This place just ticked all the boxes. End of. I can´t wait to go again.
I was recommended this place by a lovely new friend who lives in Copenhagen. Long story short, she booked a table for 5 of us and we turned up not really knowing what to expect but that it was nice. Well, firstly the booking hadn´t actually registered properly on the website, but the staff (thank you Clara and Mattias) were very accommodating and after a few minutes and a bit of juggling managed to squeeze us in, which were really happy about as once we set foot in the door we didn´t want to leave!
The place was busy with, when we were there, mainly men in suits so I guess it was used for business dinners and price-wise you can eat out in Copenhagen for less, but the atmosphere was buzzing, the decor, ambience and service so welcoming and 4 of the 5 of us were sold on the set menu with wine pairings – 395 DKK for the food and 300 DKK for the wines.
In a nutshell, the food we had was delicious from the bread and whipped butter on the table to start with, including glutenfree for one of the party that came just as quickly, fresh and warm as the others. It was all an excellent mix of good ingredients cooked in a creative way, without being pretentious and in generous enough portions. The set menu was a brandade of cod with jerusalem artichokes and artichoke crisps, followed by melt in the mouth Danish braised lamb with brussels and burnt pickled onion (such a scrummy mix) and dessert, a solidly mouthwatering chocolate mound with ice cream and berries.
I know I was already feeling positive because of the quality of the company and table talk, but really, the staff were so attentive and lovely and the setting, in part of what was formerly Nikolaj church on Nikolaj Plads, was perfect, it was like being in an old English library. In summer they will make more use of the outside space but on a cold April morning it was cosier inside looking out.
The owner owns Krogs Fiskerestaurant and Cholon too so if anyone who reads this has been there, before I am next in the city and get to try those out myself, please do let me know what you thought of those places too!
As for the name, it´s easy to remember. Maven is Danish (and Norwegian) for stomach and I understand is taken for an old colloquial reference to the location in the days when there were slaughterhouses there.
I can´t wait to go back next time I am in the city – if you go there, I hope you enjoy your meal as much as I did mine. Yes you can eat for less but you can also pay a lot more for that quality of food – local, seasonal, delicious and satisfying.
Visit to the new Munch art gallery/museum including 12th floor restaurant
Yesterday the husband and I and a couple of friends decided to visit the much hyped “new” Munch museum. Well, it opened in October 21, so that still qualifies as new to me and means they should be finished with any teething problems, right?
To start with, the positives. The building itself, designed by the Spanish architect practice Estudio Herreros, is stunning. It dominates the modern Oslo skyline in a way that, while radically different, with it´s three story podium and glass and aluminium-clad tower part, somehow makes you think it´s always been there. And the views on the western side overlooking and dwarfing the nearby Operahouse and the city centre are, alone, worth the entrance fee (160kr). It also fits seamlessly in with the modernity of the nearby Barcode buildings and the imminent surroundings and access areas (public transport, no visitor parking) are open and invitingly landscaped.
Once inside and through the entrance off the foyer to the galleries themselves you embark on a well laid out journey from floor to floor, charting the many facets of the artist´s works and influences that include works by Miro, Rodin, Dali and many more. There are plenty of info texts on every gallery wall and the collections are, without doubt, stunning and informative. Munch is so much more than the Scream and I defy any, even partially interested, art lover to come away with any sense less than awe at the man´s outstanding talent and legacy.
Between the floors is also an impressive network of escalators, the views outwards and vertically from which are stunning. There are several installations directed towards children and interaction and to do the place justice you should probably give yourself a good couple of hours in there.
So why am I not totally raving about the place? Well, sorry to say, on several accounts I felt it let itself down. So super audience-friendly on the one hand, not so in other respects.
To start with, to get in, you are told rather bossily: “get your timed entrance tickets in advance” to ensure a smooth entrance passage and minimal queues. Access is not guaranteed if you can´t pre-purchase online, so not exactly encouraging if you fancy a spontaneous drop-in on the day. You also have to choose your entry time to the nearest 15 mins, tickets are non refundable, although you can change the timing if you have to, but then you can´t change individual tickets in a booking of several, you have to change the whole booking, so hard luck if a couple of your group are ill, for example.
The other downer was on the food and drink side. We tested the ground floor cafe, the 12th floor restaurant and tried, in vain, to get a drink in the rooftop bar. To me, none of these were up to scratch.
The layout of the 12th floor restaurant was baffling bad. The best views are from some sofas, presumably for those waiting for their table slots, by the lift outside the restaurant itself, there are no dining tables with the best view over Oslo and only the 5 or 6 tables facing the fjord have a direct view of any kind. The few tables looking towards Sørenga look first out onto a terrace with outside seating, which presumably is open in summer, so the majority of the tables are centred in the middle with half the guests looking back towards the bar and semi-open kitchen. You can request a table with a view when you book your slot, which I did, but you don´t get a response beforehand and when I asked politely on arrival if we had a table with a view I was abruptly told that everyone asked that and they couldn´t oblige everyone. I guess he was sick of being asked that, but really, it doesn´t cost to be pleasant and why else would one choose to dine 12 floors up?
So, on to the food and service (bear with me as I see this is turning out into a long post!). The menu was promising, about 5 or 6 to choose from – snacks, starters, mains and a couple of desserts, and tasted good with some interesting touches, but the cocktails, while interesting, were over half-filled with huge ice cubes and overall I felt this was symptomatic of the whole place, too much of a focus on profit rather than customer care. That our waiter was rather off-hand, only partially cleared the table between courses and got one of two dessert orders incorrect…twice..(how the second time was even possible..) didn´t help.
The styling of the place also missed a beat for me with the tables and seating very nondescript, two coat racks, (self-service) right outside the toilets, which in turn were more suited to a shopping mall rather than a quality restaurant. So all in all not the ambience I was expecting so I wouldn´t go again, which is a shame because I was really hoping this would be a place to want to take visiting family and friends.
So what about the rooftop bar you say? Well, within 15 mins of the bar opening at 1500 it was chock full with people queuing all down an internal staircase from the 12th floor to get in and this didn´t change the whole time we were there (we left about 1830 after a two hour early dinner from 1630) so we never got chance to see what it was like, as it was rammed the whole time.
When we couldn´t get into the bar before dinner we retreated to wait with a coffee/beer in the downstairs cafe which shut at 1600 with my husband having to queue for half an hour for the drinks there as there was only one person seeing to the orders for the takeaway side of the cafe.
All in all, we felt sorry for the staff. Downstairs they were clearly undermanned and on the 12th and 13th floors dealing with a poorly executed concept that is really missing a trick as it could be absolutely fabulous. As it is, my previous scepticism of eating in tourist traps is back. I will go back though on a weekday to see the exhibits again, hopefully with fewer heads and elbows to navigate but, if I get peckish, I will eat elsewhere.
One of the best hotel lunches I have had in Norway.
So, OK, I´m not mega rich, I don´t frequent fancy hotels on a regular basis and I haven´t actually had many lunches in them, but in the past month I´ve been to two and both were sufficiently fantastic to warrant me including them here (a Zermatt one to come). Today`s, the venerable Hotel Bristol, slap bang in the middle of where everything happens in Central Oslo, was just a pure delight.
From our reception at the front desk to enquire how to get to their car park (driving into and parking in central Oslo these days is so frowned upon, and with an old diesel car to boot…) to getting back into said car a couple of hours later I can´t fault anything (and believe me, I would if I needed to. All the staff we encountered, were, without exception, not just polite, but friendly and pleasant, the food was delicious, with an unmatched combo of attention to detail, quality produce at a decent price and the ambience and setting just lovely.
It´s an old hotel with a lot of history (there´s a fascinating story of it being requisitioned as an impromptu hospital to treat casualties from a German munitions ship that exploded in the Oslo harbour during World War II) and has apparently recently been modernised and refurbished. For lunch you come right into the library and foyer-type conservatory area where tables are discretely distanced and beautifully set, there are chandeliers a plenty and even a little nymph statue holding a big fish – and while it´s a bit plush and traditional, it´s all very tasteful and comfortable.
On to the service. I was sold by our waiter Jalal immediately filling our water glasses and then for the duration of our lunch continuing from a discrete distance to ensure they were topped up, a lovely touch. Actually, before that I was sold by the lovely man at the front desk who took my car keys for it to be valet parked, for not more than it would have cost to park elsewhere, even if we had been able to find somewhere else nearby. But back to our table. The food was just delicious, my friends choosing open “sandwiches” (the word not really doing the dishes justice) with prawns and a fishy eggy delight on a brioche, while I went for the breaded plaice on what seemed like toasted rye bread with accoutrements, all of which went down well.
It wouldn´t have been right not to taste their hot chocolate, which is supposedly the best in Oslo. I´m not sure where it was crowned as such but I don´t really care, it was divine, not too sweet, served in their eponymous pale green tea cups with a pot of cream on the side. My friends also tasted the non alcoholic pink tea fizz which also went down well and top marks for including that on the menu!
On to desserts, not because we were hungry by this time, but because it would have been rude not to. Between us we had scones, with the works – clotted cream, lemon curd and a red jam that got ignored because, well, who doesn´t like lemon curd?! – and I had a swissroll cake delight filled with mango mousse and topped with tiny cubes of mango jelly, cream and some tiny white chocolate crunchy orbs which complimented it beautifully.
Here again, Jalal was on hand to inform us that the scones would take about 15 mins – which immediately sparked three mouth-watered exclamations of “ah, fresh scones”.
With our two hour lunch spot almost up, the only thing left to do was to ask at the desk for the car to be brought round and follow the red carpet out the door to step into it. Thank you Hotel Bristol, you restored my faith in hotel restaurant lunches and you have three happy customers today who are already coming back to test your afternoon teas!
Let´s face it, most saunas are a bit dull. They serve a purpose if you can be bothered – (obviously speaking for myself here). But what if you make one purpose built, in wood, floating off the end of a pier in a harbour, making the sea it looks out onto your plunge pool to cool off in? Add to that some pretty lighting (which makes said sea look, well, turquoise and inviting) – what´s not to like?!!
Booking for Pust (translates as Breathe) is easy. You just have to remember to do it online, in advance and know which slot you want. As a tourist you will want a drop in slot – current cost 195 NOK per person, maximum number of people, eight per hour, (or you can hire it out privately for 2500 NOK). You then get a key code with your confirmation and a list of the regulations. Key to remember is to take two towels (one for you, one to sit on) and no shampoo or shower gel as the water goes straight into the sea.
Pust is a relatively new attraction, open since 2020, located at the end of the guest boat pier in the central town harbour, you can´t miss it, but see the Google Maps link for more detail.
So, what was it like? Did we jump in the sea in January (average Jan water temp about 5.2 degrees C)? We were well prepared to (I love stuff like that, husband said he might..) but sadly the day we had booked (my birthday) didn´t go exactly to plan as our whale-watching trip ran over a bit too much and we missed our slot, so I had to make do with photos I took from the outside. It´s such a cool thing to do though I will definitely be booking again as soon as we can find a good reason (aka saving up) to go back to Tromsø.
Do not plan a visit to Tromsø without this included!
Tromsø is a great location for several activities people often say “Oh, you´re so lucky, I`ve always wanted to do that” when you tell them what you´ve been up to, namely: Whale watching, Northern Lights and getting up close to a flock of reindeer. Now of the three, despite dying to do it, I was slightly worried the set bus tour to a reindeer herd would be “a bit touristy”. I´m all for independent travel, in my own time and as far as possible away from crowds and if I´m honest I thought the 1640 NOK per person for a 4 hour trip sounded a bit steep. I couldn´t have been more wrong!
I can honestly say that it surpassed expectations on all fronts. Following a short 25 min drive along the coastline we came to the reindeer camp. Here were assembled in a Sami lavvu (yurt) and were given a short introduction to Sami culture and instructions for the animal feeding by the lovely Irja, whose family have been herding reindeer for generations and whose obvious affection for both the animals and her culture was delightfully evident. Samis have not had it easy in Norway and she handled this with great tact and diplomacy.
From here the group was divided into those just feeding and those taking a sled tour around the area. The sleds were attached in convoy and this was the part that was openly touristy, but it gave you an extended view of the majestic coastal scenery and the waddling bum of a willing and relaxed reindeer.
Once that was over we grabbed feed buckets and wandered among the hungry animals. Although really quite shy of humans, they completely bowled us over by their characters, looks and habits – some starving, some picky – and the pregnant females (who will give birth in May) showed the males who was first in the pecking order!
I won´t go more details on what we learned about their lives but the herders were on hand to talk to and answer all questions. What is key is that these animals are not just gathered there for the tourists, they are there for climatic reasons for the winter so you are genuinely getting an authentic experience (albeit one tempered by the fact that these animals are well fed twice a day!).
For my part I could have just wandered among them the whole time but lunch was part of the deal as was another session in the lavvu with Irja telling us more about Sami culture, finishing off the session with a traditional joik, before the bus took us back to the city centre. The whole trip was incredibly well planned and I would just say to anyone who says we were so lucky to do this, check out the company´s website for forthcoming trips for the rest of this and next season and get your seats booked! I, for one, am going to save like mad. I want to do the whole thing all again.
The number one attraction in Tromsø and rightly so.
If there´s one thing you must do when you visit Tromsø, it is to go up the cable car called Fjellheisen (literally means, the lift up the mountain). You ascend for 4 mins up to a mountain ledge called Storsteinen which, at 421m more or less straight up, then gives you …the..most..spectacular..views of the city, the mountains and sea beyond.
We did it on an evening in January so our view was of a fairytale-like city dressed in snow and loads of lights and although the cable cars (one up, one down on the hour and half hour) can carry a maximum of 28 people, in these corona times this has been restricted to 8 and in our case our timing was lucky and we were only 4 up and 8 on the way down.
At the top there is a cafe as well as a wide, well-placed viewing platform that has views on three sides. Now, I always have an open mind about feeding establishments at tourist attractions – how hard do they try to provide decent food at a decent price given they have a captive audience? Well, in the case of the Fjellstua cafe, I can honestly say the food we had (from a limited choice of local dishes) was the best food we had all weekend in Tromsø. The reindeer burgers (this was before our visit to Tromsø Arctic Reindeer!) came with a red wine sauce, salad, mushrooms and oven roasted small potatoes and was so yummy even I didn´t need even a splash of ketchup (I know, but we all have our vices…).
Regarding the practicalities:
Cost: adult return trip – 240 NOK Access: 45 mins to walk, take the 26 Bus from the city centre or jump in a cab (we did this and it cost just over 200 NOK). I believe there are also some tours you can hop on that take you up, but I can´t see the logic in paying extra for this when it´s so easy to get there yourself. There´s also a car park at the base station if you are driving yourself.
Lastly, although I am sure going up Fjellheisen is amazing at all times of year (20 May-22 July for midnight sun and between September and April on clear nights you stand a chance to see Northern Lights from there), I would plan your visit carefully, having consulted the local weather forecast. We knew our best chance of decent views was the day we arrived so we hightailed it up there straight after checking into our hotel and were glad we did so. Earlier in the day it had been closed because of wind and the rest of the time we were there was dominated by heavy cloud, snow, rain and wind. As with all things in extreme environments, be prepared for the worst and you can only be pleasantly surprised!
Before I finish though, I should also add that since the end of last year, Fjellheisen has been under new ownership and I understand the new owners have plans to expand into guided tours, a souvenir shop and conference facilities, so my opinions are from the status quo now. I just hope they maintain the standard of the food in the cafe and don´t mess about with the concept too much!
You know the feeling when you are introduced to a dish, or a foodstuff, you taste it and can´t understand how you´ve lived without it until now? At the same time it´s so good you feel a bit embarrassed you hadn´t heard of it before? Well, at the weekend we became acquainted with Granstubben bark-wrapped washed-rind cheese and…O..M..G
Only produced by Gangstad, Norway´s first authorised farm cheese factory, there´s a fairly labour-intensive process to make it. The cheeses are wrapped in a layer of spruce bark then periodically scrubbed and dipped in a mould-bearing brine for almost two weeks before being packed. The bark acts as a girdle to keep the cheese in place and imparts a unique taste as does the subsequent orangey white rind that is formed by the friendly bacteria, brevibacterium linens.
To prepare for eating the cheese should be brought to room temperature, scored across the top, then baked in the oven at 170-180 degrees for about 20 mins or until you test it with a fork to check it is runny in the middle and keep checking after 10 so it doesn´t overcook! To serve, share with others as a starter, dipping in small cheese biscuits of choice. The taste is divine – oven-baked camembert go home!
Talking of home, I have just been to the local Meny supermarket which appears to be the only local place we can buy this cheese and they say the producer is unfortunately out of stock until the end of next month. This is probably a good thing though as it is neither cheap nor slimming, but aren´t all good things well worth the wait?!
Stunning waterfall within easy access of the main road with parking and a path to the top.
What´s your position on waterfalls? I love them – especially when they are dramatic, long and accessible. In the case of Langfoss (Langfossen) on the E134 just outside the village of Fjæra, Etne municipality, Vestland, this ticks all the boxes. Conveniently situated literally right next to the main road, it falls 612 m down (the fifth tallest in the country and we have a fair few!) into the beautiful Åkrafjord at the bottom, twisting and turning over the latter parts, awesome and dramatic at the top.
We didn´t have time or inclination to climb to the top the couple of times we have driven past it this past year, but I think we should next time. From the car park across the road, where there are toilet facilities, a kiosk and a picnic area with views both up the fall and across the fjord, there´s a clearly marked path, both up to a halfway viewpoint where you apparently have the best view of the waterfall. Should you continue to the top you´ll get an amazing view back down and across the Åkrafjord and over to the Folgefonna glacier in the distance – a 4-5 hour trip there and back.
And, for those travelling from Oslo >< Haugesund it makes a perfect milestone stop to break your journey. And talking of stones, the picnic area also contains a mini outdoor geology museum, showing the stunning rock types to be found in the area. This is a definite must see place if you are in the region.
A round walk that takes you along a spectacular sandy beach to a fabulous picnic area and back. You can go further and take in more, but for an evening stroll with or without a dog, I am hard pushed to think of one better than this.
While I love many local beaches, Hvittensand in Larvik is probably the most spectacular one I have been to yet. Situated where the river Lågen reaches the Larviksfjord part of the sea, the abundant clean white sand and sand bank are subject to the tides and currents typical of this kind of estuary and are in a constant state of flux.
Park in the car park off Kampeløkka, turn back to Halsegata and follow the coastal path sign that indicates you are only 300m away from the beach. The view from this well maintained path and wooden walkway is unparalleled. A short hop across the water is the Color Line ferry terminal where Superspeed takes off for Denmark, but nature still dominates and with a setting sun I would like to guarantee your first view of the beach will take your breath away. I can imagine during the day and when the kiters are out (it´s apparently great for that) it can get quite busy, but when we were there yesterday Spot and I had it all to ourselves.
Cross the beach almost as far as you can go then exit top right, as it were, picking up the DNT-marked coastal path again. This will take you through trees and along the coast until it drops down again to the small, rocky Ormetoa bay and ultimately the stunning picnic area of Sukkersletta with its windswept trees, strategically placed sculptural lumps of local Larvikite granite, benches and viewpoints. Here you can bathe, picnic or simply just admire the views out to sea and across to the town of Stavern.
While Spot and I were there we got treated to an amazing murmuration show by some starlings – who knows what we will see next time!
At the entrance to Sukkersletta, (if anyone knows how the name came about, do let me know), there is also a small parking area, otherwise you can make your way back to the carpark I started from, along first Solaveien and either Oterøyveien or Aarstens vei to get back.
I didn´t clock the distance but the whole round can´t be more than a couple of kms. I´ll measure next time! I hope you like this place as much as I do. See https://instagram.com/wanderlustneverfades/ for more images and a reel.
Alongside the traditional hotels, cabins and campsites that shape the typical Norwegian tourism landscape, there´s a new breed of quirky and innovative places to stay popping up. We´ve stayed several times at the treetop cabins near Horten for example (future post), and are eager to try any more we can afford, so when we spotted an advert in a magazine to spend a night in this bird box concept, we couldn´t book fast enough. To say it didn´t disapppoint is an understatement.
Despite the logistical challenge of needing to take most of the cooking and eating equipment with us (and the unrealistic hope of minimal but effective packing falling by the wayside when the cutlery was left at home), it sounded like the perfect retreat, right on the lakeside edge – and, not to exaggerate, it was! We found it to be one of the most relaxing back to nature in comfort experiences we have had to date and it´s a challenge to find images that do it justice, but I´ll try. (see my Instagram account for reels and more images) htpps://instagram.com/wanderlustneverfades/
Bascially there are two structures on pillars, one to sleep in (the big double bed is divine) and one for the shower and toilet. The latter is an organic one that works just fine and for the shower you heat a bucket of water over the camp fire (or gas stove we took with us) then set it under the pump system and voilà! It´s about 100m down the hillside to the lakeside from where you park and once there you feel it´s just you, the birds, fish and mother nature. Although there are other buildings in the near vicinity you can´t see them from this private corner and you spend your time between the sleeping pod and the jetty (and the rowing boat at your disposal should you so wish).
The owners provided us with lots of useful information and one of the highlights of our stay was watching an osprey couple screeching and flying around, hovering around their nest on an offshore island, that and just sitting in the chairs on the deck or from the pod itself watching the incredible colours the sky gave us in the time we were there.
Booking is through Airbnb, check-in 1600, check out 1300 the next day. We wished we had booked two nights, but then isn´t that always the case?! They are building an outdoor “gapahuk” which sounds a lot better in Norwegian than lean-to shelter which will make the place more weatherproof but actually this place would be relaxing, I´d say, in any weather!
Wanderlust never fades 