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Restaurants
Like most of the city life in Oslo, restaurants have gained a quite good reputation over the past few years. Due to an increased immigration many different foreign restaurants have cumulated and are offering their national specialities. Nearly foreign are the typical fish restaurants from the North West of Norway which prepare their dishes according to old recipes. Although the variety of specialities is very tempting, dining out in Norway is everything else but a cheap business. Visitor who don’ want to spend a pile of money on food can check the numerous snack bars and eateries where you can have a Pølser, a kind of sausage rolled up in a sandwich or pancake. Restaurants are all over the city but Aker Brygge is said to be the best address for a nice dinner. With about 5000 restaurant seats of which half are placed outside, there is enough space for everyone. Especially during summer the place is very busy since the variety of tastes and prices presents something for every hungry stomach. Grünerløkka is more a district with young and trendy restaurants while Majorstua mainly attracts the chic and fancy clientele from the western part of the city. Grønland, however, is the new trendsetter location where one restaurant opens after the other. Here you can find everything from rusty bar to elegant and modern restaurants.
Cuisine
Norwegian cuisine is strongly characterised by the Northern climate with long winters and short summers which made the cultivation of land quite difficult if not even impossible in some regions of the country. Since barley and oat only grow in the south of the country the bread that is common for Norway is hard dried flat bread (flatbrød). The soft version of this flat bread is called “Lefse” whose dough is enriched with potatoes. Due to Norway’s location it is no wonder that fishing plays an important role in the preparation of food, especially in the coast regions. For a long time herring used to be a common dish that was eaten every day and in any variety. Other fish that are quite popular are “klippfisk” (stockfish), “Lutefisk” (marinated stockfish) and Norwegian salmon. Also codfish, sardines and mackerel play an increasing role in the cuisine. As the conservation of food was very important to guarantee survival in winter months, a lot of aliments were salted, dried, marinated or cured. Still today these ways of preparation are very common in the Norwegian cuisine but even fish puddings, rissole or gratins are very favoured even though it takes a bit getting used to it. Beside fish, lamb meat is very common, especially during Christmas it is a popular dish. Other delicacies are elk and reindeer and wild wildfowl which are mainly served with sweet-and-sour sauces and powdered juniper berry or cranberries. Typical Norwegian dishes are “Kjøttkaker”, meat balls in brown sauce, “Fårikål”, lamb with cooked white cabbage, “Sild” marinated herring, “Pinnekjott”, cured lamb rips and “Rømmegrøt”, a mash of semolina and sour cream served with cinnamon and sugar.
In general, the Norwegian breakfast is quite heavy and can be compared to the traditional English breakfast. “Lunsj” or lunch is by comparison rather lean. Mostly it includes some bread with cold meat and some salad. Working people usually have their “niste”, a sandwich which mirrors the balanced diet of the Norwegian population. Dinner is served between 5 and 6 pm and doesn’t differ much from the typical Northern European meals. Usually, coffee is served right after dinner or sometimes a bit later in the evening, accompanied by cakes, fruits, ice cream or pastries.
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