I had heard about Norwegian salmon before going to Norway, but I did know the scale of the production. Its the world’s most popular fish; sold in over 100 countries. According to the Norwegian Seafood Council, Norwegian salmon is used in 22 million meals everyday! One thing to note is that it is farmed fish and that it is a relatively new industry. The first farm started just 50 years ago. Naturally, I wanted to try Norwegian salmon in Oslo so I chose the appropriately name “The Salmon” restaurant for lunch one day. You can make reservations online. Inside the restaurant, is a small exhibit which gives more info on the salmon industry in Norway. Interior of the restaurant is blue and orange which I guess represent the colors of salmon and the ocean.
They also have a retail display where you can buy some salmon to take home.
Here was the menu:
One thing I was happy to see was a discussion about the importance of rice in sushi. We shall see if this translates to the food! We started with a trio of oysters. One with jalapeno salsa, one with mignonette and the last was with ponzu and ikura. They were pretty good.
Another thing we ordered was the crispy salmon skin. This was my favorite dish. It came with crisp salmon skin, ikura, creme fraiche, and onions. Basically, you build each bite like you would caviar, with the salmon skin serving as the “blini”.
Next, salmon trilogy – cold smoked, hot smoked and cured. This was pretty good though there weren’t huge differences in the three preparations. Also, there was the salmon nigiri – one traditional and one aburi style. The salmon was pretty good and the char on the aburi had a nice flavor, but the rice was still not 100%. It needed to be less mushy, and more seasoned. It was ok though.
For main, I had the grilled salmon with broccolini, truffled mash potato and thyme butter. The salmon was well cooked, but nothing mind blowing. I would not get this again.
Overall, the service was good and friendly. The food was pretty good, but the main was just average. I wouldn’t get the sushi again either. If you are in the Aker Brygge area of Oslo (kind of like a waterfront neighborhood), this could be a good option for lunch, but I wouldnt go out of my way to eat here. Also in the area is the electric boat that gives tours of the Oslo Fjord. I will post about that experience in the future.