Rest – a Unique Restaurant in Norway

 

In Oslo, Norway, there’s a very unique restaurant called Rest. The name might make you think you can expect comfortable seating and slow service, but the reality is, the restaurant actually focuses on foods that are typically not eaten – whether it’s thought as unpleasant, unpretty, or expired. This is a super unique restaurant that focuses on minimizing waste and being creative, without compromising taste. Rest is a Michelin restaurant with a green star as of 2024. Rest has a set tasting menu every night. Chef Jimmy Øien also has received a Young Chef star from Michelin.

Like most Michelin restaurants, the entrance to Rest was pretty hidden. You won’t find it if you didn’t look very closely. The door to Rest felt mystical, like you are going to step into something very special – and they are right.

Entrance to Rest

Since our flight was heavily delayed, we didn’t get a chance to go by the hotel before coming to Rest, so we had all of our luggage with us. The restaurant was apparently no stranger to this – they had a storage room for suitcases so it worked out quite well. They took our coats and we were quickly situated and met up with our friends.

We were given some wine pairing choices and water and champagne options. We turned them down because the dinner itself was pricy enough. We were then given a very conceptual menu, and the team explained to us what they mean by “rest”, essentially, things that are leftover from what people typically would eat. Hmm…

Course 1: Fake News

Fake News

This was called Fake News, clearly making fun of a famous politician from America. It’s called Fake News because even though it looks like caviar, it’s actually made of mussels, garum, caviar waste, and squid ink. It tasted amazing, and honestly, it tasted very much like caviar. Note: we had a table of 4, so there were 4 pieces. Each person got 1 piece.

Course 2: From Sargasso

From Sargasso

I don’t have any notes on this but I think From Sargasso means it’s from the Sargasso Sea. It was delicious as well.

Course 3: Royal Tail

Royal Tail

I can’t tell you anything about this course either other than it was delicious.

Course 4: Tench

Tench

Tench is a fish that is usually not eaten because the amount of bones in the fish. Tench is abundant in the waters around Norway so to incorporate this fish into the menu was awesome. There was no bones in our tench and it tasted really good.

Course 5: Puff

Puff

Puff is one of the few dishes that has been at the restaurant since its grand opening in 2018. It’s more than just a course – it’s a show in itself. Puff uses old pita, hangar steak, cornichons, capers, sardines, crown dill (which is the flowers of a fully grown dill, not the part of dill generally used) and smoke. The steak was held up by pieces of old pita, then the sauce was spooned over the steak. As the spoon touches the steak, the server taps the steak which releases the smoke that was somehow hidden inside the layers of old pita. The hangar steak is served carpaccio style – very rare, the way I love. The released smoke gives the steak a smoky flavor. This was perhaps my favorite dish.

Course 6: Meringue

Meringue

Looks like a piece of meringue, sitting on top of a rock. Tasted a bit like it too. But it was actually made with Halibut, Pistachio Cream, Tomato Seed, and Parmesan Edge. Yeah, literally the rind of parmesan that’s usually thrown out because it’s too tough to chew. They somehow made this super soft.

Course 7: Pike-Perch

Pike-Perch

I was happy to see another fish dish. I love fish. This was made with Leek tops, Fermented Green Chiles, Turnips, Parsley Stems. Delicious.

Course 8: Mushroom

Mushroom

I love how this looked and I think it was trying to taste like escargot, which is one of my favorite things, but honestly it just tasted like mushrooms to me. I love mushrooms, don’t get me wrong, but although it looked really cool, this was my least favorite course of the night.

Course 9: Skate

Skate

Another fish dish. Yes!! Skate is an edible fish but not many people eat them. This was made with winged kelp, kale, and pea miso. It also came with a delicious broth that was made tableside.

Mushroom broth

This mushroom broth was made with fermented chanterelles and trumpet mushrooms. It was poured over the fish and gave it an earthy, smoky flavor.

Course 10: Killing Me Softly

Killing Me Softly

Killing Me Softly was made with baby goat, and apple juice, served with some cabbage Mille Feuille. Mille Feuille is a French pastry dish, but cabbage Mille Feuille is actually a Japanese dish that turns cabbage into beautiful layers. This course was called Killing Me Softly because in Norwegian, the word for Baby Goat sounds like the word for Killing. I like the clever title.

Course 11: French Kiss

French Kiss

I would have thought French Kiss was a dessert, but it’s not. French Kiss was made with Cured Ox Tongue. The skewer tasted a little gamy and too salty for me, but still delicious.

Course 12: Off Season

Off Season

What a beautiful dessert. Off Season was made with Elderflower, Rhubarb, Almond Cake, Cream, Caramel. It was made with things that were, well, off season. This was very good too.

Course 13: Cherry

Cherry

These beautiful looking cherries are really not cherries at all. They are made with Crystal Sugar, Dark Chocolate Ganache, and Cherry Compote. They pop in your mouth due to the liquid inside, so it was fun and delicious. This was one of my favorite courses of the night.

Course 14: Blackcurrant Shoots

Blackcurrant Shoots

Blackcurrant Shoots made with sour cream ice cream and seeds.

Course 15-19: Pate de Fruits, Brown Banana, Black Garlic, Chicken Smash

Courses 15-19

Pate de Fruits and Brown Banana are on the glass plate on the bottom right. Pate de Fruits was made with pear and herbs. Brown Banana was made with caramel and dark chocolate (expired dark chocolate), and bananas that were going brown.

The Black Garlic was made into a pie – how daring and inventive.

The Chicken Smash was a piece of crispy chicken skin dipped in chocolate. Wow. I was really hoping some of my tablemates wouldn’t even want to try that so I could have theirs, but no luck.

Conclusion

Rest has a strict zero waste philosophy that made eating creative, fun, and environmentally friendly. Although I wondered how they found their ingredients – the ones that were expired or near expired. Did they buy chocolate and wait till they were expired to use it? It’s OK with me. I’m never bothered by the expiration date, and it’s certainly a good conversation topic and teaches us to think outside the box. I’m really beyond impressed with Rest – the chefs and servers were all very young but very accomplished. The menu changes often, which I imagine is hard to do. It’s uniqueness makes it a not-to-miss spot when you visit Oslo. Rest is 1950 Kroners per person, and the wine pairing is 1750 Kroners per person.