Izakaya

This long-standing Oslo izakaya offers consistently good quality. The food is reliable, the cocktails are well-made, and they have a solid selection of sake. It's a dependable spot for a casual Japanese experience without any fuss.

You know when there’s a group of people stood outside waiting for the place to open it’s gonna be good stuff. Sublime food and friendly staff is more than enough, but the decor and music take this place up even higher. I had shiitake mushrooms, gyoza, and aubergine with pork mince and Szechuan pepper. All brilliant. The black sesame ice cream was really really tasty, but could’ve been a bit smoother - the texture was slightly grainy. Overall, an excellent place to get a casual bite to eat and a really nice atmosphere.

This is one of my favorite places in Oslo! It feels to be in a real restaurant somewhere in Japan. The lights, the decorations, and the music bring you into a totally different world. The queue is long sometimes but it’s worth it. They have warm and cold sakes, Japanese beers, and amazing simple dishes packed with umami and good for sharing. Their new dishes are also very delicious. Perfect place for a date or to hang out with some friends. Special thanks to Naho and Adrian for their amazing service.

I live around the corner, and for 3 years I saw at this place so many people coming and leaving so I always wanted to go, finally last week we went. We tried some options in the menu but we ask for recommendations to the waiter because we didn’t understand the menu that well since we are not very used to Asian food. We drunk a Pale Ale beer that was very good and a rice beer that was surprisingly good and tasty. Food was also good, and very home made. We pay 1000kr but I felt like the experience, even tho the food was super good, was not nice or worthy because the place was not as good, in the sitting area you could eat next to 2 fridges and 2 freezers and actually I prefer and appreciate other standards, the restaurant is looking like what I can guess a Japanese house on the inside. Anyway if you don’t care where you eat but you love Japanese food this is your place. The staff was very lovely and friendly and they clean our table when we arrived and we loved that.

You couldn’t get more authentic izakaya in Oslo! Whole place is so Japanese. Music, staff, drinks, food… There is literally hole on the wall and sticky table gave me the authentic and rustic vibe. Food is great and authentic too, and don’t expect the dishes tasted like your neighborhood sushi place. I enjoyed my visit but don’t recommend to bring with the kids (the staff is nice, but kids won’t appreciate the vibe) 😝

First things first; this place doesn’t take any reservations. So, it is better you come here 10 minutes to its opening time (17.00), even if it’s Monday. Otherwise, you will wait in the queue for a table. It is a cozy spot where everyone is squeezed on wooden seats:-) I liked the decoration. It is a bit loud given to the fact that many people are having dinner in a small place. We had the shitake mushrooms, marinated boiled egg (1 egg cut in 2), udon noodles, gyoza (pork), cold chicken with creamy sesame sauce, black sesame ice cream. Also had cocktails; sake sour and probably kappa. We ordered sake sour and otome. When the sake sour came, I was sure that the first cocktail we got wasn’t sake sour:-) Anyways, they were balanced and good cocktails. The food was also delicious. All are recommended however the chicken sauce was a bit too sweet and I think the sesame ice cream does not need the sauce on top.

Fantastic culinary experience. Fun, laid-back and bustling atmosphere in a small restaurant/bar with interesting Japanese decor...and it is very popular. Come early to get a table! I enjoyed being able to order several small dishes to try more. They make homemade wakame (seaweed salad)!! Food from 17-22!

First thing that struck me as odd was that there is no system for getting a table; they don't take reservations and they do not allow you to queue, so you simply have to show up and hope there's a spot available. If not, they turn you away with no explanation for their absolute lack of a system. The food itself was good, very good for the price, but not terribly exciting. I was pleased, but I suppose I expected something more; crispier gyoza and pancake, more flavour on the eggs, more sauce on dishes that had it, and a slightly lighter touch for flavours like sesame which in dense amounts can be sickeningly overwhelming. However, service was quick and for the prices, I can't complain much. It simply felt as if their aim was authenticity, and in my opinion they were off.

It was closed for the summer when I went there in late July to find some dinner. A bit hard to find but never got a chance to eat there.

Truly a gem. Fantastic Japanese Street Food. Friendly and helpful staff in a casual and welcoming environment. Looking forward to my next trip to Oslo...

Very nice! Vibe, mood & ambience par excellent! A definite go-to when in Oslo. Oh yes!

Pretty chill place in the middle of Oslo. Love the cool atmosphere, the casual feel, and the good food. Would definitely be back! If you come in with a group of more than 2 or 3, be expected to wait for a bit to find a seat. Otherwise, you'll just try to squeeze in between others.:D

I found the analogue myspace... Read all about it ... this is a bar that nails it without the 'up close and personal' bollox of the rest of the in crowd Oslo locations Normally Oslo on a weekend is a human tsunami in all the 'place to be seen' bars. Reach for your backpocket and you are more likely to find your hand wedged in someone else's shorts/panties/lunchbox/ (delete as appropriate). OK, i get it, some people like the bar contact sport thing but i am more of a 'hey get your face out of my space' bloke so when I got the invite here and knew it was not on the hotspot radar i was keen to give it a go. I was not sure what to expect but more than happy with what i found. If anything this is more like those keller bars you get around Prague old town. You know ... a gated opening between two buildings and a wooden door just out of sight. Step inside, watch the step down and then all of a sudden you are below ground level and there are openings into different nooks and crannies with long wooden tables and benches for you to park your Maß (wiki it). The people here deserve credit for the toil they put in. If there was an award for perpetual motion then they are contenders. They were also good enuff to knock up an 'off menu' sampler for us because there was so much to choose from that we couldn't decide. What we got was Dim Sum, Edamame, skewered chicken meatballs, shiitake mushrooms, Korean pancakes & a tapas style potato. Asian fusion at it's best. We washed all this down with numerous bottles of sake and gallons of mendokusai which is so close to a caipirinha i challenge you to tell the difference. I was reluctant to write this review as I don't want everyone rushing here so keep it quiet OK ... i like myspace

A Japanese gem in the heart of Oslo. Right next to St Olav's place, you'll found an intimate and cosy restaurant full of look-like Japanese medieval tapestries and ink illustrations. This peculiar ambiance attracts an arty and bohemian fauna that will savour Japanese delicatessen in the early evening and ends-up with sake the rest of the night. I even tasted there an excellent nuoc mam beer.

Probably my favorite restaurant in Oslo. I felt like being in New York City in one of the speak easy bars and that's something that's not easy to find in Oslo. First of all its a place not very visible from the street. You need to know it exists. Once you step in, you come to a really cool ambience, full of people. It's a quite small restaurant, with a tiny bar and few tables. No fancy furniture is found, instead they have benches and beer barrels for chairs. Cool artsy pics on the walls and everything points to Japan. The people working there were very fast, and helpful as the service should always be. We went there at 21:30 to a full place and we were seated into a table with other people in order to be served. The food was delicious. I liked the idea of Japanese tapas and the fact that the menu is short and authentic. No sushi, no rice or noodles. Just authentic plates from Japan that were all amazing. Definitely a place to visit while in Oslo if you like hip and chill places.

If you're looking for a place to bring your hip friends visiting from London, Berlin or other cool European capitals, bring them to Izakaya - they'll feel right at home ;) Izakaya is tucked away down in the basement of a nondescript building in St Olavs gate, and there is nothing but the sign on the door to signify that a japanese restaurant is hiddem inside. Inside, there are a few communal seating tables, a bar and plenty of kitchy japanese posters. All of this of course amplifies the hipster vibe. I started with one of the many exciting cocktails on the menu, with ginger and sweet basil - it did not disappoint. The menu has a rather small selection of dishes which are meant to be shared (i.e. the format we usually know as tapas). It must be noted that the service at Izakaya needs to improve - the two japanese girls that waited on the tables spoke neither good English, nor Norwegian, and the food took a very long time to arrive. One of the waiters seemed not to understand what we were saying at all, and could not answer any questions about the menu. If the staff had been nice, I could have said that the communication issues only made the experience more authentically Japanese, but sadly, they were not. However - the food was excellent. We were first served Bang Bang Ji - cold shredded chicken in a creamy sesame sauce - which I thought was the best dish of the night. Next, we were served Korean spinach pancakes with dipping sauce. I had expected these to be outstanding, and was a little disappointed, but they were salty and tasty all the same. The soba noodle salad with walnuts was excactly as acidic and fresh tasting as I like it to be, and the shiitake mushrooms fried in butter with ponzu sauce were just delicious. The chicken meatballs with sweet teriyaki sauce and mustard were perhaps the least exciting dish, and could have done with more seasoning. Next time, I will definitely try the pork goyza (dumplings), which seemed to be very popular with the other diners. We finished the meal with two more cocktails (the amaretto and cardamom one stole the show) and a black sesame ice cream served with a drizzle of dark syrup. I would definitely urge anyone to try the ice cream, even though it might seem a bit weird to our western tastes (but then I love all things sesame). The bill came at 821NOK for 3 cocktails (98NOK each), one ginger beer, 5 dishes and 2 ice creams, which is definitely ok, allthough it would probably not have been enough food for big eaters, as some of the plates are very small. However, I would say that the best way to approach eating at Izakaya would be to relax with drinks and good company, and order dishes as you feel like it, as opposed to having everything at once. It is a perfect place to hang out with with friends, have some exciting nibbles and feel like the hippest kids in town ;)

Cool concept and cool place! I went here with a huge group of friends/coworkers and we really enjoyed ourselves! I didn't pay for anything, so I have no idea what kind of prices we are working with here...but nevertheless, the food was good. And that was all that mattered to me. We ordered slews of small courses (which is, after all, what they specialize in). I ate a peanut sauced chicken, some delicious type of egg something or another, sesame ice cream, and many other things. It was all well-prepared and well-presented. The dishes actually were appropriately seasoned and spiced. This place was charming and certainly a place I'd head back to in a heartbeat.

Super hipster feeling. Swedes will feel like they're back in Södermalm. You would't even be able to find the place if you didn't know about it or focus in on the hanging japanese lamps in the small windows when you walk by on this out of the way street (thanks Yelp). We nearly went right by it. Nice place to come with a small group and have some drinks and some light food. They had surprisingly good Japanese beer! Not your typical lagers but really nice IPAs and a good porter that had a really unique lighter taste. We had a nice time here, I would recommend it as a chill bar atmosphere.

Good atmosphare, but the foods are bit boring. Since I am from Japan, I expected more for their menu. The varieties of alkohol are pretty good, but of course the price is very high. Also the place gets crowded very quick, and have no resavation system. It is difficult to make plans for meeting up with friends.

Really hip place in the basement of an older building. The flavors are authentic and the atmosphere is cozy and private. Prices are ok and I would absolutely visit again. My personal highlight was the black sesame ice cream at the end.

I feel right at home here. Wonderful Japanese expat community who hang here and get to practice their Japanese! Fantastic cocktails, inspiring decor and great small bites. The crispy gyoza with folded bottom crispy bit on top reminded me of Japan!

If you come here you have to try everything on the menu. We did and "WOW" it was so good. It's hard to find good japanese food in Oslo but this is clearly the best. I'm just waiting for them to serve ramen. Oh and don't forget the sake!

First you have to try to find this place, and once you do you'll wanna come back. This is a great little Japanese place. Although it's small and kinda worn-down, it has such a friendly and nice atmosphere, and they serve delicious and tasteful authentic Japanese/Asian plates. I've tried almost everything on the menu and nothing let me down - although the gyoza's were a little less tasty than the ones I make at home. Service is friendly and fast. I definitely recommend it!

Perfect for a night out with friends or a date. It's more a bar than a restaurant serving all kinds of Japanese/Asian drinks and beer. They also have a kitchen serving a variety of small Japanese dishes which are all super tasty and delicious. Oslo is not spoiled with places like this one, which makes it even more special. The location is small, crowded and buzzing on a Friday or Saturday night, so you should get there before 8pm on the weekends if you want to sit down while you eat.

One of my favorite places in Oslo. The food they serve is mostly small plates. I have tried everything several times now and kind of wish they would switch up the menu a bit. Go there anyway and don't forget to drink Japanese plum wine! They have some really nice savory pancakes and a seaweed salad that I'm obsessed with.

I tried coming here on a Saturday at 19:30 big mistake! Very very busy. And for good reason. So I made a point to come here on a Monday at 18:00. Genius. Pure genius. We ordered two Mendokusai. Not sure exactly whats in it, but its kicked my colds butt to the curve and I was grateful for that. We split Ede-mame, Gyoza Dumplings, Chijimi a Korean pancake, and 2 orders of Tsukune a chicken meatball! AMAMZING. I'm thrilled I was able to find this place and enjoy it, however now I wish it was still a secret. I can only understand now that I've been there why its so popular. The interior is funky and small, tables long and inviting. The service was cute and kind. I love it here. I wish they would adopt me. Feed me everyday. But for now Monday's will just have to be my secret night to enjoy this gem with close friends and sake :)

I like this place :) this is a cool and easy place to grab some nice japan food and drink beer and Sake

Found this place completely by accident. Has a hipster tilt but I found the crowd to be chill. I really was digging the super relaxed ambient atmosphere. Had a drink and was shocked by how reasonably priced it was. This is a super cool spot to hang out at and I will most surely be making a stop the next time I am in Oslo.