After 3 fun filled days in Copenhagen, I was off to explore the fjords in Norway. But first, a quick pit stop in Oslo before I started my journey. I'll be honest, Oslo is eh - especially compared to all the other beautiful parts of Scandinavia that I've been to. It grew on me a little bit as the day wore on but my initial impression was that there really is no reason to spend more than 24 hours here as there are so many other more gorgeous places to go in Norway.
But as long as I was here, I was going to try to enjoy myself. Of course, I searched to see if they had a food market and of course they did! Similar to a lot of food markets, it's located in a slightly out of the way neighborhood and while it had all the makings of a good food hall, it just didn't really do it for me. It's a nice small space but there was something lacking about it - it felt cold and impersonal. However, if you are going to spend time there, you can find good things to eat while you were there. It's no real surprise that Norwegian food isn't super famous but what they are known for is their salmon. I ended up going to a Japanese bento box place and getting a salmon sushi box (50 Krone = $6 USD) and a salmon teriyaki box (69 Krone = $ 8 USD). The fish itself was pretty good - fresh and clean - it felt very Norwegian. It was a bit disappointing that the teriyaki was cold but it was totally edible with the sushi white rice it was served with. For $14, it was not a bad meal to be had in a country where everything is expensive. My advice is that food markets are always a better deal than eating in fancy restaurants and it gives you access to lots of variety. This food hall had potential and I did see a few restaurants next to the main hall but maybe it was because I was so blown away by Paper Island that I felt pretty underwhelmed by this one.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Åpent Bakeri Frydenlund Inkognito Terrasse 1 , 0256 Oslo 4 Forks
While the Nordic countries aren't really well known for dessert and they quite well known for their pastries and breaded products. Lav and I split a cinnamon roll and chocolate chip cookie. Similar to the cinnamon roll I had in Copenhagen, this one was great because it didn't have any gooey fake frosting - instead, it focuses on the actual pastry part. It was not too sweet - much more like a bread than a dessert. It was a great snack to split on a sunny afternoon. The chocolate chip cookie was also yummy - very buttery though.
While I generally don't review cafes, I felt like it was important to highlight them on my trip here because Copenhagen and Oslo are such cute cafe culture cities where I've had some of the better meals on my trip. If you are walking around this part of town, definitely stop by and treat yourself to a pastry or two.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Pacific Poke Aker Brygge, Stranden 3, 0250 Oslo, Norway 3.5 Forks
Apparently the poke craze has spread to Norway too. We arrived at our final destination of the night, Aker Brygge, and this was definitely the highlight of the city. While harbor fronts are generally a bit touristy, this one was actually really nice and relaxing. It's a whole strip with lots of hip restaurants, places to sit and relax by the water and all the way at the end is a really cool modern art museum with beautiful views and funky architecture. There were a ton of cool modern looking condos there too - I wonder how much it would cost to live there??
Along the boardwalk are also a few food trucks and a poke one caught my eye. I knew that it was a craze sweeping the US but I was surprised that people in Norway caught on to it as well. I ended up chatting with the guy behind the truck - he's Swedish and said that he read an article in Business Insider about how poke was the next big thing and so he quit his job and decided to open this poke truck with no real experience or exposure to the real thing. In fact, he had never been to Hawaii or CA before - he just knew that he liked to eat raw fish. I had to admire his ambition and risk taking. While, it definitely wasn't traditional poke by any stretch of the imagination, I'm not sure if that's the approach he was going for.
The salmon, while fresh and good, was missing the signature soy, sesame, ginger marinated flavor to it. It was kind of more like plain raw salmon and then it was combined with a bed of salad (my bad for not getting the rice but he only had white rice, no brown rice), tobiko, pickled onion and avocado. He's definitely on the right path and I appreciated his effort but it doesn't quite hit the real poke on the head. I'm still glad I tried it and I would go again after maybe he's visited a few other poke places in the States. Total bill: 129 Krone = $15 USD.
Photo Credit: Yelp
Note: There was one more place we ate at on this day, but it was TGI Friday's and well, I can't bring myself to review it. So needless to say, I ate there out of courtesy to my traveling companion who was having a craving for it.
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