A hidden gem in Oslo!! This cafe is part of an African culture center, usually just getting a funny…read moreglance from customers after finishing their African dance lessons next door. We were, in fact, the only ones sitting there having something other than Coca-Cola. The kitchen looked very unassuming, with the head chef from Cote d'Ivoire jollily tending to his regular guests and telling us stories about African influence in Cuba. We expected some hearty, home cooking. But my word! That SCRUMPTIOUS Cameroonian chicken! That FLAKY fish with fried plantains! Lightly seasoned, perrrfectly cooked, well done crust. That STUNNING appetizer of tuna and mango! This is what happens when a skilled cook gets ample time (since there's no other customers..) to carefully tend to each dish. To wash it off, a FIERY gnamankoudji (west african ginger drink) that was supercool at first sip and kicks a sharp burn in the aftertaste. I felt a need to give the chef a hug, but he was so modest. He said it was his apprentice, a "master in taste", who prepared the dinner and he would be happy if we personally complimented the apprentice (we did). The menu is restricted to maybe at most three items, and then changes every week, moving on to other parts of Africa. That week they had Central Africa. Chef said to come back again for another chapter of the culinary tour, perhaps starting off with West Africa. Looking forward to it. An absolute gem!!

This place is amazing! It's a bit hard to find and is actually part of a cultural center but once…read moreyou find it, you will be in awe of the service that you will receive. There are not too many options on the menu at any given time; they change the food options every week (to reflect different regions of African cuisine) but at any given time, they have a vegetarian dish, fish dish and a chicken/beef dish. You cannot go wrong with either of the options. The chicken option (Ivory Coast dish) tasted so good. The owner and the chef went out of their way to speak with me and provide exceptional service. Will be back as soon as I get to Oslo!

Saba is as real as it gets in Oslo. In the evening this place becomes a busy watering hole to get…read morehonest-to-goodness Eritrean food and drinks with friends. The music blasts loud, people chatting even more loudly, and fingers get dirty dipping into red spicy stews. I wonder why I don't go here more often. As is traditional Eritrean/Ethiopian food, we get one large shared plate of sour pancakes called Injera, topped with little stews called tsebhi (or wot in Ethiopian). For the first visits, I would recommend the "combination" so you can sample different mixes of minced beef stew, vegetable, egg and chicken. You then rip apart the pancakes and use it gleefully to scoop up the meats. The sponge-like injera beautifully absorbs all the juices. It's actually very similar to Ethiopian cuisine, just with different names, and only the true aficionados (not me) could tell them apart. What I notice though is it is more sour and less earthy than any Ethiopian food I have ever had, and tasted of more use of tomatoes. This tiiny bit of over-tanginess - their injera is also very sour - probably keeps me from giving it a full-blown 5, otherwise, the spices are really spot on for my liking, and I always have a weakness for ethnic cuisine made from the heart :)

Service was good but the food portions were on the small side and hence not great value. The sushi…read morequality was average. This place was family friendly which was nice.

Cheap cafeteria for hearty Somalian food. A sign of a good diner: taxi drivers. In any city, taxi…read moredrivers are always a good compass to identify approved food hotspots. There were taxi drivers here. Don't underestimate the importance of cheap eats in society! While in US big cities there's an abundance, here in Oslo it's a welcome rarity. They start to function not only as a restaurant but also a community center of sorts. Of course, none of this would happen if there's isn't good food as the backbone. What you get for 90 NOKs (!) is a HUGE plate of spiced rice/pasta (Somali cuisine use a lot of pasta), and then topped with stewed/grilled/pan-fried beef or fish or chicken. I didn't know what the names are, and they don't seem to bother to explain them either. Most clients seem to know by how it looks. I had rice cooked with green cardamom and raisins, topped with thin slices of beef 'steaks' cooked with earthy spices. The rice was tasty, the beef was sort of dry but I think it was on purpose. Next time, I should order a soup in addition, like many other customers. I'd stop short from saying it's really delicious, but they're good enough and had huge portions: 3-star food with 4-star value. The plate of food is completed with a banana. A must for any self-respecting Somali lunch.