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.

Not the best day for Jacob All

Yesterday, it was the 17th of May (big day for Norway!) and we decided to have lunch at Jacob All in Majorstuen, a place we like. Unfortunately, it wasn't their best service.

They had a special menu (which I understand) and I went for their special Jacob All burger. The burger itself was good. Quite a lot of pepper on the meat but that's the way I like it. The sauce was good too.

Unfortunately the French fries were not good. Lukewarm (probably prepared in advance), overcooked on the outside, not cooked enough on the inside, they simply didn't taste great.

My wife didn't have a bigger success with her Caesar salad. Too much pepper on her chicken and otherwise nothing special about it.

For our son, we thought about ordering something simple sausage/fries but he wasn't that hungry and we found the price a bit bigh (109 nok). We asked if we could get the fries only but the answer was no.

All in all a bit disappointed. I understand that the 17th May (or other events) can be a bit chaotic but I still think the overall experience could have been better (after all, we only ordered simple things). We like this place so I hope this was just a one time problem.

Lille Saigon 1: A Good Restaurant But...

A few days ago, we were doing some Asian food shopping in the Storgata area (Oslo S) and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go to Lille Saigon 1, one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Oslo.

My wife had already been there before but I hadn't. For the starter, I decided to trust the recommendations from the menu and went for some pork rolls called "nems" (picture below).

It was really good. A bit similar to the fresh spring rolls you find here and there but with warm pork inside. I was a bit afraid about the sauce because the menu precised it contained chili. But it wasn't very hot and we had no problems with it.

As my main, I ordered a "bun bo xao" which is a dish with rice noodles and beef. It looked really gorgeous and did taste good but I would have liked the meat to have even more taste (maybe more spices, or more lime or something). Still a good dish, and I understand why it is a very popular one.

My wife went for a Vietnamese soup called "pho". She liked it except the soup itself which was maybe too tasty (great thing when you eat the meat and the noodles but she couldn't drink the soup itself).

For our son, we ordered some noodles with chicken. Not a very exciting dish but he liked it and it probably fits well with children's taste (no vegetables...).

Otherwise, I saw several customers complaining about the service when they write about this place on the internet but we found the staff to be friendly and helpful (they helped us with the stroller, etc...) so it probably depends on who your waiter/waitress is.

On the other hand, something which isn't often mentioned is that the restaurant itself could be better with a bit of renovation and it wasn't the most immaculately clean place I have seen (with such a busy service, it is understandable though).

About the price: for the starter, the 2 main dishes, the 1 child dish, I paid a total of 360 nok which I think is very resonable in Oslo.

To sum up: Lille Saigon 1 is a good Vietnamese restaurant but there are a few things here and there which could be improved. We will surely go there again in the future.

Sorry for the Delay

Before I start with my next review, i wanted to apologize for all that time I was away from this blog. promise, I will do my best to update it more often.