Grotto — Restaurant in Oslo

Honest and delicious French cuisine served in a rustique environment. Non-chalant and slow service ruined an otherwise exciting experience.

This restaurant is concept-driven, with a very specific experience in mind. French cuisine, down-to-earth, rustique, ingredient-focused, very little to no spices, plenty of salt (both in the dishes, the butter, as well as wines high on minerality). Key words here are informal, simplistic, honest, intimate. The tables are packed together so tight as to force the guests to interact, and the kitchen is open and in the same room as where the guests sit, which can make for quite a hot experience when they cook over open fire on a hot summer's day.

The waiters were far too busy to handle all the guests appropriately, which led to us having to wait 25 minutes and then having to ask before being allowed to order, which meant that the drinks and complimentary bread came after 30 minutes. They were not in the mood to recommend wines (apparently that's part of their concept), so you are left to yourself figuring out what goes best with the food. Our main courses came after 90 minutes, after which we had finished two bread baskets and were well on our way into the low blood sugar-slump. With little attention paid to the guests, a scruffy attitude, and a somewhat exasperated response when being called upon, the service may be authentic and true to the place's general concept, but then the concept is simply for the more masochistic of us. I prefer my waiters to be professional, attentative, and agreeable.

We ordered the zucchini salad as a starter. It was absolutely divine, and the star of the show this evening. Our main courses, whole grilled chicken and halibut with mashed potatoes and broccolini on the side, were delightful, and served in a enticingly exotic fashion (for this part of the continent, at least) on metal plates. Great quality products, cooked in a simple yet effective manner. Salt was the dominating flavor enhancer in all dishes, apart from the chicken, which came with a vibrant garlic-mayo. The mashed potatoes came with the skin, just to really emphasize how rustique this place really is.

The stone walls are white and clean, just like the table cloths, the napkins, and the paper cover that protects each of the tiny square tables in this sparsely-decorated bistro. And yet, with so little, they manage to say so much thanks to the cognizant use of color and interior. There is no energy spent on fancy decorations or expensive wall-paper. This place is about the food and wine, that's it. And you are meant to order wine by the bottle, by the way, as very few of them were sold by the glass. As my primary school teaches would call it: tough but fair. And if you are early for your table, there is outdoor seating that can accommodate you where you can open said bottle and relax while you wait.

Lovely meal, exciting surroundings, but the service is nonchalant and the waiting times...

Reservation was for 20:45 but no tables available when we arrived. Seated shortly after 21:00. We ordered and didn't get our food until 22:15. Would have ordered desert but didnt dare risk the waiting time. Could hear others complaining about the long waits too. Was a weird vibe of people tired of waiting in the whole place. Typical oslo style food with simple small portions with good flavors but quite over priced and not worthy of the 1 hour+ wait after ordering. Far too many people packed into this place. The kitchen clearly can not keep up and this really hurts the experience. This is also seen when going to the bathroom. During the long wait I used the toilet twice and everytime the was a line of 4-5 people waiting in front of the single bathroom. They use towels for hand drying but none were left nor were they restocked. Far too many people in this place. Whats the point of taking a reservation if you don’t...

We went with big expectations, neither me or my boyfriend were impressed with the food, especially for the price tag. Some dishes had a lack of spices, some had too much spices, which overthrew the dish itself in a way that you could only taste the spice. I only liked the ice-cream but they are not made in house. As said we both cook at home and professionally. I have visited places in Oslo with better prices and better food. Overall I felt that the place is overrated. Chefs didn't know the spice names, when asked. One waiter was really good at his job, the other that filled in came to our table and said everything so fast in Norwegian that you couldn't understand a word she said, nor she asked if we spoke Norwegian,...