Penny Pinchers Guide to Oslo

Kaffistova Restaurant

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Restaurant | "An Oslo Canteen Experience"

Kaffistova at Hotel Bondeheim Photo - Kaffistova Restaurant, Oslo, Norway

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"Kaffistova" was a recommendation in our "Berlitz Guide to Oslo". It was listed as a cheaper option, a fact that appealed to us immensely. I’m usually willing to splash out on good food, but Oslo is so expensive (by British standards) that even a sandwich can easily cost you about £9.00. Kaffistova is a cafeteria style restaurant in that the food is pre-cooked and kept warm in glass counters; on my travels in the former Soviet Union this proved to be an excellent arrangement on many occasions, when my Russian language skills fell short of the required standard. In Norway this isn’t really an issue because restaurant staff all speak perfect English; what’s more, at Kaffistova, hanging above...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 10, 2010

Kaffistova Restaurant
Rosenkrantzgate 8
Oslo, Norway 0159
+47 23 21 42 10

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New Anarkali

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Restaurant | "A Touch of Scandic Spice at the New Anarkali"

The New Anarkali, Oslo Photo - New Anarkali, Oslo, Norway

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There’s no getting away from the fact that eating out in Norway is very costly. Even a simple wrap for a quick fix lunch will set you back about £8.00. In Scandinavia we’ve often found that "ethnic" restaurants tend to be slightly cheaper, and eating vegetarian dishes will save you a bit more; as fans of Indian food, this is something we are always happy to do. There are numerous Indian restaurants in Oslo and we chose one in the Grunnerlokka district just to the north of the centre. We didn’t have a reservation but were able to get a table for two on a Saturday night. The restaurant was reasonably busy but we were placed in a corner and felt a little cut off from the rest of the restauran...Read More

There’s no getting away from the fact that eating out in Norway is very costly. Even a simple wrap for a quick fix lunch will set you back about £8.00. In Scandinavia we’ve often found that "ethnic" restaurants tend to be slightly cheaper, and eating vegetarian dishes will save you a bit more; as fans of Indian food, this is something we are always happy to do.

There are numerous Indian restaurants in Oslo and we chose one in the Grunnerlokka district just to the north of the centre. We didn’t have a reservation but were able to get a table for two on a Saturday night. The restaurant was reasonably busy but we were placed in a corner and felt a little cut off from the rest of the restaurant but it was arranged that tables for two were in one part of the restaurant, while the larger tables were clustered together in another part.

The interior was nicely decorated and the restaurant was very comfortable. It was almost design kit Indian shabby chic but it would mean to criticise it for that reason. My only complaint was that it was a little too dimly lit; my partner struggled a little to read the menu and I’d have liked to have got a better look at my food. ( A digital camera always helps if you encounter this problem)

All the staff we came into contact with spoke very good English so I had no concerns when I had to explain to them about my nut allergy; I had complete confidence that the dishes I was ordering did not contain nuts. Although the staff didn’t really approach us at table much, I did feel that their presence was a little intrusive in that they would stand along the front of the bar watching the silently diners, something I found a bit creepy.

The menu is fairly standard and similar to that of a British style "curry house" with a few "specials" thrown in. We both decided just to have a main course but we pleased to find complimentary popadoms and a pickle tray presented to us after we’d ordered; the pickles were served in little copper pots and presented on a stylish black tray, making a nice visual statement. The mango chutney appeared to be homemade because it had a much richer colour than the Sharwoods usually dished out these days in cheaper UK curryhouses and it also contains generous pieces of real mango. The chilli pickle met the approval of Himself, who is a more daring tester than myself, while the bright green pickle proved to be a vibrant and flavoursome coriander chutney with a fresh and exciting taste.

I chose aloo matter (a potato and pea curry) while my partner picked the saag paneer (a spinach and Indian cheese dish). We ordered one portion of rice and one portion of nan bread to share. The food was presented in ornate gold coloured lidded pots which was a nice touch even if the portions could have been more generous. There was a reasonable amount of rice however, which was refilled free of charge during the meal. Both dishes were delicious: the aloo matter proved to be a worthy main course rather than a large side dish as is often the case with meat free meal in Indian restaurants. The flavours were rich and the dish was spicy without blowing your head off. The potato was just cooked so it still had a fairly firm texture, rather than being cooked to mush. The sag paneer was equally good and they hadn’t skimped on the paneer as many restaurants do. The paneer had been fired off first to give the pieces a lovely golden colour and a slight crispiness to the edges, which is always preferable to the pieces being simply dumped in the sauce. This one was a builder, starting off very flavoursome but mild, and gradually building to a vibrant heat.

In Oslo terms we thought this meal was good value. The sag paneer cost 149 NOK (Norwegian Kroner) which is approximately £16 (correct in Oct 2010); expensive compared to such a dish in a British restaurant but actually reasonable for an evening meal in Oslo (you could eat cheaper by having your main meal at lunchtime and taking advantage of a set meal special). A lamb dish would set you back around 200 NOK. Including drinks (a couple of beers, a lassi and a Diet Coke), our bill came to a shade under £50, not bad at all if you compare it with the meal we had at Kaffistova which included only one soft drink and comprised two small main courses only and cost around £35 (also reviewed on Igougo).

The bill was presented with a little wooden pot of fragrant seeds, a lovely way to cleanse the palate, and so much nicer than a couple of imperial mints. Even after paying we didn’t feel under pressure to give up the table, the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming and we were able to make our evening nicely drawn out, in spite of the food being delivered rather quickly.

There are loads of Indian restaurants in Oslo but I’d happily make a recommendation of this one on the basis of comfortable surroundings, tasty food and moderate prices.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 9, 2010

New Anarkali
Thorvald Meyers gate 76
Oslo, Norway 0550
22 20 04 20

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Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower

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Attraction | "Holmenkollen - For Would-be Eddie the Eagles"

The (rebuilt) Ski Jump Photo - Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower, Oslo, Norway

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The magnificent ski jump at Holmenkollen is one of Oslo’s most popular tourist attractions. Even in snow-free July, and in spite of major renovations taking place, the complex was teaming with visitors; some were Norwegians who had come by private car, others had come in coaches, stopping off on an organised tour, and others still, like us, had made the journey from central Oslo by bus. The ski jump is visible from the city although it is a thirty minute trip from the centre of the Norwegian capital. I am an avid spectator of winter sports so I was excited at the prospect of visiting Holmenkollen; as well as the ski jump, there’s a museum devoted to the history of winter sports in Norway a...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on September 5, 2010

Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Tower
Kongeveien 5
Oslo, Norway 0787
22 92 32 00

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Norwegian Resistance Museum (Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum)

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Attraction | "Documenting Norway's National Pride"

The Norwegian Resistance Museum Photo - Norwegian Resistance Museum (Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum), Oslo, Norway

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As a schoolchild I was really interested in the Second World War but even in GCSE history attention was focused on the Nazis and we covered relatively little on the war in the Far East, in North Africa and even on the Russian Front; the war in Scandinavia featured even less. In the intervening years my knowledge of the war in a wider context has grown considerably so I was very interested in visiting the Museum of the Norwegian Resistance when I visited Oslo recently. In a nutshell the museum documents the efforts of the Norwegian people, both civilian and military, against their German occupiers (although the Norwegian name for the museum gives the impression that it covers only the civilian resistan...Read More

As a schoolchild I was really interested in the Second World War but even in GCSE history attention was focused on the Nazis and we covered relatively little on the war in the Far East, in North Africa and even on the Russian Front; the war in Scandinavia featured even less. In the intervening years my knowledge of the war in a wider context has grown considerably so I was very interested in visiting the Museum of the Norwegian Resistance when I visited Oslo recently. In a nutshell the museum documents the efforts of the Norwegian people, both civilian and military, against their German occupiers (although the Norwegian name for the museum gives the impression that it covers only the civilian resistance).

The museum is housed in what looks like a rather small building in the grounds of Akershus Fortress in Oslo; in fact, once inside you see that it’s much bigger than the exterior would have you believe. The building is near to a monument that marks the spot where a number of Norwegian resistance fighters were executed by Nazis. The fortress is a ten minute walk from the main train station and is well signposted.

The museum was set up in the mid 1960s with the aim of teaching young Norwegians about the strength and determination of their ancestors, and to warn of "the evil of foreign occupation and rule". It was hoped that in this way it would be possible to create a sense of national pride and unity. Today the museum is one of Oslo’s most popular attractions and even early on a wet Monday morning there were a handful of tourists visiting the museum.

The museum covers the period from just before the invasion of Norway until its liberation in 1945. The exhibition is presented in a rather serious, and perhaps a little dated, way which, of course, befits the nature of the subject, but is not necessarily going to engage younger visitors these days. Furthermore, the exhibition is dimly lit and the captions are quite difficult to read; my partner, who has a visual impairment found it difficult to read the captions and found that the dim lighting not just in the display cases but also highlighting photographs and just for getting around the museum safely. Although the exhibition is on a couple of levels it is wheelchair accessible.

The information provided is comprehensive but I felt that it wasn’t arranged in the best way. Some sections were presented on both sides of the route indicated, others were just on one side. There was a lot of jumping between the civilian, political and military aspects of the war; at times a whole year’s political developments was described, then the exhibition would trek back to cover the details of the resistance activity during the same period. When a single period was presented on both walls of the route this became quite confusing.

Nevertheless I found the content of the exhibition fascinating for the most part. A large part describes the efforts of the Norwegian soldiers who were trained by British forces in Scotland, the Shetland Islands in particular, so that they might covertly return to Norway to sabotage key facilities and, in turn, train Norwegians in skills that would help the resistance movement. A really excellent section shows how Norwegians managed to hide radios and includes a selection of items into which radio receivers were hidden (chair legs, bibles and the like); there are copies of laboriously hand copied news sheets which were secretly delivered and contained advice on how Norwegians might cause maximum annoyance to the Germans without necessarily endangering their own lives. Norwegians would refuse to speak to Germans and usually pretended that they couldn’t speak German, although, at the time, German was as widely spoken in Norway as English is now (that is to say, widespread). Various groups went on strike: actors, the police, schoolteachers. The latter were arrested and sent to a prison camp but were eventually released when the Nazis realised that this was one battle they could not win.

The political situation was less well covered but this stemmed more from the fact that the initial period after the German invasion was poorly described. The Germans invaded Norway in 1940; Norwegian forces did their best to defend the southern part of the country to allow the King and key members of the government to flea. The leader of the Norwegian Nazi party was approached by two senior German officers and asked to form a government, which he agreed to do. He then ordered Norwegian batteries to cease attacking German targets and walked into the national radio station where he made a broadcast to the country announcing that he had taken the role of Prime Minister and ordering all resistance to stop with immediate effect. However, because Quisling had taken these steps without consultation with anyone else, this order was not obeyed. The following day a senior German officer went to Elverum where the official government and King Haakon had fled; he demanded that the King officially appoint Quisling as Prime Minister. The King refused and the message was sent to the people that they should not cooperate with Quisling.

Instead the Germans tried to install a German, Josef Terboven, to lead a government and instructed Quisling to find some Norwegian politicians who would serve in his government: he could not find any. With no other option, the Germans allowed Quisling to remain as leader and informed the public that they were obliged to obey his government. The Germans really believed that allowing a Norwegian to hold a high position would help get the public on side but Quisling was highly unpopular and many Norwegians believed that it has always been intended that the Germans would use him as a puppet leader when they occupied Norway. Quisling remained "Minister President" until the end of the war. In the war trials after the war he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by firing squad; there were a number of charges including cooperation in the deportation of Jews from Norway.

The military aspect of Norway’s war is covered quite comprehensively but was the least interesting aspect to me. There were a few rather ancient dioramas (what is the plural of ‘diorama’?) showing key events such as the sinking of the ship the Blucher in the Oslo Fjord and attacks on military installations. This is perhaps an area of the exhibition that needs updating as it doesn’t explain very much at all.

Overall this is a very good exhibition with countless brilliant and helpful exhibits. It uses news reel footage, radio broadcasts, newspapers articles, official documents and a wealth of items such as uniforms and civilian clothing, food packets, news sheets, and personal diaries and notes that were smuggled out of police stations and prison camps. It does need at least a couple of hours to take in the exhibition properly as there is so much material. I would strongly suggest arriving first thing as it would have been much more difficult to really look at the exhibits and read the texts had the museum been busier.

The museum’s website says that admission for adults is 30 NOK (roughly £3) but I have a feeling this is not up to date though I can’t remember exactly how much we paid. I do remember, however, that it was cheaper than the Fram Museum which we had visited the previous day (at 60 NOK for adults). One thing is certain, it was tremendous value!
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 22, 2010

Norwegian Resistance Museum (Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum)
Bygning 21. Askershus Castle
Oslo, Norway
23 09 32 80

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Munch Museum (Munch-museet)

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Attraction | "The Munch Museum - It's a Scream"

The Munch Museum, Oslo Photo - Munch Museum (Munch-museet), Oslo, Norway

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Visiting the Edvard Munch Museum was one of the things I most wanted to do in Oslo. I've long been interested in the work of the Norwegian expressionist artist but this fascination came about after viewing his painting "Sickness" in London rather than "The Scream", arguably his best known work. When Munch died he left his catalogue of paintings, drawings and prints to the City of Oslo and a large number of them are presented here in this fine museum. I'd be hard pressed to name any other Norwegian artists but there can be few people who have never seen the horror stricken subject of "The Scream". It's an image that has been used in countless situations, appearing on t-shirts, shopping bags...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 22, 2010

Munch Museum (Munch-museet)
Tøyengt. 53
Oslo, Norway 0578
+47 23 24 14 00

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Red Sea Star Restaurant

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Restaurant | "An African Oasis in Oslo"

The Kitchen Combination.. Photo - Red Sea Star Restaurant, Oslo, Norway

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Having enjoyed immensely our introduction to Eritrean food at a restaurant in Geneva we were delighted to spot a similar restaurant near our accommodation in Oslo. From the outside the place didn’t look particularly appealing but we usually look past the exterior and focus on the food more than the décor. Fortunately things do improve considerably once you get inside and when the food comes you are in no doubt at all that this is a quality restaurant. The interior is actually rather smart and sleek with statement wallpaper and dazzling modern chandeliers. There’s even a more secluded area that owes much to the idea of nightclub VIP areas with sexy armchairs and tables in cosy booths. Unfo...Read More

Having enjoyed immensely our introduction to Eritrean food at a restaurant in Geneva we were delighted to spot a similar restaurant near our accommodation in Oslo. From the outside the place didn’t look particularly appealing but we usually look past the exterior and focus on the food more than the décor. Fortunately things do improve considerably once you get inside and when the food comes you are in no doubt at all that this is a quality restaurant.

The interior is actually rather smart and sleek with statement wallpaper and dazzling modern chandeliers. There’s even a more secluded area that owes much to the idea of nightclub VIP areas with sexy armchairs and tables in cosy booths. Unfortunately the place was deserted on a wet Sunday night and we were the only diners. There was one member of waiting staff and she greeted us in a warm and friendly way, speaking excellent English.

The menu was very similar to the one in Geneva; there’s a small set of core dishes or you can have what they call the kitchen combination which, as the name suggests, is a selection of all the dishes. We decided not to have starters though we were tempted by the soup. Although bottled beers were listed on the menu we enquired about local beer and were told it was available on draught.

The food arrived after a short wait, during which time we were careful not to drink our beers too quickly as drinking in Oslo is very pricey, whether in bars or restaurants. The food was presented on one large white plate and looked pretty good but not as immediately eye catching as we’d had before. Eritrean food is generally eaten with the hands using a piece torn off a kind of pancake called an "injeira". The pancakes line the plate and hang over the edge of it and the rest of the food is placed on top in little piles.

We chose the meat version but there’s a vegetarian one too. There were three different types of meat in sauces. One was chicken, one was beef and the other may have been lamb but I’m not entirely sure. All of them were delicious but we’d have preferred more spiciness. There were also little heaps of something very similar to, but not exactly the same as, cottage cheese. It was creamy with a slightly sour tang and it complemented the spicy meat dishes wonderfully.

By the end we were more than full and felt that while the food had been tasty, it lacked a little sparkle. Nevertheless this place gets a certain thumbs up - tasty food, reasonable value for Norway and something a little different.

The meal for two with beers cost approximately £50 Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 16, 2010

Red Sea Star Restaurant
Storgata 45
Oslo, Norway
22 11 00 00

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The Fram Museum

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Attraction | "Exploring the Frozen North"

Approaching the Fram Museum... Photo - The Fram Museum, Oslo, Norway

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During a trip to Geneva earlier this year, I was impressed to find that many of the streets which bear the names of famous or important people, have a brief explanation under the street name sign of who the person was or mentioned some notable achievement of theirs. But in Oslo, no such introduction was required: Norway seems to have had an abundance of over achievers of the last couple of centuries and most of them have earned themselves an eternal commemoration on the map. For me, a couple of those names stand out in particular: Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and Thor Heyerdahl. Of course, they aren’t just commemorated in street names. Three museums on the Bydgoy peninsular, a short bo...Read More

During a trip to Geneva earlier this year, I was impressed to find that many of the streets which bear the names of famous or important people, have a brief explanation under the street name sign of who the person was or mentioned some notable achievement of theirs. But in Oslo, no such introduction was required: Norway seems to have had an abundance of over achievers of the last couple of centuries and most of them have earned themselves an eternal commemoration on the map. For me, a couple of those names stand out in particular: Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and Thor Heyerdahl.

Of course, they aren’t just commemorated in street names. Three museums on the Bydgoy peninsular, a short boat ride from the city centre across the Oslo Fjord are dedicated to aspects of Norway’s seafaring achievements. The first looks at Norway’s maritime history in general while the second is dedicated to Thor Heyerdahl’s remarkable voyage to South America on his balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki. I would happily have visited either of these but in the end we chose the Fram Museum which focuses on Norway’s not inconsiderable achievements in the fields of Arctic and Antarctic exploration.

The exhibition centres on the remarkable vessel, the Fram, built in 1892, which is actually on display in the middle of the building; the other exhibits are displayed on three floors which surround the ship. The design works brilliantly for a number of reasons. First it places the Fram at the very heart of the museum with the information about it all around; you can read about some aspect of the ship and turn around and see it right behind you. Second, the interior, with its three levels of walkway around the outside, it very reminiscent of the interior of a ship; whether by design or not, it’s very fitting.

The building is a triangular shape, which is a very Norwegian style and it looks in keeping with other buildings on the peninsular; it has a great view over the Fjord from the upper levels. An introduction to exploration of the Arctic is displayed on a series of panels on the exterior wall as you approach the museum from the dock. The ticket office is just inside the door and it can be something of a scrum to get through the loitering tour groups, and up to the desk. There’s a barrier to enter the museum proper but it would be easy to slip into the museum without paying (I am NOT suggesting anyone does this) because this area is also the gift shop and it’s hard to tell who is queuing for tickets and who is just hanging around.

The mighty Fram is straight ahead of you and fills the central part of the space. A statue of Fridtjof Nansen stands just in front of it and you start your tour on the left hand side. The story starts by describing some of the earlier attempts to navigate as far north as possible and then moves on to Nansen’s plans. His plan was to get to the North Pole but he did manage to navigate further north than anyone else before him and he achieved this in 1896. In actual fact the ship moved virtually on top of the ice; Colin Archer, a Norwegian boat-builder of Scottish descent, built what was the strongest ship of all time. In 1898 Otto Sverdrup took the Fram to Greenland, and later still the Fram was given a refit and a diesel engine when Amundsen took her to the South Pole.

On the next floor the story continues with more items belonging to Nansen and the men who sailed with him on the Fram over several voyages. On this floor you can access the Fram itself, explore its decks and then go down below and see the galley, the tiny cabins and even go right down into the hold. I loved seeing into the cabins; you can’t go into any (they are little more than a glorified cupboard) but you can peer through a glass panel. Inside each cabin you can see articles of clothing that the explorers would have worn, mostly made from animal skins; when you compare them to the sort of clothing worn by such adventurers today, you wonder how people managed to survive those terrible conditions.

The museum is very good at putting the voyages into a wider context. There are examples of plant life that have been collected in those hostile environments and some (I presume) stuffed birds and animals to show what creatures live there. There are plenty of charts and maps to illustrate the scale of the achievement as well as a good number of photographs. All captions are in English and Norwegian (and also several other languages).

The voyages of Sverdrup and Amundsen are also covered though Nansen and his expeditions are the main focus of the museum. I knew a bit about Nansen before I visited but only about his expeditions; in fact Nansen went on to have an exceptionally interesting and useful career as a diplomat and did much work to improve the lives of people in far flung parts of the world. Ine of his most notable achievements was the introduction of the "Nansen Passport" which was issued to stateless refugees and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in conjunction with this.

The Fram Museum is about much more than one ship; it looks at man’s fascination with pushing boundaries and continually breaking new ground, and the lengths to which men will go to make these achievements. Lately I’ve become very interested in snow and ice exploration and it was great to find that this aspect was so well covered; I’d probably not have been so interested had the Fram been a conventional ship sailing on the open seas. As well as the maritime and scientific aspects of the voyages, the museum looks at social and cultural history as they relate to the subject. There is a brilliant collection of handmade artefacts made by native peoples of the far north and excerpts from the diaries of members of the teams that sailed on the Fram.

We stayed a couple of hours but could easily have stayed longer; you need at least ninety minutes to really get around and see a good part of the exhibition. There were quite a few people visiting with children and most of them appeared to be enjoying the experience. It’s not particularly interactive and children will need quite a bit explaining to them but with stuffed polar bears and the chance to explore the Fram, there are things that will certainly appeal to kids.

I found the museum absolutely enthralling and my visit served to further increase my interest in the subject. This museum is expertly curated, the displays are well captioned and the variety of exhibits is brilliant. If I lived in Oslo, I’d probably ask for a season ticket!

Admission 60 Kroner, roughly £6.00 – a bargain!
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 13, 2010

The Fram Museum
Bygdøynesveien 36
Oslo, Norway 0286
+47 23 28 29 50

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Anker Hostel

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Hotel | "Anker Hostel - Quieter than You Might Think"

Anker Hostel - Lobby Photo - Anker Hostel, Oslo, Norway

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Even among those who have never visited Norway, there is a general awareness of the fact that, for British people at least, it’s a very expensive country. Indeed, the 25 per cent tax rate that is applied to almost everything (and things such as alcohol are even more heavily taxed) in combination with the exchange rate make it one of Europe’s most costly destinations. Accommodation is no exception and having nabbed some bargain flights to Oslo Rygge with Ryanair, we set about the task of finding the cheapest accommodation we could, without compromising too much on location. After much research we chose Anker Hostel which is situated about ten minutes walk from Oslo’s bus and train stations ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 4, 2010

Anker Hostel
Storgata 55
Oslo
+47 22 99 72 00

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