Engebret Cafe — Restaurant in Oslo

Exited to take my husband to Engebrets cafe last night. We had a reservation for 20:15 and after a day in -7 degrees Celsius in Oslo’s beautiful Christmas decorated streets , couldn’t wait to enjoy dinner at Engebrets. We arrived half hour early as we figured we’d have a few drinks at the bar before dinner. We were told that they don’t have a bar and that we wouldn’t be let in until 20:15. So there we were, back out in the cold, searching for a bar to hang out in until 20:15. We found a bar a few blocks away and had a few drinks. Back at Engebrets at 20:15 where a line had formed outside, with people being let in for their seating slot. Line moved fairly quickly. I choose to keep my down coat at the table as I didn’t want to wait on line to retrieve it when we would be leaving and thank god I did. We were seated in the room to the right, when you walk in, charming room and our table by the window was cute. It didn’t take long however, before we realized that the windows by our table were drafty and the cold air was blowing in. Ended up having to put my down coat on as it was freezing and of course, there were no other tables available. The waitress wasn’t a bit sympathetic to the cold conditions by our table, not service minded one could say. We ordered our food and it arrived fairly quickly. Decent food that tasted good. Ordered dessert and 2 coffees and asked for the check. Not that we were looking for a break on our bill, but after having to Wear a coat to stay warm by a drafty window, one would have thought that they would have said the coffee was on the house, but that didn’t happen. We paid the bill, even left a tip and went on our way. Maybe because we live in New York and are used to That staff in restaurants there being service minded, we Expected better from Engebrets. There’s definitely history and charm at Engebrets, but dining There on a cold day during Christmas won’t for us happen Again. We will maybe try dining there again on a nice summer Day, if I can...

The oldest restaurant in Oslo.

The outdoor area is nice with flowers og facing a minor, quiet square. The terrace furniture is held in a white romantic style at the sunny terrace. Wonderful spot.

As you go inside, the furniture are dark and time typical from the 19th century. The atmosphere is characterized by the artist, actor and writer pictures on the walls and muted lightning.

We both had the turbot, which was very well prepared as well as the vegetables that goes with it. The waiter recommended the Chablis to go with it, and it was a good match. So delicious.

As we waited for the food, we got some warm and crispy bread og tasty cold butter and som ice water. Both with complements from the restaurant.

For dessert, I had the Millefeile with champagne and berry mousse. So tasty and delicious! Wauw!

As you go downstairs to the toilets, the decor is romantic and fits the cosy restaurant perfectly.

I highly recommend you to book a table, as we went there twice without reservation, and could not get in, before we booked a table a couple of days later.

Fun fact! We sat at the world famous writer Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s table at which we felt the history of the place...

We had a great experience at Engebret Cafe. We needed a spot to eat for 8 people and somewhat randomly found this place. There’s a sign outside telling you it’s the oldest restaurant in Oslo. The inside is very much in long with that heritage: lots of old signs and it could come across as a bit stuffy perhaps.

But the food is anything but stuffy: we had a fantastic dinner here. The menu is inventive and creative, with a modern take on Nordic and French inspired cuisine, that was of a level a lot higher than we initially expected.

They clearly use a lot of seasonal ingredients, as at the time we were there (end of May) there were lots of asparagus options for example. And they were terrific!

It was hard to choose a main course, as many of the options sounded extremely appealing, and they really delivered on their description.

Same with desserts, there were great options and the flavors were spectacular.

It was such a great experience that we decided to come back the evening after, when we had an even bigger group, and the quality of food (and service) was consistent across both nights. Would...