I needed to eat reindeer, according to a coworker. And so, after a day of museums and whatnot, I stopped in to Holbergstuen to fill the need. It's a little hard to spot - upstairs with just a tiny door as an entrance, but look for the green signs on the east size of Torgallmenningen. And there's no need for a menu, sir, just bring Rudolph out here.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was thinking venison, and I wasn't far off. The reindeer came out as two nice little medallions, each on top of a disc of hash browns (sounds odd, but very good), all on top of mushrooms and veggies with a rich lightly sweet blackberry sauce, and a little dish of lingonberries. The meat was cooked medium rare (although a couple parts were underdone, oddly) and gamey, although that word has a negative connotation. How about "strongly game flavored"? It wasn't objectionable in the slightest. I appreciated the flavor since sometimes it's been bred out of meat these days. The crisp hash browns were surprisingly good with the meat, and I enjoyed the veggies. Plus the sweet berries and sauce set the meat off nicely. Just a very good meal.
My order came out *super quick* - almost impossibly so, but aside from a couple of spots in the meat being under-cooked, I don't think it suffered for it. Otherwise, service was good. Norway is expensive, and this is getting in to the high side, I think. It's a little more than other restaurants in town, so we're getting in to splurge territory. However, I'm happy enough with what I had to say it was worth a little extra to try something I won't be able to get at home. read more