Food & Drink
Find the best non-alcoholic drinks in Oslo
NOLO stands for No and Low, in other words no or low alcohol. And there are a great many good reasons to choose alcohol free. Such as to reduce your calorie intake, if you’re driving or simply don’t want to consume alcohol. Anyone who chooses not to drink alcohol often faces a choice of juice, soda or alcohol-free wine that doesn’t always match alcohol containing wines when it comes to taste and finish in your mouth. In Oslo however, you can now be served adult drinks – with no alcohol. Kontrast, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Oslo, has noticed people are now asking for alcohol free drinks.
“It’s become a trend. More and more guests are asking for them,” says Kontrast Head Bartender Sylvester Balon to Scandinavian Traveler.
At Kontrast, they offer a selection of drinks with or without alcohol to go with your meal.
“We offer drinks based on seasonal Nordic ingredients, tea blends, juices. We are about to launch a lounge where people can enjoy a drink before or after their meal where we’ll also serve mocktails. We will be using sea-buckthorn, strawberries and other Nordic ingredients,” says Balon.
Leske is a company that specializes in alcohol free drinks for adults, and supplies restaurants, bars, stores and events. They also have an online store.
“Becoming more health conscious is a mega trend. This is having an effect on what we eat and drink. There are now exciting products that take alcohol free to the next level and that look to create a complex taste experience. For example, you can now get liquor type drinks such as gin and rum without alcohol, and they taste fantastic,” says Manager Christian Stray-Jansen to Scandinavian Traveler
Leske offers Everleaf for example, an alcohol free choice that is reminiscent of vermouth, according to Jansen.
“Everleaf is a pioneering drink with 18 different ingredients, mainly herbs, roots and bark. A light aperitif that is full of natural complexity, perfect for a spritzer, but that also adds depth and finish to alcohol free cocktails, something that the market has long been waiting for.”
Many of the bars in Oslo that serve alcohol free cocktails use Everleaf in their non alcoholic drinks. Jansen also says that they have started to use tea and fermentation techniques as tools when creating new drinks.
“The manufacturers ferment tea in a similar way to winemakers using the fermentation of grapes to create exciting tastes. Sparkling tea has now become very popular.”
One person who has his finger on the NOLO pulse and spotted this growing trend is restaurateur Jan Vardøen who owns a number of restaurants in Oslo.
“When I opened Bar Boca many years ago, we wanted people who didn’t drink alcohol to have as exciting a choice as people who did,” says Vardøen. “We have excellent alcohol free drinks in all our locations.”
7 Oslo venues with great alcohol free drinks
Alcohol free home from home
Andre til høyre, managed by one of Oslo’s most famous bartenders, Anne Maurseth, has become a pioneer when it comes to serving less alcohol. The bar is styled like a private apartment and serves all the trendiest drinks – with or without alcohol.
Andre til høyre
Youngs gate 19, 0181 Oslo
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Hawaii style
Restaurateur Vardøen’s venues are easy to recognize. They’re all a bit basic and rustic, which is also the case at the Aku-Aku Tiki Bar in Grünerløkka. As the name suggests, the inspiration for this bar is Hawaii. Here, you get sunshine in a glass, with or without alcohol.
Aku-Aku Tiki Bar
Thorvald Meyers gate 32, 0555 Oslo
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Alcohol free with real taste
The bar behind the modest door on Storgata, is considered to be one of the best in the world. The alcoholic drinks are fantastic, as are the alcohol free ones, too, naturally.
Himkok
Storgata 27, 0184 Oslo
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Michelindrinkar
Restaurant Kontrast in Oslo serves superb sustainable food that goes equally well with and without alcohol. You have a choice of a short or long menu at Kontrast, both accompanied by a drinks menu. They also have an alcohol free drinks list at Kontrast. One of the drinks is Strawberry Elderberry Sour made with Everleaf. It is decorated with rose petals.
Restaurant Kontrast
Maridalsveien 15a, 0175 Oslo
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Drinks to tapas
This restaurant, which specializes in high quality Spanish cuisine, used to be on Fredensborgveien. They also serve delicious drinks, including alcohol free. Such as No Cinn, made using the Swedish alcohol free liquor Gnista and cinnamon syrup, according to Leske’s Instagram account.
Bon Lio
Sofienberggata 17, 0558 Oslo
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Brunch mocktails
This delightful restaurant is located right in the heart of Oslo, at the tip of Aker brygge. In addition to delicious, Asian inspired brunch, if the weather’s fine you can also enjoy sunshine and a sea breeze into the bargain. And naturally, you can substitute an alcoholic brunch cocktail with a mocktail.
Ling Ling
Stranden 30, 0250 Oslo
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Hop heaven
The food hall by Akerselva is packed with delicious flavors. You’ll find many kinds of food and drinks here. Naturally, there’s also a dedicated beer bar, that serves 200 to 300 different beers, many alcohol free.
Hopyard
Vulkan 5, 0178 Oslo
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Inga Ragnhild Holst
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