Thursday, July 24, 2014

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.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

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