and it is a nice walk (over a river and so on).

Also, the restaurant has a very nice terrace outside at the back, where children can play (sandbox, tree house, big chess board, table tennis...). Yesterday, there was even a live concert!

Live concert

Thr restaurant was full and we couldn't find a table. So we just sat somewhere and ordered some pizzas.

Barnepizza, 95 NOK

The children pizza was better than expected. Not sweetened to please children, just the "authentic" pizza taste. It was also pretty big.

Scampi Pizza, 165 NOK

My wife and I shared a "scampi pizza" and here too, I was pleasantly suprised. It wasn't with small shrimps bug big king prawns! It also had some tomatoes with garlic that went well with the pizza and with the prawns.

Example of what children can play with

The restaurant was named the best Sandvika's restaurant 2014, something I didn't know yesterday. It is a shame we only ordered pizza (pasta looked good, fish and ships was popular, ...) but well, that gives us a reason to go there again :)

Official Website: http://restaurantbrambani.no/

Thank You Note

Before I start with my review today I wanted to thank the readers of this blog. I am getting more and more feedback, suggestions of restaurants to review, dishes to order, etc...

Thanks a lot for that!

Jewel of India: Indian Restaurant Near Solli

I had heard a lot of good thing about "Jewel of India" so I was happy to finally be able to go there 2 days ago. As usual, I was there with my wife and son.

The restaurant is in Solli which is a quite nice area to have dinner (not far from there, you can find a pizzeria, a Japanese restaurant, a French pancake cafe, etc...).

The meal started with some complimentary papadum and a few "sauces".

Among the sauces you see in the bottom pictures, 2 were quite spicy and 1 was sweet (kind of a jam).

After that, we got a "Cocktail Samosa":

Cocktail Samosa, 85 NOK

Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing. From the name "cocktail", I was expecting 3 pieces with different tastes. It was only 2 pieces with the same taste. Also, we found them a bit plain and nothing special.

After that, we had ordered 2 types of curry: "Chicken Shahjahani Curry Chef's Special" and "Masala Lam Chef's Special".

Chicken Curry (210 NOK) and Masala Lam (225 NOK)

We had the choice of "hot level" on a scale from 1 to 6 (6 being the hottest) and went for 2 for both curry. It was exactly what we wanted. A bit spicy but not too much.

They both tasted good, especially the curry of the masala lam. Also, thanks to the clever recipient they used (with heating at the bottom) the dishes didn't get cold.

All in all, we are quite satisfied with the dinner. The service was good, the restaurant is beautiful and the rices are OK (maybe on the high/quality side). I would advise you to book a table if you want to go there, especially during rush hours.

As a final note: this is what came at the end of the meal and I found it quite beautiful so I took a picture of it.

Official website: http://jewelofindia.no/