Updated April 2008: This was one of my favorite sushi places in Oslo. I thought it to be one of the best places to eat downtown, but have to say that my latest experiences have not been that good. Usually their ponzu apetizer is really good, and the amount of different types of fish are one of the best in town.
Here you can also sit at the sushi bar, looking at the sushi chef doing his thing. The Chinese sushi chef has years of experience serving Japanese people in Hong Kong, so if you get to have him serve you, then you are in for at treat. But the rest of the crew… I have to say - the past year - I think they have lost it.
What happened to this place I think I can guess - new owners. It is a completely different feel going there now, and their waiters approach to service sucks. Last time we were there, both the food and the service was really bad, and I still don’t know if I will go back. Too bad.
Summary:
This used to be a great sushi place, but I am not so sure if I recommend it anymore. They need to get their act together.
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| Presentation: |   |
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| Price level: | A bit expensive |
| Times visited: | 7 |
General information:
Street adress: Tordenskioldsgate 8
Opening hours:
Phone number: +47 22 41 41 07
http://www.nipponart.no/
How did you like Nippon Art - Sentrum, Oslo
6 Responses to “Nippon Art - Sentrum, Oslo”
- 1 Pingback on Apr 19th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Hi!
I visited Nippon Art as a recommendation from this website. I was not disappointed. It’s probably one of the best places I visited in Europe (topped only by Ginger in Zürich… maybe). Some of the delicacies served there made it to The Sushi Eating HOWTO and its photo companion (see link to my name, above). So let’s go over a quick review:
THE GOOD
Very original restaurant. The food presentation is very chic, the quality of the fish is superb, and Gie, the Thai itamae, is a very friendly and creative guy. The sushi preparation was good, and the meal was about the price I’d expect to pay. The available seafood at the bar had a wide range, from oki gai to kujira (whale), including some thing I’d never heard of before like “swallow fish”. The Norwegian seafood was particularly tasty, including crab, salmon (of course!) and whale. I’d certainly recommend this place to anyone living in, or visiting, the wonderful city of Oslo.
THE BAD
Just a few things, probably a result of adaptation to local taste. The rice was quite sweet, very noticeable. It needed more kombu and rice vinegar, and a lot less sugar. The unagi was deep fried in a light tempura batter instead of baked, and the house sashimi also included some tempura asparagus. While these were quite tasty, it’s probably not a good idea to serve them in sashimi or nigiri (i.e. early in the meal) since the oil on them will numb the palate a bit. Last, the sashimi had a (lingon?) berry + ponzu sauce that, while tasty and exotic to my palate, managed to overpower the morsels on the plate (asparagus, salmon, swallow fish, whale, red snapper, and tuna). I’d suggest a traditional sashimi instead, given the excellent quality of the ingredients, and leave the berry sauce for fishier sashimi (it may play well with saba or aji).
Overall I’ll rate this 8/10, mostly because of the concessions to local taste (the berry-rich sauce, the ultra-sweet rice, the miso-with-everything-else-and-a-spoon soup, etc.). Also, the fish in the bar display was a bit in disarray, subtracting from the overall presentation of the restaurant. On the plus side, I had a chance to interact with Gie the itamae, the lady who owns the place, and the waitresses and it’s clear that all of them work with passion to do a great job. Kudos and see you the next time I’m in Oslo!
Cheers,
Eugene
Eugene! Thank you so much for your review!! And I am terribly sorry that we did not meet up. It was all my fault. Your mail is (still) tagged with “must reply” but I completely forgot. It would have been wonderful to have gone to Nippon Art with such an sushi expert! Or just said hi! Please don’t give up on me. We are usually social people… Really.
Dynamite blog post pertaining to Nippon Art - Sentrum, Oslo at Sushi or Death! I enjoy your write ups!
I have worked there for 2 months. I have a background experience of 11 years as well as working with morimoto in NYC .. and many other places. If your looking for traditional, this is not the place. As mentioned before it is SUPER sweet.. that ponzu berry sauce contains a chicken stock bullion. By EU laws they have to freeze all fish for at least 36 hours which they don’t. Salmon is particular dangerous and susceptible to salmonella and other parasites since they are fresh water fish at one part of their lives. NO it is not safe to eat when you are pregnant if the sushi head chef doesn’t know how to keep fish safe, which i hear the servers say otherwise. The rice is kept outside overnight in white containers behind the table for tomorrow’s use. Sometimes they even make an extra night batch to use for next morning. Can anybody say botulism, a fatal disease?? They try to pass off scrap pieces as sushi… Take the pieces off your nigiri sushi and you will find them all in different shapes and sizes. If you watch closely they never wash their hands with soap as well as they touch everything… including raw shrimp… and the rag is used over and over. You will not always get what you order since the amount on the menu doesn’t equate the amount in the case. If you order the rarer whitefish you will find them substitute and try to pass over for that fish. As well as the nippon roll, spicy TUNA, cucumber, and scampi??? its usually made with laks.. or salmon to save cost. The chinese itmae quit. Almost all japanese chefs who worked quit due to the CEO or EXEC. chef. who doesn’t know cr@p about sushi and just puts things on balls of rice. He even tried to put raw ostrich (poultry) on rice. Nobody has worked there more than a year. I took pictures of all the cross contamination.. cutting all on one board … and sent them to the health department. I was hired and argued with the boss, atalla all the time about certain things as well as sanitation, I then got fed up and quit, for i won’t at any cost have a guest of mine getting sick off my food. It is not if your going to get sick, its when you are going to get sick.
t.
The owners are still the same, and probably the root of the problem. Ever since he got good reviews as well as the title with the most selection. Its gone to his head. Having the most quantity, almost never insures the best quality.