You should come here for THE best breakfast buffet in town!…read more I've had the breakfast here at Grilleriet during my last three stays at the Hotel Folketeateret next door (it's included in the room rate) and in fact the breakfast is the reason why I'm not bothering to try out any other hotels in Oslo - it's the most convincing argument...ever! What's so great about it? - Well, for one it is the sheer amount of variety that makes this breakfast buffet so good. - You could seriously walk up an appetite by simply strolling along it from one end to the other: there's many different kinds of breads - flat breads, rye breads, crunchy breads; then there's a plenty of different cheeses (I love the cumin-flavoured one) and also a nice assortment of cold cuts (such as hams & salamis). Then there's different kinds of smoked or marinated fish, coming with all sorts of condiments. The warm dishes should be mentioned as well: fried or scrambled eggs and a station where you can self-assemble your omelet . The obligatory bacon is there too, but also sausage, some sort of warm liver paté and...very randomly...a warm aubergine salad. The space itself is also fantastic: it's a vast room, but it feels so comfortable and cozy in there that I could hang out there forever. They have a nice mix of small, larger and huge communal tables. (I actually tend to spend my mornings here and set up my computer on one of the communal tables - the hustle and bustle makes my creative juices flow so nicely ;-) As for lunch and dinner, I cannot say much, but I was here with my Norwegian colleague the other day and she said that she had a terrific dinner here as well. Apparently they put chairs around the open kitchen bar and folks can thus watch the chefs preparing the food while eating and chatting. Go, Grilleriet, go!

We had reservations for 5pm. We were not greeted by anyone until 5:05 and were not seated until…read more5:20. It irks me because I make reservations specifically so I do not have to wait for a table. This place has no good waiting area either, so you just stand around like a fool trying not to get in anyone's way. Also, when we walked in, it was hard to breathe. I am not sure if the place always smells of oversmoked meats or if they had an issue the evening we were there, but wow, the smell was intense. I had gotten used to the smell by the time we were finally seated. Our server was a little slow, both with service and in the head, but he seemed to try his best with what he was given. All of the above is why I deducted a star, which should tell you how fricken awesome the food was since I typically rate a place quite low if the service wasn't up to par. Now onto the good part: The words that came out of my mouth after the first bite of my steak were something like "now I know why people spend so much money on good food." I am pretty sure I repeated this several times. It was the best steak I had ever had. It was cooked to perfection and so tender I cut through it like it was warm butter (cold butter is not easy to cut through). It is so good it forces you to eat slow because you dread the second that taste is not in your mouth. There were other things on my plate too. There was some type of glazed onion and some potato thing (yes, I am that fancy) and both were quite good, but seriously, don't waste your time with these extras if you get full fast like I do. There are not many places that have service that irks me that can make up for with their food, but Grilleriet definitely did. I would let them verbally abuse me if it meant I got to eat that steak again.

The best grocery store around!!! And I would say in Oslo but can't as I am so new here (although I…read morehave a hunch it's the best!). Especially if you are a foreigner like Greek, Italian, Turkish, Asian, Arabic this store is something you must know about! It has many things you can not find anywhere else. I as a Greek found Greek feta, olive oil, cheese, yoghurt, balsamic, olives and there must be more products I haven't discovered yet!! All from Greece from brands that are well known. There are also specialties like Italian pasta, lots of Asian sauces and ingredients, beans that you don't find easily in the stores, etc. just go and try it yourself! There is something for everyone! Also the fruits are of very good quality and they have ALL kinds! Plus they have the cheapest nuts you can find. Definitely good for saving some money. Also it is open on Sundays too until 22:00 so it is a good place to get food when the other supermarkets are closed. Enjoy!

If you're trying to live healthy on a budget, this is your place to go for your groceries. The…read morefruit and vegetables section is like nothing else in Oslo, and the prices are often half of what you would pay at Meny. Sure, it's probably not organic, but my experience from organic farming tells me that these vegetables look and smells like nutritious plants should - in contrast to their watery supermarket cousins whom you find at the bigger chains. This is because the owners of this and other import stores doesn't buy their supply from the big corporate mega farms like the regular supermarkets do, but from smaller import companies. They go daily to the warehouses to find the highest quality vegetables to the best prices. This also means that prices and assortment varies with the seasons - something I highly appreciate. If you learn the "vegetable and fruit year" and keep your eyes open, you can make real bargains and lower your food budget further. Here you can also find a lot of other natural products that you would pay the double or more for in health food stores or regular supermarkets: additive free coconut milk, organic virgin coconut oil, olives, goat cheese, nut oils and even an assortment of herbal fluoride-free toothpastes - just to mention a few. I love this store so much that I often bring a big trolley all the way from Nesodden, to be filled with yumminess. And while I'm at it, popping into the butcher across the street to buy some lamb meat. Just be aware that afternoons - especially on Fridays and Saturdays - can be very busy.

We just went to this restaurant today, looking for an affordable place to eat some Norwegian food…read more The evening did not end up well at all. Let me explain: 1. We waited for more than 10min to get the Menu (and because we finally asked the waiter to bring it! Otherwise we would still be waiting) 2. We ordered the specialties of norwegian cuisine (Cod and Reindeer) as we went there for this purpose. After 10 more minutes, the waitress (a different one from the guy who brought the Menu) told us that there was no Reindeer left. 3. We checked again the Menu and decided to order Deer instead. 10 more minutes and another waitress (the 3rd one in 30min!!!) comes to tell us that there is no Deer (and no pasta, and so on...) and that they are about to close the kitchen!!! :-o 4. To our astonishment, it was just 20:55 on a Friday night. Taking into account we arrived 30min earlier and nobody warned us about the kitchen being closed around 21h... we felt it was just an excuse for not having planned enough stock/food during Easter holidays. Obviously, we left the restaurant and went to another restaurant with food and much better service.