Oslo: Dinner at Kamai (CLOSED) – The Kaiseki Menu

Update: Kamai is now permanently closed

Saturday evening, we had booked a table for 7 at Kamai. It was the Chef’s Table, but except for the name and the location at a secluded spot right next to the kitchen, there was nothing extraordinary about the seating, and the menu was the same as in the rest of the restaurant.

We all had the Kaiseki menu (with the by-line “The Kamai Experience”), and the others also had the wine menu, but AC and I decided just to order cocktails from the menu along the way.

On Kamai’s website, the food is described as Asian inspired by the world, but if it weren’t for the chopsticks on the side, I’m not sure that I would have been able to tell, because the dishes we had, felt more like Norway-meets-the-world fusions. To me, it was also the primarily Nordic dishes which made most sense, and which seemed to be where Kamai really shines.

The food was really tasty, but the texture and the look of the dishes were very similar, to a point where I started wondering, if the dessert would also have cress and black sesame seeds, which both seemed to be recurring ingredients in most of the dishes. Would have been nice with a little more variation in both flavors and presentation.

Dining out in Norway used to be very expensive, but the weak Norwegian krone has made it much more affordable in recent years, and 730NOK for the 7-course menu we had, felt like a really good deal. There’s also no doubt that Kamai has a lot of potential, and the restaurant is definitely one to watch, if you want to be in touch with what’s going on on the Oslo dining scene.

Here’s what we had:

We started with cocktails in the bar. I had the Avocolada with schochu, sake, chili, lime and avocado. Spicy and creamy at the same time and really tasty. Best cocktail that night.

Kimchi popcorn and almost-popped corn

Smoked halibut with almonds. My favorite dish that evening.

Corn tortilla with crab, chili and rømme (most of the others’ favorite).

Duck with pepper glace and celery. The only dish I didn’t like. The pepper was too overwhelming and didn’t go well with the celery.

Egg63: Pork knuckle, egg and green chili. An amazing dish.

Ceviche with umeboshi dressing

Squid with fried soba noodles and egg. 

Dessert (without cress:)): Ice cream with licorice, caramel, cherries and chocolate. A very nice combination of flavors.

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