Vippa, Oslo

 We have departed on our mini European tour!

First stop - Oslo

We stayed with Dr Mick who moved to Oslo a few years ago and who is now a seasoned local (seasoned with salt and pepper) and so therefore knows some good places to get some grub.

He took us to Vippa, a food hall which offers many different types of street food in one big shed.   The long tables reminded me of a school canteen, but in a good way, and you had to clear up after yourself too - putting your dirty cutlery and glasses is a designated area for washing and making sure your table was clean.

It was great to see that each food stall had their own arty storefront to showcase their delicious food.  There were many options available, including a bar where we bought some local beer - the name escapes me but it certainly was good.

Thai food, Chinese dumplings, a stall which specialised in any thing chili related, oodles of noodles, pizzas, Ethiopian cuisine, spring rolls, all sorts of Mexican food, ramen, curries...and those are just the ones I can remember!

Predictable as ever, I had a sushi bowl by a stall called Bowls by Trio who, from what I can work out, serve food in bowls.  Simple as that.  It was delicious, but (to us non-locals) expensive, as is everything in Norway.  It's all relative, I'm told.

If I remember correctly, Michael had a curry.  If I don't remember correctly, I have only imagined this because of the frequency with which Michael consumes curries.  He loves a curry, that lad.

I was kindly gifted one of Alan's chips (the smallest one he could find!) that he bought from Duck It, who sell pulled duck burgers and chips, the chips being fried in duck fat.  The burger looked and smelt amazing.  I'll admit to having been a little jealous of him.

Why the duck don't we have a similar place in Aberdeen?  Or anywhere in Scotland?  (Correct me if I'm wrong!)  Someone sort it out!

Sushi on Five, Celebrity Solstice

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean dining options are a bit limited.  I'll admit, by this time in our cruise, we had decided that cruising was not really our cup of tea, which is a shame since you're really meant to absolutely love your honeymoon.  Never mind though.  We tried to find little ways to make it more our our style.  One of these ways was to pay a bit extra to dine at one of the speciality restaurants on board the ship - Sushi on Five - such names as it is located on the fifth deck.

We paid  £25 each for all you can eat sushi.  A bargain if you ask me.  Sushi is my absolute favourite.  I even enjoy it more than steak!

The sushi was delicious and well worth what we paid.  I also tried sake for the first time (Alan says we have both tried it before but I honestly don't think I have).  It was really lovely and our friendly Russian waitress was knowledgeable about it.  Alan doesn't eat raw fish so it was a little difficult for him to find something he was willing to eat but the few dishes he did order were plentiful and we struggled to eat everything we had asked for.  We didn't realise the dishes would be so big and so had ordered quite a lot of different things to try.  As soon as we cleared one plate, another was brought in its place - it was great!

Here I am in my element...

Yo! Sushi

Today we went to a trusty old favourite of ours...Yo! Sushi.  It quickly became a preferred choice for us many years ago, after I convinced Alan to go with me.

I must say, Alan is not a very adventurous eater, especially when it comes to seafood.  Shellfish is a big no no and he only tends to eat fish from a chip shop or in fish fingers.  It took a fair amount of convincing him before we made it inside the door.

We are now seasoned professionals at Yo Sush, as we have started calling it.  We only ever go on a Sunday, when you can have 10 plates each for £20 per person - this deal is called Sunday Munch.  It used to be that you could have as many plates as you could eat for a few more quid - this was called Sumo Sunday - I can only assume it was amended due to people like us eating 'too much'!  We once has 45 plates between us.  We miss it.

One of the many benefits of the sushi conveyor belt is that you can have a wee taste of this and that, without ever being stuck with something you don't particularly like.  If you don't like it, then you just don't choose it again.  The atmosphere inside has changed a little over the past few years.  One of the few things I don't like is the new seating booths near the door as often during busy times, waiting customers are asked to queue up along the glass window inside of the restaurant, making you feel a little bit 'watched' as you are eating.  Nobody likes to feel rushed as they eat and I think it would be much nicer if waiting diners could queue up elsewhere - even along the window on the outside of the restaurant would be better.


So, the concept of the conveyor belt works like this...

In the middle of the restaurant is the kitchen - there are many workers in there at all times, each seems to have their own station.  

The conveyor belt runs around this kitchen, circling the busy members of staff working within.

As plates are prepared, staff members place them onto the conveyor belt and they are then free to be picked up by the hungry customers.  Plates can also be ordered from one of the servers if what you fancy is not available on the belt - servers can be attracted by pressing a button on your table.  Drinks and miso soup are also ordered inn this way.  Water taps are available on the tables as are chopsticks, soy sauce, wasabi, picked ginger and napkins.

Plates are enjoyed and kept in a pile on your table until the bill is asked for.  Each dish has it's own price and this is determined by the colour of the plate on which it has been served, letting the servers tally up what you owe them.  


If you are unsure which each of the dishes are, there is a handy menu available for reference on the table.  It has a description and pictures of all the dishes and shows them on the same colour of plates as they will appear on the belt.

I always make sure to have as much miso soup as I can handle as this is free with the Sunday Munch deal.  I usually at least start and finish with a bowl.

The new menu, which started a month or two ago, is awesome!  There are still many of the favourites on the menu, such as Chicken Katsu Curry, Duck Gyoza, Salmon and Yuzu Salsa Tataki, and Custand Dorayaki.  There are a bunch of delicious new additions to this, some of my favourites being Albacore Tuna and Truffle Nigiri, Dynamite Roll, Teba No Karaage, Hoisin Duck Steamed Bun, and Apple Gyoza and Salted Miso Caramel.

There has only been one new dish of the ones I have tasted so far that was not my cup of tea...Tako Nigiri...which is sliced poached octopus on a bed of rice.  The flavor was fine - didn't taste of much but the octopus was really rubbery and chewy.  I assume this is normal for octopus, however, I have had no previous octopus experience to compare it to.

M favourite dish was the Apple Gyoza and Salted Miso Caramel.  It was hot and oozy.  We both agreed on the deliciousness of this dish.

I do find Yo! Sushi quite expensive given the fact the dishes are teensy tiny, however, it's great for a treat and we always make sure to make the most of the Sunday Munch deal as much as possible.


We will inevitably be back.
We can't stop ourselves.
We've tried.