Restaurant Kontrast — Restaurant in Oslo

Born in Skåne Mikael Svensson began his career in Oslo before stints with 3* Spaniards Quique Dacosta and Martin Berasategui, a focus on "organic and ethically sourced Ingredients from within Norway" seeing Restaurant Kontrast show off local producers and the Animals they raise.

Stating “the end result is never better than the quality of the Product you start with,” a fact frequently overlooked in today’s low-cost and convenience driven market, it is through temperatures and textures frequently found in juxtaposition that Svensson builds layered bites tied together through the use of acid, fermentation and Herbs.

A fifteen-course tasting that begins in the lounge, cement floors and exposed ceilings creating an industrial feel that magnifies noise from other tables, opening bites consist of bold flavors such as Scallops with bitter Vegetables and Shrimp with Horseradish before moving on to a delicate Donut followed by a Pork Blood Croustade topped in Vinegar-splashed Cheese.

Going down the street for a Sunchoke and Tim Wendelboe Coffee before taking a seat in front of the open kitchen, just five Chefs running three seatings simultaneously, a vibrant White Wine from Hungary proved adept to handling first Turnips and Sea Snails with Caviar then poignant Crab Curry imbued with Garum atop Carrots and Sour Cream.

Refusing to outsource Sauces, Mikael’s XO a three-year process made on-site, Crucifers spung to life before Wild Halibut and Chicken with Mushrooms, Soy and a complex reduction featuring Yellow Wine with Sweet Corn.

Slowing as the room filled up, lengthy waits between courses seeing the final four items take longer than the first eight, aged Lamb brought plenty of flavor to match Cherries plus Coffee before frozen Kraftkar Bleu Cheese and Sunflower Seed Ice Cream shocked the palate in preparation for elegantly arranged Plums followed by...

Wonderful experience overall. We had our reservation at 18:00. Arrived 15mins early just in case, but the doors are shut untill 18:00. No waiting area, just had to stand outside the door. When the time came we were invited to go in, took off our coats ourselves and was escorted then to a sofa area for the 1st part of the experience. There, we were served some snacks (which all were exquisite, except for the duck which was a bit too salty and strong). Here you get a drink menu where you can order your drinks. After finishing the beautiful snacks, you are moved to the main dining area, where the real deal begins. Will not spoil the main dishes for you in the reviews, but overall they were heavenly. Pairing: I got the juice pairing, as I am not fond of alcohol. All the juices seemed to be made there, making there own mix of infusions, fruit and veggie juices. It is worth a try. Service: was very nice and attentive. However, some waiters were a bit difficult to understand clearly, specially when the name of the ingredient was not familiar to me. Lastly, I went on December and the interior temperature was a bit chilly for just one thin long sleeve. A thin jacket, sweater or thicker sleeves would have been a...

Great food and service, but overpriced with a disappointing wine pairing

Restaurant Kontrast delivers refined, well-executed dishes — the food was genuinely very good, creative, and beautifully presented. Service was also excellent: attentive, professional, and well-paced.

However, having dined at several Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, I have to say this was by far the most expensive, and the value simply doesn’t match the price.

We opted for the “Premium Wine Pairing,” which is advertised as the equivalent of one bottle of wine per person. In reality, it was barely one bottle for two at most. The pours were very small, and the wines themselves were nothing special — quite underwhelming for the price.

This may be typical in Norway, where alcohol is notoriously expensive and servings are conservative, but even so, the quality and quantity of the wine pairing was a major letdown.

In short, the food is excellent and worth trying, but I strongly advise against the premium pairing if you’re expecting a true high-end...