Ramen Could be the Next Big Wave to Hit Oslo

In recent years, Oslo has been hit by several culinary waves. Some larger than others. Certain ones, more of a hype than a long-lasting trend. If I were to make a prediction, I think ramen could be the next big wave to hit Oslo. I will argue why, but first, let’s have a quick look at some recent trends in Norway, and how well they have succeded.

Ramen could be the next big wave to hit Oslo. Here from a recent pop-up by Hrímnir Ramen
Ramen could be the next big wave to hit Oslo. Here from a recent pop-up by Hrímnir Ramen

Authentic Taco and Ceviche

The Latin American wave certainly brought along a bunch of new and interesting eateries to Oslo. Piscoteket and Aymara being the obvious faces of ceviche and the Peruvian cuisine, and Taco Republica and 4 Gringos as good representatives of taco and the Mexican kitchen. We’ve also had offsprings, like the burrito shops popping up all over town, including Freddy Fuego, El Burro, and El Camino (which are all fine) and the horrible, horrible (now-closed, luckily) place called Barrio. However, they all remind me more of the American fast food chain Chipotle (formerly owned by McDonald’s) than any authentic Mexican street food that we found in Tulum. One thing that’s for sure, Tex-Mex-places like Mucho Mas and Habanero are terribly outdated and hopefully, guests will let them know that soon.

Tiradito at Aymara – the best Latin American restaurant in town
Tiradito at Aymara – the best Latin American restaurant in town

The Pizza and Burger Boom

Two food items that appeal to pretty much anyone, anywhere, at any given time, are pizzas and burgers. Constant trends aren’t really trends, but Oslo has experienced a significant increase in the number of good or decent burger and pizza places the last couple of years. First of all, Lofthus Samvirkelag (the best pizzeria in town, in my opinion) now operate no less than five separate locations. Mamma Pizza, which specializes in the Rome-style al taglio pizza – squared, sliced, and with a thick crust – has three permanent spots and seems eager to grow. Even the bakery chain W.B. Samson serves pizza at selected outlets that morph from café to pizzeria in the evening. No pizzeria in Oslo can quite match the authenticity of the Neapolitan pizza at Lilla Napoli in Falkenberg, Sweden, though.

The Neapolitan pizza at Lilla Napoli in Falkenberg, Sweden
The Neapolitan pizza at Lilla Napoli in Falkenberg, Sweden

I could list a bunch of bad pizza places too, but to be fair, I haven’t tested them as thoroughly as I have with the burger joints. Because, this is the best burger in Oslo, as selected by the ultimate burger jury put together by me. Burger joints are here to stay, but we have enough now in Oslo, okay? If pizza had a big boom, then burgers have practically flooded the streets. Especially the area around Torggata, which sports more than six burger joints within a distance of less than 500 meters.

One of Oslo's best burgers from Café Fiasco
One of Oslo’s best burgers from Café Fiasco

Edomae-Style Sushi

Sabi Omakase forever changed the sushi landscape in Norway when they opened their exclusive, ten-seat, Nordic edomae-style sushi bar in Stavanger. Until then, most Norwegians knew only the California-style of sushi. Edomae (meaning close to Tokyo) is the elegant preparation of sushi based on the freshest of seafood and made to perfection by a highly-skilled chef. California-style, on the other hand, is best represented by the fast food maki rolls stuffed with fish and rice of various quality, served with plastic cups of cheap soy sauce that people were wrongly taught to mix a fake wasabi paste into. To be fair, Oslo now has a few good California-style sushi places too, like Alex Sushi, Kamai, and Jonathan Sushi (soon to become Sabi Sushi). However, the vast majority of sushi restaurants are still of poor quality. At least, it’s not as bad as in Trondheim, where I noticed they have sushi buffets! Can you imagine something more appalling than fish left to dry at room temperature for hours, on top of a sad piece of mayonnaise-covered rice ball? Oh, I know! Possibly the pre-made trays of sushi you can now buy at grocery stores. Yuck.

Danish eel nigiri at Sabi Omakase
Danish eel nigiri at Sabi Omakase

Luckily, the edomae-style is trending now, with places like Babylon Surøl & Sushi, and Sabi opening its Omakase by Alex in Oslo. When Roger Joya, head chef at the original Sabi Omakase in Stavanger, got his first Michelin-star this year, and continued the success by bringing home the Nordic Prize, as well as being listed 12th on the White Guide Nordic Top 30-list, he got a lot of attention. In all fairness, the Swedes were way ahead of us, though. Hoze has been doing edomae-style in Gothenburg since 2010. In Stockholm, the Esperanto restaurant group have done more authentic Japanese-inspired sushi at Råkultur since 2009, and more recently at Shibumi (2014) and Imouti (2015). The latter, as well as Sushi Sho (2014), also has a Michelin-star, but none of them got quite the same level of attention as Sabi Omakase. This brings me to my first point. Usually, you can predict Oslo based on what’s going on in Stockholm and Copenhagen. If that’s true, then we should be able to make a guess about the next trends here.

The Rise and Fall of Poké and Bánh Mì

Both poké and bánh mì were predicted to be big hits in 2016 and 2017. In Oslo, thus far, there’s only one place that specializes in poké. Pacific Poké has had success with their food truck that started out at Aker Brygge, moved to Majorstua, and is currently parked outside Mathallen. According to rumors, they are opening a store at Bislett in August this year. That’s it, though, apart from a few other restaurants featuring poké on their menus from time to time. I’m guessing Stockholm and Copenhagen have a few places that sell poké as well, but I haven’t seen the major trend alarm go off.

Bánh Mì from Bánh Mì in Copenhagen
Bánh Mì from Bánh Mì in Copenhagen

I have, however, checked out a few decent bánh mì-places in Copenhagen (District Tonkin and Bánh Mì). They were good, but the venues were almost deserted. In Oslo, some half-decent restaurants like Miss Gin and Bánh Mì Mot opened last year. I found that Xích Lô Asian Bakery & Tapas made a better version of the Vietnamese sandwich, but I am not sure where it’s headed now since head chef Pierre Xavier Chinniah quit. For all I know, poké and bánh mì might still become big hits, but personally, I find them less interesting. I’m much more intrigued by ramen.

Why Ramen Could be the Next Big Wave to Hit Oslo

If you look at current success stories from Copenhagen, both bao (also known as steam bun, gua bao, and Taiwanese burger) and ramen have done well. You’ll find my favorite bao in the Danish capital at Mao Bao, and I can’t wait to check out the new Kiin Kiin Bao Bao on my next trip in a few weeks. In Oslo, we don’t have any specialized bao shops yet, but you can find good versions at Hitchhiker, Kamai (where I have even helped develop one), and Pjoltergeist. Out of the two trends, I would argue that ramen has had the biggest success. Slurp Ramen is just the latest addition to a growing ramen scene in Copenhagen, which includes, among other places, Ramen to Bíiru, Papa Ramen, and Ferment. Ramen succeeds because ramen is awesome. When done right, a good ramen is steaming hot, spicy, rich in flavor, filling, and oh so slurp-o-liciously satisfying.

Ramen To Bíiru in Copenhagen

The Oslo Ramen Scene in a Not So Distant Future

In Oslo thus far, we only have one ramen restaurant. While I’ve only been to Sapporo Ramen Bar at Vulkan once, their philosophy of using mainly imported products from Japan did not impress me. The noodles had a cheap, plastic-like texture, and the broth was not as rich and flavorful as I prefer. I would take the ramen you occasionally find on the lunch menu at Hitchhiker in Mathallen any day over that. At least, they make their own noodles and cook decent broths.

Sapporo Ramen Bar at Vulkan was the first to open in Oslo
Sapporo Ramen Bar at Vulkan was the first to open in Oslo
Ramen for lunch at Hitchhiker
Ramen for lunch at Hitchhiker

If you check my restaurant rumors, you currently find that one new ramen place is soon-to-open in Oslo. I have previously checked out their pop-up at Teaterkjeller’n, where I found their noodle soup quite tasty, but less authentically Japanese. Obviously, I have no idea in which direction their new place is aiming to go, so I am very eager to see how it turns out. Apparently, the name won’t be Tanpopo Oslo Ramen anymore, though, when it opens at Osterhaus gate in September.

Tanpopo Oslo Ramen is soon-to-open in Oslo under a new name
Tanpopo Oslo Ramen is soon-to-open in Oslo under a new name

The most dedicated ramen cooking I have witnessed in Oslo, by far, is that of David Quist and his Nordic ramen concept, Hrímnir Ramen, recently demonstrated at a Hitchhiker pop-up. Imagine, authentic Japanse ramen translated into a Scandinavian edition, where everything is made from scratch, with organic and seasonal ingredients. The first time I tasted Quist’s ramen was at another pop-up at Spisehuset in Copenhagen, so I always figured he would open something more permanent in Denmark. Now, it turns out he has his eyes set on Norway and Oslo in stead. When I asked David about it recently, he cited a number of reasons: “amazing water, seafood and produce, and a growing producer-consumer network focused on sustainable food systems that we hope to be a part of.” That is exciting news for Oslo!

Hrímnir Ramen chef David Quist
Hrímnir Ramen chef David Quist

Are you spotting any trends that I’ve missed? Leave a comment and let me know.

Anders Husa

Anders Husa and Kaitlin Orr are food & travel bloggers and creative content creators. From their base in Copenhagen, they operate the largest and most influential restaurant-focused travel blog in Scandinavia.

11 comments

  • Hey Anders, on the topic of good pizza, have you tried Little Italy in Vinderen? – seriously worth the trip

      • YASSSSSS! They´re my go-to neighborhood pizza joint that truly never disappoints! Would love to for you to review them and see what you think! It´s owned by a lovely Swedish lady (born purely out of her passion for good pizza)! The “Little Italy Special” is my fav (weakness for all things truffle over here) ! : )

  • It’s about time the ramen wave hits Oslo. I would like to say that Sapporo Ramen Bar is not THAT bad in terms of taste, in my opinion, but I really don’t like neither the location nor the interior. Sometimes, I have wanted to eat a bowl there anyway, but then I remember they close at 7:30 PM, and it’s usually too late.

  • I totally agree with you Anders, Ramen is the new “sushi”. I would also argue that soups, in one form or another will also be populare. There is one at Nydalen that serves only soups, I think its called Wats’soup, very delicious soups.

  • There are several other places to enjoy ramen in Oslo already. The most authentic is probably Sato Dining at Frogner, where they even serve experimental Natto Ramen with fermented beans. This is one of few places run by Japanese. You can also get fast food ramen, served in plastic balls, at the Japanese grocery store Obento downtown, also run by a Japanese

  • Hvis du ser litt nøyere til København ser du at også izakayaene gjør sitt inntog, med blant annet Kuma og Jah Izakaya som siste skudd på stammen. Det har også en sjappe i Studiedtræde drevet av en dansk fyr med lidenskapelig interesse for asiatisk hverdagsmat.

    Et mer autentisk japansk “stikke innom”-sted enn hva Oslos bar med samme navn kan skilte med (men som selger god mat altså) .

    Dette tror jeg, og håper jeg, blir en trend i større grad enn ramen-kiosk ala BanhMi/foodtrucks, som må sies å være ti år bak skjema.

    Hvor kult hadde det ikke vært om noen i Oslo laget den første Izakayaen som virkelig ligner på de man finner i Japan. Med eget rom for tatamimatter og skyvedører. (Se Umami i Plenzlauer i Berlin for inspirasjon). Og grillspyd hvor hele kyllingen brukes ? Der alt er grillet på ekte japansk kull, (som de har begynt å selge i knivbutikken utenfor Mathallen. Johoo)

    Det er det jeg drømmer om. Og her kan man (og skal man ) selvsagt servere Ramen. Men da i de rette omgivelser!

    Pull some strings Anders, så kanskje det kommer før vi aner 🙂

    • Hei Aleks,

      Har selvsagt nortert meg disse stedene (ref. rumors) og håper også at det kommer til Oslo, men tror nok kanskje ramen kommer først. Oslo er som regel noen år etter CPH, men det går stadig fortere. Det er som du nevner en izakaya her allerede, men ikke helt autentisk. Genki skulle jo egentlig være Izakaya by Sabi, men det ble ikke helt som etter planen.

      Vi planlegger å ta turen innom Kuma om noen uker. Har du vært på den og Jah Izakaya?

  • Har vært på begge Anders. Kina er “et høl i veggen”, men du verden så god mat. Prøv alt, det er verdt det ! Jah Izakaya er en restaurant. Var der med en stor gjeng (18pers) og da tok det litt tid med maten. Men den var også veldig god, og jeg drar helt klart tilbake. Om så, bare for å bruke toalettet deres, som er importert fra Japan 🙂

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