Pretty solid veggie lasagna and an excellent curried coconut lentil soup!…read more Not the best English speakers, but they'll get it done.

This café is in a corner of the Nordstrom's of Oslo called GlasMagasinet, a beautiful upscale…read moredepartment store. But the café on one corner offers several vegetarian choices in their sandwiches, and they had a superb beet soup, not just a borscht but unique in my experience. Huge bowl with bread almost made a meal in itself. We had with some cakes and coffee for desert and paid $60 for two of us. Check it out for non-fish and non-meat options. The department store itself is worth a visit. And the cathedral with stained glass windows by Vigeland is across the square.

Sometimes it's more about what, specifically, your body is craving, than how objectively good the…read morefood is. This was unquestionably the case here at Fragrance of the Heart, which appeared out of the (literal) mist with red lentil dal, exactly at the moment I became fed up with Norwegian food and started craving red lentil dal. It was wonderful, but of course it was. It was singularly what I was searching for. Their namesake bowl wasn't as impressive. They sort of just threw a bunch of stuff into a bowl with no regard for how it might work together. Smoked tofu? Potatoes? Brown guacamole? Beans? Sure. I can say that the ginger lemonade was great and unaided by my cravings, as I didn't know I wanted it until I saw it. It was so gingery as to rival Jamaican ginger juice, which is no joke.

Fragrance of the Heart gives you what the name sounds like: a beloved spiritual pitstop for…read morefollowers of Sri Chinmoy and new age vegetarians alike. A calm atmosphere where the servers speak softly, people read newspaper instead of Yelping, and serene flute wafts in the background. In this respect, I get why some would adore this cafe. But to be fair, I'm not the right person to rate this establishment fully, as this opinion is strictly about food and less than a holistic view of the cafe. It may be food for the soul, but it's not exactly food for the foodies. Menu includes two kinds of quiches, two soups of the day and an assortment of veggie lasagnas, spinach pies and avocado wraps. The pies don't look that appetizing to be honest, as if it has been premade days ahead and unfrozen. The creamy leek soup was ok actually, if rather unexciting and half a note too tangy. On a good note, their coffee is raved by other reviewers and it does deliver. It is somewhat overpriced for its standards and this holds back its value.

Great d fish soup. Spicy and not fishy tasting. Also the pasta was very nice too and presented…read morenicely. The suggested Italian red wine was perfect with the seafood. We ended with cafe and lemon cello. Perfecto!

We ate here this evening due to the proximity to our hotel. The weather was beautiful so there were…read morea lot of people eating outside. I order the gnocchi (which tasted handmade) with tuna and it was VERY good. My husband ordered the pizza and it was also great. One of the waitresses seemed unhappy about serving us, perhaps because we speak English but another waitress scooped us up and treated us wonderfully. We would definitely return if we are ever in the area again.

Reasonably priced middle eastern food not too far from everything in Oslo. And they have beer…read moretoo. It's also a bit like a cafe because people were there working on their MacBooks etc. You might want to over order if you are hungry and American. This is true European serving sizes.

Came here on a Friday evening and was pleasantly surprised by the location and atmosphere. It's…read moremore like a laid back cafe & bar then a restaurant. But first you gotta climb the steep stair up to the main area where you are greeted by a bar-look-alike counter. On the board, you see the summary of the menu, food on the left and drinks on the right. For detailed menu, grab the menu on the counter. On the left you will find an area with table & chairs where you can sit down. We tried the Hummus & Falafel 163kr and Hummus & Chicken 173kr plates. You will get a plate of hummus and another plate of pita, corn chips, beets salad & few other condiments. The hummus are not bad, a little bland & dry for my taste, I do prefer it to be a little more garlicky. As for the falafel, again, it was OK with lack of flavor & not very crunchy outside. As for the roasted chicken, it was decent & can get a little dry when dip with the pita. That being said, for the price, it really fills you up and I really liked the ambiance. Remind me of a hippy hangout spot with arts, photos on the walls and few knick-knacks for decor.

Saba is as real as it gets in Oslo. In the evening this place becomes a busy watering hole to get…read morehonest-to-goodness Eritrean food and drinks with friends. The music blasts loud, people chatting even more loudly, and fingers get dirty dipping into red spicy stews. I wonder why I don't go here more often. As is traditional Eritrean/Ethiopian food, we get one large shared plate of sour pancakes called Injera, topped with little stews called tsebhi (or wot in Ethiopian). For the first visits, I would recommend the "combination" so you can sample different mixes of minced beef stew, vegetable, egg and chicken. You then rip apart the pancakes and use it gleefully to scoop up the meats. The sponge-like injera beautifully absorbs all the juices. It's actually very similar to Ethiopian cuisine, just with different names, and only the true aficionados (not me) could tell them apart. What I notice though is it is more sour and less earthy than any Ethiopian food I have ever had, and tasted of more use of tomatoes. This tiiny bit of over-tanginess - their injera is also very sour - probably keeps me from giving it a full-blown 5, otherwise, the spices are really spot on for my liking, and I always have a weakness for ethnic cuisine made from the heart :)

Service was good but the food portions were on the small side and hence not great value. The sushi…read morequality was average. This place was family friendly which was nice.

Palmyra Cafe is a friendly neighborhood restaurant in Gronland serving authentic Tamil food with a…read moretropical flavor profile that's all its own! The Masala Dosai was a crepe made from a fermented rice and uridhal (lentil) batter, served with a filling of spiced potatoes and served with dhal (lentil soup), coconut chutney, and sambar (vegetable/lentil soup) on the side. The crepe was perfectly thin and crispy, and each of the accompaniments was perfectly spiced (especially with lots of mustard seeds). I also tried the Kottu Rotti Chicken, a dish made of chopped roti flatbreads stir-fried with shredded chicken, egg, onion, and chilli. The rotis retained a chewy texture, and the meaty chicken and spices turned the boring leftovers into an exciting new dish. Even more memorable than the food, however, was our server, a new immigrant from Nepal, who made us feel right at home and made special accommodations to serve us even close to closing time. This is a great, local, small business worth supporting!

I am Tamil, and my parents and I visited Palmyra Cafe when we were in Oslo. I ordered the masala…read moredosa, and when I took a bite of the coconut chutney, it tasted like my mom's homemade coconut chutney. Dosa had the perfect balance of crispness without being too dry. Likewise, my mom ordered the string hopper(idiyappam) with fish curry, she said the fish curry reminded her of my Achi's (grandmother) fish curry. Very authentic, delicious Tamil food!

Sagene Lunsjbar is an enigma: it's too good to be a neighborhood cafe, yet it doesn't give enough…read morecompelling reason for a repeat visit for non-Sageners. I was here for an after-work monthly gathering with colleagues (lønningspils), chosen for its cozy atmosphere for drinks and dining options from scandinavian to french/italian menu. The Sagenepølser (sausages) are surprisingly good, but the ravioli is very average. I think it's fine to order husmannskost in this lunsjbar, but leave the other foods to dedicated italian/french restaurants elsewhere. It's best to think of Sagene Lunsjbar not as a restaurant to go to, but as a convenient meeting place in the neighborhood (as it was originally intended to be) with some dining of slightly higher quality.

I have come to this place for years but lately it has been going downhill. They have become too…read morecomfortable in their situation and it seems they are not trying at all anymore. I had a complaint recently due to the fact that I was served something differently than what was ordered. I clearly got old food served, stale bread to begin with and reserved dippings. When I complained I got a very poor explanation (chili in the aioli that it has never been served with, nor what my companion was served or what has ever been served, it looked suspiciously like shrimp leftovers from a previous table). I had to pay full price as well. Not a lot of money but still stale bread with left over aioli is not worth that amount of money. I will not be returning, and I hope you will consider this as well.