May 14

May 14 Bar Amour – A Michelin star restaurant in Ninas childhood neighbourhood

Bar Amour lives inside Tranen on Alexander Kiellands Plass – a venue we know well from the days of Arnie "Skiffle Joe" Norse, Oslo's most beloved one-man circus, who spent over thirty years here cycling on a unicycle while playing guitar and singing songs your grandmother would have blushed at. There's still a large portrait of him on the wall. We think it should be higher up on the wall.

Arnie “Skiffle Joe” Norse. A local legend.

The restaurant earned its Michelin star in 2024. We found the plaque on the wall of the staircase.

We had been given the best seat in the house – the chef's table. A bar counter facing directly into the kitchen, close enough to feel like you were part of it. Thomas was a bit too eager when our waiter offered us a glass of champagne - saying yes with stars in his eyes way before he even got to introduce the kind of champagne we were being offered. Lovers of life tend to behave like that - eager and without reservations when the finer things are on offer.

Within soon, we learned the names of the culinary rockstars behind the counter. By the end of the evening, it felt like we'd been on the team all along.

The menu opened with snacks. Smoked shrimp with horseradish and klippfish dashi – Japanese technique, Norwegian pantry.

Then came the Sirdal trout.
The brioche was jet black. The top was a glossy deep-red dome. Inside: smoked cauliflower mousse and roe from trout raised in Sirdal. It looked like something from a jewellery box and tasted exactly as good as it looked.

The third snack hid Røros reindeer under what looked like a handful of forest floor – spring herbs, edible flowers, a whisper of truffle. The kitchen's idea of a joke, maybe. A very good one.

Top left: Smoked shrimp, horseradish, klippfish dashi. A small bowl with a lot going on.

Top right: Sirdal trout roe, squid ink brioche, smoked cauliflower mousse. Too pretty to eat. We ate it anyway.

Bottom left: Røros reindeer, spring herbs, truffle. Hidden underneath all that green.

By now it was clear that the Portuguese head chef, Carlos, was running a tight, considered kitchen. Norwegian ingredients, international instincts.

The soundtrack was doing something similar Thomas guessed west coast, but some Shazams later we saw that we where all over the world. The Procussions, Naughty By Nature, Notorious B.I.G., Del the Funky Homosapien, Hilltop Hoods, Chinese Man. Underground hip-hop from four continents, curated with the same quiet confidence as the menu. Someone on the Bar Amour team has strong opinions about music, and we are here for it.

The hamachi course surprised us – there were actually three fish in that bowl. Hamachi, mackerel and cod, all in a dark, deeply savoury broth. We didn't catch everything the server said, but the flavour said more than enough. Delisious, so good that we did not get a decent picture of it. Sorry….

*Turbot marinated in chicken stock. Yes, really. Røros crème fraîche, three sauces. The dish of the evening.*

Then came the turbot, and this was the one. Marinated in chicken stock – a technique that sounds wrong but still taste entirely right.Served with three separate sauces built around concentrated Røros crème fraîche. You only needed a little of each. A little was more than enough. “If I ever have to order a last meal, this would be it!” Nina exclaimed. That is a seal of quality!

*Langoustine from Northern Norway, leek, chawanmushi. Purple flowers included.*

The langoustine came from somewhere up north, nestled in chawanmushi with leek and a small garden of purple flowers.

*Wild boar, salted gooseberry, shellfish broth. Shot near Strømstad. By the chef.*

The wild boar had a story. Carlos had shot it himself, near Strømstad just across the Swedish border.
There aren't many places where the person who hunted your dinner is also the one plating it up ten feet away from you. The result was dark, rich and intense, and the story made it taste even better.

Dessert: Celeriac with goat milk Carlos, Lisa and Ricardo in the background

Desserts moved through koji and blackcurrant wood to celeriac with goat milk. Sour, salty, cold and somehow also comforting. Like rice pudding that had been to finishing school. Ricardo took care of the main dessert course personally.

Petit four. Tasty, elegant and impossible to resist.

The petit fours arrived in a colorful tile – colorful mouthfuls disappearing all to soon. You eat them in one bite and immediately want another.

We left happy. On the way out we attempted to thank Carlos in Portuguese. What came out was "arigato." He laughed and pointed out that obrigado and arigato are, in fact, almost the same word. We'll take it. Arnie “Skiffle Joe” would have approved.