By: Chris ⎜ Last updated
Mathallen is Oslo's original indoor food hall, built inside a former iron foundry on the banks of the Akerselva river in the Vulkan district. It opened in 2012 and has around 30 vendors selling everything from French cheese to Norwegian game meat to craft beer to great specialty coffee.
Half the place consists of vendors selling foodstuffs you cannot get in the local supermarket, the other half is restaurants, and many of the places do both. If you're in a group, grab a table at Torget (the central seating area), scan the QR code, and order from multiple stalls at once without having to queue. It's the best option in Oslo when one person wants fish soup and the other wants a duck sandwich. No other food court have the same consistent quality, especially if you go for one of our recommendations below.
Not everything here is worth the money, though. Some stalls are excellent, while a few are simply coasting on foot traffic.
Getting there
The best way to get here is on foot along the Akerselva river. From the city centre it's about a 15-minute walk north. You walk up Torggata, cross the Eventyrbrua bridge (the one with statues) and from here walk upstream. The path itself is half the appeal: river banks, old brick buildings and street art.
More on the walk in our guide to Grünerløkka
Trams 11 and 12 stop at Schous plass, a short walk up the river to Vulkan.
When to go
Mathallen is closed on Mondays. Tuesday through Saturday it's open from 10:00 to 20:00, and on Sundays from 11:00 to 18:00. Individual stalls manage their own hours within those windows, and some close their kitchens earlier, especially on quieter weekdays.
Weekday lunchtimes are the quietest. You'll have your pick of tables and shorter waits at every counter. On the other hand, Fridays after 16:00 are a different scene, with a DJ at the central Torget area and the after-work crowd filling the hall, which is good energy if you're in the mood for it. In summer, there's outdoor seating along Vulkangata. Vulkanfisk has its own outdoor seating area on the south side. On a warm day, grab food to go and eat outside.
Where to eat
Galopin
Best value in Mathallen: The duck confit sandwich at Galopin
The duck confit sandwich at Galopin is perhaps the single best thing to eat in Mathallen, and it's reasonably priced, the best value item in Mathallen. It's a baguette stuffed with a ridiculous amount of shredded duck, mustard, and rocket. Make sure you grab some napkins because this is not a clean meal. The bread is crispy, the meat is rich and savoury, and the portion is big enough for most people.
The raclette sandwich is another strong option, containing cured ham, pickles, onions, and melted cheese on a massive baguette. If you're splitting one item between two people, go for both this and the duck sandwich.
Galopin is also a proper cheese shop, which is worth browsing even if you decide to eat elsewhere. More on that in the take-home section below.
Barramon
This is best as a wine-and-snack stop, not a place to eat a full dinner. The pintxos are well-made, the caramelised chèvre is the standout. A glass of red and two or three pintxos is a good way to start an evening at Mathallen before moving on to something more substantial elsewhere. It gets expensive quickly if you try to build a full meal out of these small plates.
Stange
Stange: The pulled chicken burger is the thing to get here
Stange (run by the poultry farm of the same name) has a hot food counter alongside the raw chicken, and their pulled chicken sandwich is one of the better value items in the hall. The chicken is juicy, and the pickled cabbage and onions cut through the richness. They also do a rotisserie chicken plate with potato wedges if you want something more filling.
Vulkanfisk
Vulkanfisk is both a restaurant and fish counter
Vulkanfisk operates as both a fishmonger and a restaurant, which means the restaurant always serves fresh fish. The fish soup is one of the best items on the menu. It's creamy, loaded with chunks of salmon and cod, and served with bread and aioli. It's the most classically Norwegian meal in the building.
The fish and chips is a large portion, fresh and well-battered, with a homemade remoulade. Vulkanfisk gets busy at peak times, especially weekends.
Vulkanfisk is on the expensive side, even by Oslo standards. The quality justifies it for the fish soup and the daily specials, order crab or lobster, and the bill quickly runs north of 1,000 NOK just for the main course.
Helt Vilt
Helt Vilt means "completely wild," and they serve the kind of meat most visitors have never tried before, including moose, reindeer, deer and wild boar. The moose burgers are the most popular items and the main reason to come here. The Tipsy Moose and the Angry Moose (which has some real spice to it) are great.
If you want something more traditional Norwegian, try the finnbiff (reindeer stew) with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries. The restaurant has its own seating area with wood-panelled walls and river views, so it feels more like a separate restaurant than a food hall stall.
Solberg & Hansen
Solberg & Hansen has been roasting coffee since 1879, and their Mathallen concept store is one of the better places to have a coffee in Oslo. It's also a good place to buy beans to take home. They hand-brew their single-origin coffees using Kalita drippers, and the baristas know what they're doing.
Hopyard
Hopyard has a great selection of beer on tap, bottles and cans
Hopyard is a great craft beer bar, tucked into the hall with around 300 beers across rotating taps and bottles. The staff are knowledgeable and will point you toward something good if you don't know where to start. You can bring food from any stall in Mathallen into Hopyard, which makes it the best (and only) place in Mathallen to enjoy a double NEIPA with your meal.
But due to Norwegian alcohol licensing rules you cannot take Hopyard beers out to the communal tables in the main hall. The communal tables belong to Torget, which has its own liquor licence and bar serving beer, wine, and soft drinks. If you want a drink with your meal at the central tables, you need to buy it from Torget, due to the strict Norwegian licensing rules.
Smelteverket
The Smelteverket basement bar
Smelteverket is the bar/live venue in the basement, right on the riverbank. It's technically a separate operation from Mathallen, but connected by stairs from the main hall. Oslo's longest bar counter runs the length of a narrow industrial space with big windows facing the Akerselva.
It's primarily a drinks and events venue. Most evenings there's something on, either pub quizzes, music bingo, live concerts, standup, paint-and-sip nights or club nights. You can buy food from the stalls upstairs and bring it down.
Smelteverket is open Tuesday through Saturday from 15:00, and stays open late on Fridays and Saturdays. It's closed Sundays and Mondays. Check their website or Instagram for the current week's programme before heading down, as the schedule changes constantly.
Vegetarian options
The recommendations above are heavily focused on meat and seafood, which is what Mathallen does best. For vegetarians, Atelier Asian Tapas has rice bowls and banh mi that can be served without meat, and several stalls offer salads, soups, and grain bowls.
What to take home
Galopin's cheese counter has some great cheeses. They stock a good range of French cheeses and the staff will vacuum-pack purchases for travel. The aged Comté, sourced from one of the top producers and aged 18 months, is the flagship product.
Stangeriet sells vacuum-packed poultry products, and several other vendors stock cured meats and charcuterie that travel well if sealed.
Solberg & Hansen beans make a good lightweight souvenir. The beans are usually high quality and they roast frequently, so whatever you buy will be fresh. The baristas will recommend coffees to suit your taste.
The chocolates and macarons at SébastienBruno are well-made and pack easily if you want something sweet and giftable.
The neighbourhood
Mathallen is located at the junction of some of Oslo's best walking routes.
Head east across the bridge and you're on Grünerløkka in 5 minutes, the city's most walkable neighbourhood for independent shops, vintage stores, and good coffee (see our full Grünerløkka guide here).
Head south along the Akerselva, and the riverside path takes you back toward the centre.
Head north along the river for a scenic walk along Akerselva.
A Mathallen lunch and a river walk in either direction can be a good half-day in Oslo.
Guide to Grünerløkka: Oslo's Best Neighbourhood for Food and Coffee
