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).

Delicatessen: Popular Tapas Restaurant in Majorstuen

Tonight we went to a popular Tapas restaurant in Majorstuen. This place is actually the victim of its success as it is often full and it may take some time to get a table or to get served.

Fortunately, tonight was a Monday night (restaurants are generally less busy early in the week) and we are during the summer holiday period which is also a factor for quiet evenings.

Worth noting: Delicatessen can be found in both Grünerløkka and Majorstuen. I am reviewing here the one in Majorstuen.

Chicken skewers and home-made sausages

It wouldn't be smart to review in details each dish as the principle of tapas is to order quite a lot of them and as they may vary depending on the season (available fresh products). 

Grilled asparagus, Pan con tomate and Mini-burger

What we can say is that on the whole, the tapas we ordered were good, that the restaurant had a nice choice of dish (going from Spanish ham to scampi, not forgetting potato-omelet, grilled asparagus, and many other dishes) and that most of it was homemade. Also, I am not an expert of Spanish cuisine but I have been several times to Spain and can say that this restaurant definitively had a Spanish touch.

Warm Chevre salad, croquetas Iberias and Serrano ham

About the service and restaurant: we had a little incident at the beginning. The staff told us we couldn't go in because of the stroller (which is understandable) but they were of little help trying to find a solution to it. Basically, sorry you cannot come in. That's it. After that, the service was fine, though and we enjoyed the meal.

Sitronterte  med bringebær

Otherwise, the restaurant is nice, especially when it comes to its location. Central enough (Majorstuen) to be easy to go to while not too noisy as it is a bit away from the main street.

When it comes to the price, we paid about 1000 NOK, knowing that we were two adults and one 3-yo child. We didn't have drinks but ate a lot and had desserts. So all-in-all a bit expensive but not exaggerated pricing.  Advice: avoid rush hours or be ready to have some waiting time.