Never before have I been so under dressed for dinner. Then again, I did go straight from the airport after my Arctic adventure and I wasn’t made to feel out of place by the very gregarious staff that looked after me at Restaurant Oscarsgate in Oslo. Well, I wasn’t actually planning on eating anywhere is Oslo – rather just check in to my hotel and bask in the afterglow of the Northern Lights. It was only on my last day in Svalbard that I met a friendly girl from Oslo who questioned why I wasn’t trying out the fine dining there and that I should definitely try this restaurant as she’d worked there many years ago and they served exceptional food. As luck had it, even though they were fully booked, there was a last minute cancellation which I happily scooped up. In a restaurant of 20 covers, this is a big thing!
February 26, 2012
Oscarsgate, Oslo
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February 25, 2012
Huset, Svalbard
78°15′ North. Well inside the Arctic circle lies the town of Longyearbyen on the island of Svalbard. For some it is the land of the Northern Lights, for others it is a fabled pilgrimage (addicts of Philip Pullman’s ‘Dark Materials Trilogy’ will agree with me on that!), but no matter how one looks at it, Svalbard is a winter wonderland, a frozen paradise that overwhelms all senses and takes one on an ethereal, thrilling adventure of a lifetime. Not expecting to find a restaurant serving anything more than good, hearty and rustic fare (of which I had plenty!), I was quite pleasantly surprised to find somewhere serving up a multi-course Arctic menu!
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