Izakaya by Vladimir Pak — Restaurant in Oslo

Mixed feelings. I was very excited to have dinner here and left somewhat indifferent. The service needs to improve considerably. They seated us and 10-15 min passed until I could catch their attention to take our order. The menu online shows 8 pcs. maki and 2 pcs. wagyu per person (see pictures) . Upon arrival, the printed menu was 4 and 1 pc. respectively. Disappointing! The food is good, tasty, but nothing super extraordinary (the sushi at Alex sushi is better imo). For 625 kr per person, it is good value, but it does not make you full. Portions are rather conservative. In addition, it seems like the seabass ceviche which was in the original menu (still online at the time of writing this review) has been replaced by a salmon ceviche, which was very plain in taste and unremarkable. Wine pairing menu is also good value and the pairing well executed, but the wines are really basic quality. (You get what you pay for) The timing of the dishes and the wine during the meal was ok but again in the end it took a long time for them to bring dessert , and again after to catch their attention to ask for the bill (and they were half empty at that point). At a point there was not a single waiter on the floor, they were all inside... To finish, I must comment that, even the decoration and design is cute, japanese style, the tables are arranged in a way that feels like a cheap take away Asian place. Charmless, uneven and cramped against each other with barely 25 cm between them (where I have to squeeze my ass over the neighbour table to reach my seat on the sofa - and I am rather skinny!). Felt cheap. For what we paid, it was ok, but I dont think I would go back there to eat a la carte until they have upped...

Izakaya by Vladimir Pak is an absolute gem.

The restaurant itself is stunning - spacious and beautifully designed, with a calming, Japanese-inspired atmosphere.

I had the tasting menu, and while I came in expecting a lot on the flavour front (Vladimir is a Michelin star chef after all), I was genuinely surprised by how great the value for money was. The tasting menu was high quality and only 625 nok, and the wine package with three glasses was 395 nok. That is really hard to beat in Oslo.

Every dish was beautifully presented, and there were so many memorable bites. My personal favourites were the wagyu tartar (omg!), the torikatsu (it melted on my tongue), the glazed eggplant (a standout vegetarian option), and the black sesame choux for dessert - absolutely divine.

The staff was also super friendly and lovely and they handled opening night - which I imagine must be extremely stressful - beautifully. I think this is a place where I would be fully comfortable going for a solo meal as well, as the staff struck a nice balance of being attentive and available, but not hovering, which made me feel very comfortable.

I can definitely see this becoming a go-to spot for dinner. Whether it’s a calm and tasty meal right after work or a really special evening out, I think this place will have...

Når kjøkkensjefen både er kåret til Verdens Beste Sushi-kokk (2017) og tidligere har oppnådd en Michelin-stjerne for sin forrige restaurant "Omakase by Vladimir Pak" i Vika i Oslo (2020), er det lov å ha forventninger til måltidet.

Vladimir Pak skuffer selvfølgelig ikke.

"Izakaya by Vladimir Pak" er Chef Pak sin nyeste restaurant og ligger i Kirkegata 1-3, midt i Oslo sentrum. Veldig fine, delikate lokaler med åpent kjøkken (noe jeg digger da jeg elsker å se kjøkkenet arbeide med rettene), og der det også er mulighet for å nyte måltidet ute når været tillater det.

I dag finnes det sikkert like mange sushi-restauranter som det fantes "Kina-restauranter" i Norge på 80-tallet (uten sammenligning for øvrig!), og når mange av dem er veldig bra kan det være vanskelig å finne de som likevel skiller seg litt ekstra ut fra alle andre. "Izakaya by Vladimir Pak" er en av disse sistnevnte. Det er faktisk vanvittig kult at man kan oppleve mat laget av en slik internasjonal super-kokk i en såpass "nedpå"-restaurant midt i Oslo. Stort sett må man besøke en dritdyr Omakase-restaurant for å oppleve en så merittert sushi-kokk. Jeg skal ikke si at opplevelsen du får på "Izakaya by Vladimir Pak" er på samme nivå som den jeg fikk på "Omakase by Vladimir Pak" i 2022, eller den jeg fikk på "Omakase by Sergey Pak" (stjernerestaurant som drives av boren til Vladimir i Bergen) tidligere i år, men du får likevel perfekt forhold mellom ris og topping av fantastiske råvarer, og risen er selvfølgelig av ypperste kvalitet og tilberedt på korrekt måte (mange timers arbeid). Så her har du faktisk muligheten til å bare "stikke innom" å ta et brett med fantastisk sushi, et par digge glass med vin til en rimelig pris. I tillegg kan du selvfølgelig også ta en helaften med diverse Smaks-menyer og tilhørende vinpakker hvis man ønsker å pimpe opplevelsen enda noen hakk.

Selv om jeg var veldig imponert over "Izakaya by Vladimir Pak" (Izakaya = et uformelt japansk spisested), så håper vi selvfølgelig at Chef Pak igjen åpner en Omakase-restaurant også. Lokalene i Kirkegata 1-3 gir i hvert fall muligheter til dette, og når det var såpass trøkk (overraskende at restauranten etter så kort tid allerede har fulle lister hver kveld) er det absolutt rom for en Omakase i bygget. Og ryktene skal ha det til at det er noe på gang…

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