The Nordic Approach Guide to Oslo

Coffee & Cafes

Fuglen Coffee shop by day, cocktail bar by night and vintage design shop all the time.
Supreme Roastwork Everyone at NA loves Supreme, an intimate and informal coffee bar.
Tøyen Startup Village is a great place to hang out, get some work done, and sample great coffee from a variety of Norwegian roasteries.
Solberg og Hansen, Mathallen Good coffee and tea! Despite what you may think we don’t always drink coffee all the time here at NA. If you’re at Mathallen stop by S&H.
Tim Wendelboe Tim Wendelboe hardly needs an introduction. Tim Wendelboe, to quote Oliver Strand of The New York Times Magazine, “feels like a neighborhood shop, but it’s run like a Michelin-starred restaurant”
Java One of Jamie’s favourite coffee places, also very popular with giant birds! Haha, not really but the NRK slow-TV show Nrk Piip did make a miniature bird house of Java and filmed it for 3 months.
Kaffebrenneriet Consistenly good coffee, and one of Alec’s favourites, in fact it’s his “pappaperm” go-to.
Vingen bar This is one of Joanne’s favourites, coffee bar by day and cocktail bar by night.
KUMI is a plant-based eatery, juice bar and café serving breakfast, brunch and lunch all day.

For more information, visit our coffee map 👈 post!

Food & Restaurants

Near our headquarters

If you are short on time, here you will find some great options near our headquarters.

Golden Chimp, bar upstairs, restaurant downstairs. This is the closest restaurant to our office – literally 1min away, and they do great dim sum.
Kinabolle is a fantastic option if you love dimples. You will find this restaiurant 3min away from our office.
If you crave a burger, then you will find Max Burger only 3min away.
Grådi offers Norwegian food served tapas style, and all dishes are meant to be shared. Try the tacos (they call it lompe to make it sound more Norwegian). 4min away!
Punjab Tandoori is a fantastic choice if you love Indian food. This restaurant is only 5min away from our HQ.
Brutus is a Nordic Approach regular haunt – it takes us 7min to get there. They do natural wines and Icelandic-Norwegian food. The 6 course set menu is worth it!
Postkontoret is located 8min away from out headquarters. A cosy restaurant where you can find super tasty pizza!
If you are into Italian cuisine, check out this option. Only 10min away!
You will find Barcode Street Food 12min away from our office. Located in the newest area of Oslo, here you will find a great variety of dishes to choose from.
Le Benjamin, 12 min away. Casual bistro, with interesting wines, many by the glass, traditional French dishes, & cheeses.
For those Ramen lovers out there, Koie ramen sits right in front of the fjord. It will take you a 14min walk from the office to taste this amazing Japanese dish.

Some other recommendations in Oslo

If time and distance are not an impediment for you, then check out the following spots.

Smallhans – Neighbourhood restaurant at St. Hanshaugen with healthy, Norwegian-style home-made food at the right price.
Vippa is a new food, culture and education centre located at the edge of Vippetangen, right by the Oslo Fjord. There are about 10 street food vendors (with food from all over the world), and a bar. They put up events like early morning discos and after work happy hour as well.
Der Peppern Gror – The best indian food in Oslo, according to several NA staff, including Teena, who is originally from India.
Arakataka – Haute cuisine with Norwegian ingredients.
Izakaya – Japanese pub with sake, shochu, beer, whiskey, umeshu and great food on the menu. You could go for just a snack or a full dinner.
Funky Fresh – Yes it’s possible to find excellent vegan and vegetarian food in Oslo! This one is a favourite to Joanne (vegetarian) and Linda (actually omnivore but Funky Fresh is just that good).
Street Food Oslo is a new food court with plenty of street food vendors in the city center. Everyone will find something they like here!

Bars, Drinks & Cocktails

Dattera til Hagen – Great, vibrant athmosphere. Bar, pub, beer garden and club in one.
Territoriet- A cosy wine bar with a great selection.
Fuglen Coffee shop by day, cocktail bar by night and vintage design shop all the time.
Bortenfor – Bar and occasional concert venue. Heated outdoor seating area. The beautiful “Dick Swan” sculpture in the river is instagram gold.
Gurken Gurken Gurken Gurken – Right next door to Brutus, is the superb and kitch mini-pub Gurken Gurken Gurken Gurken. Try the coffee beer or piña colada. There’s fur on the walls. You’ve been warned
Torggata Botaniske – A great little cocktail bar that focuses on herbal drinks (the clue is in the name). They also grow a lot of plants in there, it’s almost like being inside a greenhouse. Forget Himkok, this is the place to go
Oslo Mekaniske Verksted – The closest you’ll come to a British countryside pub in the middle of Oslo city centre. There’s a real fireplace and Chesterfield arm chairs, plus a great selection of beer.
Ostara – A unique bar with a lovely atmosphere! If you are into techno and love a good cocktail, give it a go!

Things to do / Fun, Art & Architecture

Opera House roof – The Opera house is a beautiful piece of architecture in the harbour of Bjørvika, and we recommend visiting if only to take a stroll on the marble roof. It’s a perfect spot for a picnic and also a popular place to swim from. There’s also the new “Harbour promenade” you could walk along.
Vigeland Sculpture Park – Vigelandsparken, more commonly known as Frogerparken, and in English mostly just referred to as “the naked statue park” by tourists.
Botanisk HageLarge garden with ample botanical variety and diversity. Most of the area is designed as an Arboretum. The garden holds a large and varied collection of trees and shrubs planted in a systematic fashion after plant family. The Palm House from 1868 and The Victoria House from 1876 present exotic plants from other parts of the world. You will also find large, woven sculptures by the British artist Tom Hare around in the park. The greenhouses are open Tuesday-Sunday 11 am-4 pm.
Hovedøya – Hovedøya is the island closest to the city centre, with beautiful forests, beaches and cultural heritage. Ferries to Hovedøya from Aker Brygge are available all year round and takes about 10 minutes. North on the island you can visit the ruins of a Cistercian monastery from 1147.
TiltLet’s do the shuffle! Or play shuffle board. Or pinball. Or on one of the arcade games in the basement. Look, they literally have fun written on the wall, as well as a good selection of beer.
Syng (karaoke bar)Syng means Sing in Norwegian. Fun bar at Grünerløkka with private karaoke rooms for rent by the hour.
Sørengas Badstu- og Helårsbadeanstalt There are a few saunas around, but this one is by far the cutest. It fits 12 people, and the view of the Opera House is unbeatable. Book the whole thing in advance or drop in. Bring your own towel and flip flops.
Norsk Folkemuseum – One of the world’s oldest and largest open-air museums, with 155 traditional houses from all parts of Norway and a stave church from the year 1200. The museum also has indoor exhibits with traditional handicraft items, folk costumes, Sami culture, weapons, toys, pharmaceutical history and changing exhibitions.
Skyspace – If you only visit one piece of art whilst in Oslo, make it the Skyspace by James Turrell. Ekerbergparken is full of sculptures and if you have time, go for a stroll to see them all. But if you’re in Oslo at 11 am on Sunday, Skyspace is the only place to be.