Thon Hotel Oslo Panorama (Oslo, NORWAY)

Thon Hotel Panorama is centrally located in a peaceful and quiet part of central Oslo. It appeared to be a pretty decent choice due to its proximity to a number of main attractions in Oslo including the Opera House and Cathedral.



Speaking of quiet, we didn't really run into too many hotel guests during our stay other than the breakfast session.

Some of the Tripadvisor reviewers raved about the spacious living room and the fact that most of the rooms came with a balcony but none of these really scored any additional points for us.

For me, comfort is paramount when it comes to choosing a hotel. The level of comfort can make or break my overall experience. Having said that, I thought that the bed, mattress and pillows were all slightly below average quality.

The bathroom was actually not bad. It was small but more than functional.

We decided that we wanted more exercise so we thought about running up and down these stairs after breakfast......just kidding!

Speaking of breakfast, the one offered here was by far the worst from this Northern Europe trip of ours. Other than a few cold cuts, there weren't many items that were worth a look. And to make it worse, the staff did a terrible job refilling the plates. That was awful.

We didn't have a lot of good things to say about Thon Hotel Oslo Panorama other than that it's in a great location and it's quiet and peaceful. That's about all I would remember about this place.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: $$$

Address: Rådhusgata 7B, 0151 Oslo, Norway

Closest Subway Station: Jernbanetorget

Tel: +47 23 310800

Website: www.thonhotels.no/hoteller/norge/oslo/thon-hotel-panorama

Njuta Café & Lounge (Örebro, SWEDEN) ★☆☆☆☆

After spending three amazing days in Stockholm, we're on the move again, this time to Oslo Norway. We decided to stop by Örebro for a quick lunch and check out this small town which was once famous for its shoemaking business.



At 3PM, there weren't a lot of places open for lunch anymore so we were quite relieved to find Njuta Café & Lounge still open at this hour.



Rice with chicken, carrot, tomato, peppers and some rocket leaves.



A baked white fish which I thought was cod along with some young potatoes served in a cream sauce.



Of course, we're not leaving Örebro without visiting their famous medieval castle. This is a really impressive architecture which has been around for over 700 years. 



There're a lot of beautiful buildings surrounding River Svartån but my personal favorite is this headquarter of a local newspaper called Nerikes Allehanda. I was told it used to be a government building a while ago.






Food Rating: 3/10
Price: €€
Address: Kungsgatan 4, 702 11 Örebro, Sweden
Tel: +46 019-10 1900

Mathias Dahlgren (Stockholm, SWEDEN) ★★★★★

Housed in the 19th century Grand Hotel Stockholm, Mathias Dahlgren is one of the top restaurants in Stockholm if not the best in the city. Chef-owner Mathias Dahlgren, the winner of the culinary championship Bocuse d'Or in 1997, prides himself on using the finest ingredients to create a seasonal menu that is natural and modern.

There are two restaurants under the same roof here at Mathias Dahlgren - a more elegant fine dining room at Matsalen (Dining room, 2-star) and its casual sister Matbaren (Food Bar, 1-star). Unfortunately, Matsalen was closed for holidays during our stay so we had to settle for Matbaren instead.



I love the extensive use of wood in the dining area, evoking a great sense of comfort. Some of the seats have the perfect view of the open kitchen in which chefs could be seen working hard behind the scene.



Designer furniture can be seen anywhere in the city. So why would we be surprised to see a few here at the corner of a cozy restaurant?



Our server told us a typical meal here consisted of 3-4 dishes and if we were still not full, perhaps a dessert.

What a great way to start our meal with this lovely fried Italian sepia. Slices of sepia, or squid was slightly fried before serving with garlic, parsley and lemon. I love the texture there!



Just when I thought no other starter could top the previous dish, the talented kitchen managed to prove me wrong. Meet my cocotte of Bohuslän ling with 63 degree egg, horseradish hollandaise and dill.

We were told that ling fish is the distant cousin of cod fish and it has such a unique flavor. That was again an excellent dish.



For main course, I had the Beef Dahlgren which came highly recommended by our server.
I thought the fillets of beef were incredibly tender and flavorful with the egg 63 degree and truffle gravy providing a great finishing touch.



Perhaps the least impressive dish of the night belonged to this fried canette from Bretagne that was served with a cold soba noodles, ginger, soy sauce and scallions. A little too chewy for our liking.

 

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: €€€€

Address: Södra Blasieholmshamnen 6, 111 48 Stockholm, Sweden
Closest Metro Station: Kungsträdgården T-bana
Tel: +46 8 679-3584
Website: mdghs.com
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 25th (2010)