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!