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/

Olivia Hedgehaugsveien: a Cosy Place for Italian Food

I have already reviewed Olivia Tjuvholmen on this blog but thought I would write a few rods about Olivia Hedgehaugsveien too as we were there a few days ago. My son wanted a pizza and as we were in Bogstadveien, we decided to go to Olivia. The weather was really nice and we knew they had a nice terrace.

We started with a plate of cheese and ham:

Salumi e Formaggio, 155 NOK

I really liked it. It came really fast, the cheese was good, the ham was good, the toast/bread was good... Perfect while waiting for the main dishes. There were 3 types of cheese and 2 types of ham. I am not sure if this is intended for 2 or 3 persons as there were 3 slices of ham of each type but only 2 toasts. But well, it was nice for us 3 (2 adults and 1 child).

When it comes to the main dish, my wife ordered pasta with seafood:

Frutti di Mare, 179 NOK

She didn't say much about it but liked it.

I went myself for a classic:

Pasta Carbonara, 175 NOK

But actually this version was a bit original because they made their pasta carbonara with... squash! I actually liked it because it was giving a little "healthy" touch to an otherwise quite heavy dish. But well, if you don't expect it, it may surprise you.

My son wanted a pizza with corn and... sausage?! Not sure where this idea came to him (probably TV or something) but they didn't have corn and the only "sausages" they had were spicy ones (kind of salami type). So we ended up ordering a normal "barnapizza" with ham:

Barna Pizza, 100 NOK

And well, he was happy with it, so it was a good choice. The fish shape is made in other Olivia restaurants.

The service was fine and it was great to be out in the shadow (under the sun would have been too hot). All in all, as I said in the title, Olivia in Hedgehaugsveien (near Bogstadveien) is a cosy place to have Italian food.

New Restaurant in Majorstuen: Azuma (Korean and Japanese Cuisine)

I am always excited when I hear a new restaurant is opening, especially if it is a cuisine which is under represented. So when I heard that a new Korean (and Japanese) restaurant was opening in Majorstuen, I had to try it. It is located in Kirkeveien, where Bambus was in the past.

We like Korean BBQ (bulgogi) so we had to try their 2-person BBQ set. It included a few pieces of salmon sashimi and Korean-style meat (with mushrooms and garlic)

Here is the meat and mushrooms (to be grilled)

And here is our tray, with sashimi and a few Korean snacks

The meat was really good: juicy, tasteful... and my wife and I were really happy about it. As it is grilled in front of us we can choose ourselves when we considered it done. Also, the spicy miso present on our tray fit very well with the BBQ meat.

For our son, we ordered sushi:

It was well presented and my son liked it. My wife (Japanese) on the other hand tried it and wasn't convinced by the rice (maybe too sweet or something). Not bad but not as particularly good as our dish.

About the price: 325 NOK per person for the BBQ set and the sushi was at 165 NOK  for 12 pieces. The service was good and the restaurant was beautiful. Also, it was quite nice to see that there were many Korean customers. If they go there themselves to get Korean food, I don't think we should doubt the restaurant quality/authenticity.

Next, I will go there, I will probably try the Bibimbap which is my other favorite Korean dish.

For an alternative Korean/Japanese restaurant have a look at my review of the Miso Cafe.

Thai Orchid: a Nice Place for Thai Food in Oslo

My wife has a friend who has lived in Thailand so when this friend recommended the Thai Orchid to us, we were quite excited to try it. The restaurant is in the Oslo S area, not far from Storgata. This is a nice place for Asian food, both in terms of restaurants and food stores.

Here is a photo of the restaurant:

Typical Thai design

My wife when for a "Pad Pak Ruam Mith Moo Krob", which is pork fried with vegetables in oyster sauce.

It tasted good. The sauce was a bit sweet and the pork had a small BBQ-flavor (not sure how they did it).

I went for a recommendation from my wife's friend: papaya salad with fried chicken and sweet rice. When i ordered it I was asked how many chili I wanted and I said one.

This dish was really good too. I liked the salad (quite original thanks to the papaya), I liked the fried chicken and I liked the rice (wasn't really sweet). The dip sauce was nice too. Be careful though when choosing the number of chilis you want. It was quite spicy with just one!

Our son got something a bit less original: fried rice with chicken.

It was quite good too.

So all in all, we were really satisfied with the meal and we will probably go there again in the future.

Website of the restaurant: http://www.thaiorchid.no/hovedretter/

Address: Calmeyersgt. 11, 0183 Oslo

Crepes Maison: a New Creperie in Majorstuen

Crepes Maison is a cafe-restaurant which just opened last week in Majorstuen. As it name indicates, it serves French pancakes, both the sweet and the savory version ("crêpe" and "galette").

Here is an example of a galette:

You cannot tell from the picture but this one had spinach and feta cheese in it. You could also order it with ham and cheese or 4 cheese.

And here is a sweet one ("crêpe") with strawberries and Nutella (hasselnut-chocolate):

You could of course choose from many different combination (with sugar, chocolate, banana, ...).

The chef has some experience from when he lived in France and both types of pancakes tasted good.

Just two small details:
- crepes maison means "homemade pancakes"
- just in case you wonder, French pancakes don't come from Paris but from Brittany (west of France)

Price:
- sweet ones: 49 NOK
- savory ones: 69 NOK

So, just go there and enjoy some French pancakes!

Eataly in Aker Brygge: Winner of the Norwegian Pizza Championship

Eataly is a pizzeria in Aker Brygge. Elio Corsi who works there won the Norwegian Pizza Championship this year (first and third place) and we were therefore quite excited to try this pizzeria.

The restaurant offers (of course) a "commercial" variation of the pizza which finished first and also the pizza which finished third. Somehow we decided to go for other pizza that time.

My wife went for a pizza with the same name as the restaurant: pizza Eataly. It was with tomato sauce, meatballs and a bit of blue cheese.

I am not a big fan of blue cheese on pizza but this time it worked quite well because it was put in small quantity. Also the dough and the tomato sauce were good.

I went myself for a pizza Finocchiona with cream, mozarella and ... fennel salami. Hadn't hørt about fennel salami before but it tasted great and fit well with the pizza.

Finally, our son got a children version of the Prosciutto pizza with ham and mushrooms.

It had a cute fish shape and wasn't bad but I was surprised that the tomato sauce wasn't the same as the one used for adults pizza. Sweeter (better for children?) but less Italy-"authentic".

To conclude, we liked:
- the pizza which tasted good
- the fact that the toppings were original
- the fact that children could choose any pizza from the main menu (just with reduce size and price)

What we liked less:
- the service wasn't top-notch. For example, we had to wait 5-10 minutes to get water, even though we had hailed to several waiters. If you check other reviews on the net you may find horrible ones where one had to complain to the supervisor or something. It wasn't that bad for us. Just not awesome.
- strollers are not allowed inside. Common practice in the area but not a good one in my opinion.

A bit about the price: the pizza Finocchiona was at 169 NOK, the pizza Eataly at 189 NOK and the pizza for our son 85 NOK. Correct for the area.

Larsen: a Good Restaurant in Majorstuen

There are a couple of restaurants in Sørkedalsveien next to the Majorstuen T-bane station but somehow they are not popular. Maybe because they are a bit old-fashioned (compared to, say the ones in the Colosseum area). And yet, they may have a lot more to offer than one thinks. We have been to the Larsen restaurant twice and both times, we had a very good meal.

Last time, my wife ordered the dish of the day which was lam in wine sauce (138 NOK).

It is original to use lam meat with wine sauce. I am thinking for example of "boeuf Bourguignon" (beef)  or "coq au vin" (roster or, nowadays, chicken). But, well, it worked well as the lam was thin, and my wife liked it.

I went for a pasta dish (142 NOK) which was also quite original with a combination of beef, pesto and chili.

There too, it worked better than expected. The meat wasn't tasteless (as it generally is when cooked with pasta), the chili wasn't making the dish too spicy (just a bit) and overall I also liked my dish.

We had a guest with us this time who had the chicken burger (138 NOK). The chicken was tasteful with some spices and mayonnaise. It was served with tortilla chips and salsa sauce.

Our friend was also satisfied with it.

Finally, our son had some grilled chicken breast with french fries. The dish was well prepared and not "just-for-children".

So, to sum up, we were all happy with our dinner. I also checked some reviews at Google+ (in Norwegian) and other customers were also positive about this place. It is a nice place with good food and correct price.

Solsiden: a Nice Fish and Shellfish Restaurant with a Beautiful View

Tonight we went to Solsiden a fish and shellfish restaurant that my wife had recommended to me after having tried last year. The restaurant only opens in summer time and I couldn't make it last year.

My wife went for the 3-course menu of the day (about 500 NOK)

The starter was tuna tataki.

The main dish was grilled halibut with some asparagus and other vegetables.

And the dessert was coconuts ice cream with some fruits and a bit of merengue.

My wife enjoyed the 3 dishes and thought they all tasted very good.

I had myself some dampened mussels (about 200 NOK).

They tasted good and it was a bit original with a bit of chili in the sauce.

For our son, we had ordered the children menu (about 150 NOK). It included a small bag with some games (stickers, 10 differences, etc...) so that he could keep himself busy before the meal. I liked the idea. Also the dish was grilled salmon with some kind of risotto. It tasted good especially the fish and my son enjoyed it a lot.

All in all, the food tasted good, the service was nice and the view was beautiful. A nice evening!

Disappointed with Nodee

I like Nodee and I stated why when I reviewed it last time. Since that time, we have been there a couple of times without any particular problems but yesterday, we were disappointed with it.

We started with a "Snacks De Luxe" which was spinach, shrimp chips and cashew nuts. An interesting combination and the presentation was quite nice but the spinach was sweet! I didn't like it (didn't think the taste fit with the spinach and didn't feel it was going well as a snack).

After that we had ordered the sushi combination "tokujo" (which in Japanese means "extra good", "first class", ...).

On a presentation perspective, the dish was stunning. However there was a few problems with it.
First, we had specified we wanted the dish to be without wasabi to be able to share it with our son. They did exclude wasabi on the plate but unfortunately they used it when making the sushi. So there was wasabi between the rice and the fish and my son couldn't eat it.
The second thing was for example for the egg/omelette sushi. The "dashi" taste was missing and there was too much garlic in it.

For me, I had asked for the Cantonese Wagyu beef ("Wagyuu" means "Japanese beef"). The presentation was once again good and the taste was nice but I don't think the dish was so exceptional it justified its price (340 nok for 100g beef).

Så all in all, we were a bit disappointed. The good points were the service which was still good, the presentation of the dishes which we like and the fact that food came quickly, especially knowing the restaurant was quite full. On the minus side, we were not impressed with the taste of the food and the price was a bit high for what we ordered.