With its grand opening celebrated only 3 days prior to our visit, this café could hardly be any newer. Located at the border of Sagene and Grünerløkka, only a few minutes walk away from Alexander Kiellands plass, Hernández has everything of a chill yet well-groomed neighbourhood bakery. Large windows bring lots of sunlight to the small space The interior is simple. The floor and ceiling is bare concrete. A couple small wooden benches with four small wooden tables, with four orthogonal bar stools facing the outside seating area. ...

Nestled away in a courtyard inside the Hackesche Höfe, Ben Rahim, named after the Tunisian-born founder, is a specialty café that features coffee with an arabic influence. Inside, the shop looks quite different from Mitte’s typical minimalistic café décor, with Persian rugs covering the floor and Islamic tiles on the wall, emphasising its ethnic identity and arabic flavour. Hand brew I ordered a caffè latte and J had a handbrew, and we were both super happy. With its slightly dark flavour and smoked fragrance, I think it was one of the best caffè lattes I have had throughout my trips around Europe, and J thought the handbrew was equally good. If you intend to find an equivalent place in Oslo, I can only compare Ben Rahim to Tim Wendelboe. When it comes to the caffè latte, I think Ben Rahim is a clear cut above Supreme Roastworks. Mind you, the latte cost 6 euros while the handbrew 9 euros for half a liter. It was on the pricy side, but we both thought it was worth the money. ...

Despite the rising popularity of cardamom buns (“kardemommebolle” in Norwegian) and other newcomers over the past decade, the cinnamon bun (“kanelbolle” or “kanelsurr”) retains its dominate position among the Scandinavian pastries. For most Scandinavians, the cinnamon bun is not just a traditional pastry for the afternoon tea break (“fika” as they say in Sweden), but also a symbol of leisure and unconditional happiness deeply rooted in memories since childhood. In 1999, the first Cinnamon Bun Day (“Kanelbollens dag”) was instituted by the Swedish Home Baking Council (Hembakningsrådet) on October 4th to celebrate and promote the pastry. Since then, the Cinnamon Bun Day has become an annual theme day across the whole Nordic region. Following is our list of the best cinnamon buns you can find in Oslo: ...

Kaffe Lykke has rather peculiar opening hours: 8-15, Monday to Friday. Such a “lazy” schedule does not seem to impart the impression that this place is here for serious business. This hasty conclusion, however, cannot be farther from the truth. The fact is that the café is owned by the Oslo municipality and is used as a training venue for young adults in Grünerløkka borough ranging from 18 to 25 years old. Some of them might have dropped out of school, some might be struggling with addiction issues. The café is the place where they can gain some initial working experience before going into the society. ...

Since its opening in April 2020 during the covid pandemic, Kveitemjøl (meaning “wheat flour” in Norwegian) has quickly become one of the most popular bakeries in Oslo. Its location at Aker Brygge, the bustling commercial and shopping centre by Oslo harbour, certainly helped. More important is the man behind it all: Nils Olav Heggdalsvik, a veteran baker who used to be on the Norwegian national baking team. The first item from Kveitemjøl that caught the attention of social media is their cube croissants—a cube-shaped croissant filled with Norwegian plum jam and coconut panna cotta, and was sold “at record speed”, according to local newspapers. To make it more interesting, the shop makes different flavours depending on the season. ...

Tucked away deep inside a former brick factory courtyard, Sofi has become the epitome of artisan bakeries in Berlin. The man behind it is the Danish chef Frederic Bille Brahe, who also runs Atelier September, Apollo Kantine & Bar as well as Kafeteria in the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. Entrance Sofi is specialised in sourdough bread, tebirkes (a Danish pastry), cookies and cakes. According to the shop, 90% of the flour they use is produced in a small organic mill in Denmark named Kornby. ...

Named after the character Isak Sellanraa in Nobel prize winning author Knut Hamsun’s famous novel Marken’s Grøde (in English: Growth of the Soil), Sellanraa is a café, bar, and restaurant fittingly located in the Trondheim Literature House. Sellanraa focuses on locally sourced ingredients from Trøndelag, and updates its menu depending on the season. Ay, I’ll buy you coffee, that I will. A paper of coffee, was it? Why not a pound? A pound of coffee, while you’re about it. ...

Jacobsen og Svart has been on top of the trends in coffee from the very beginning, being among the first to kickstart “third-wave coffee” in Norway. According to the owner Tony Jacobsen, Jacobsen og Svart was the 12th coffee roastery in all of Norway when the roastery was established in 2012 in a 6 square meter space behind a hair salon. As of 2024, the number of roasters tally over 100, and the Trondheim region has since given birth to well-known roasteries such as Langøra Kaffebrenneri and Pala. The “new” Jacobsen og Svart opened in the first floor of Arkitektenes Hus (in English: The Architects’ House) after covid put the nail in the coffin for the “old” café and roastery. ...

Papegøye, originally named “Neongrut”, is an all-vegan cafè in the day and a wine bar in the evening. Papegøye means “parrot” in Norwegian, a bird that can “speak many languages and gather all sorts of colours” and it will best represent the customers and shop, according to the owners. Hence the name change. Seating area Located at the heart of Tøyen, the café features a rustic interior design on the verge of urban ruin, with a large naked brick wall running behind the service counter, vintage furniture and green plants. Thanks to the high-ceiling and carefully matched Ikea lamps, the space feels airy and bright. ...

Hakone (箱根) region in Japan, thanks to its abundant geothermal resources, is usually associated with Onsen (温泉), the traditional Japanese style hot spring baths. In Oslo, however, people name their coffee shops after it. The reason, said Camilla Inanda Svanberg, one of the café’s founders, is to evoke fond memories people attach to the healing effects of such places and, in this way, remind them that “to buy coffee is to buy well-being”, according to her interviews with Norwegian media. ...