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.

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!

Olivia: a Nice Place for Pizza!

There are  3 Olivia restaurants in Oslo and we have been to two of them. They offer different Italian dishes but what we like best there are their pizzas.

Yesterday, we went to the Olivia restaurant located on the back side of Aker Brygge, in Tjuvholmen. There is also an Olivia restaurant in Aker Brygge, next to the sea (at the beginning of the walking area) but we were afraid there would be too many people there.

There was actually quite some customers in Tjuvholmen too, but we didn't have to wait to be seated.

We ordered 3 pizzas:

• children pizza with ham
• White pizza with chicken
• pizza alla diavola

Pizza for children with ham, 100 NOK

Same pizza, another angle

Pizza alla diavola, 172 NOK

Pollo Bianco (white chicken), 172 NOK

The pizza alla diavola was actually quite spicy because of the salami (a spicy type). But "diavola" in the name of the pizza was indeed warning the pizza would be... diabolic.

I am generally not a big fan of white pizzas (I like tomato sauce) but I must admit that this "white chicken" pizza tasted very good and had me reconsider my views about white pizzas in general.

The service was good but I recommend you to avoid rush hours like Saturday night if possible.

The official website of Olivia: http://oliviarestauranter.no/