Skatten Oslo

About this place

Skatten Oslo is located at Hagegata 22–24 on Tøyen Torg, right beside the Tøyen metro station, and it comes with a backstory that most bars can only dream of. The building was previously home to the Norwegian Tax Directorate, and many Oslo residents have a personal memory of posting their tax returns through a slot in the wall here in the 1980s and 90s. The name Skatten is a deliberate double meaning: in Norwegian it means both the tax and the treasure, which tells you something about the venue's personality before you even walk through the door. Today, Skatten operates as a café by day and a bar and cultural venue by night. It is commonly described as Tøyen's living room and neighbourhood cultural house, and that description holds up. The programme of events runs throughout the year and includes concerts, festivals, DJ nights, and themed evenings. The activity offer is genuinely broad: there is a pool table, darts, table tennis, board games, quiz nights, dance courses, and tournaments. It is the kind of place where a couple of hours can quietly become an entire evening. During the day, Skatten also functions as a workspace, making it a practical spot for freelancers or anyone who wants to work somewhere with a bit of atmosphere and a decent coffee. The shift from daytime café to evening venue means there is activity here from the first morning coffee on a Saturday through to the early hours of Sunday. Opening hours: closed Monday, Tuesday to Thursday 14:00–midnight, Friday 14:00–03:00, Saturday 11:00–03:00, Sunday 11:00–17:00. The Tøyen metro stop is directly adjacent, making the venue easy to reach from central Oslo and surrounding neighbourhoods. The venue holds a Google rating of 4.2 out of 5. For anyone curious about the less tourist-worn parts of Oslo, Skatten offers an honest and well-rounded evening out in a neighbourhood that rewards the detour.

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