Valkyrien

About this place

Valkyrien restaurant at Valkyriegata 15 in the Majorstuen neighbourhood opened on 3 July 1928 under the name Valkyrjen Restaurant. That is approaching a full century of continuous operation, and a great deal has remained deliberately unchanged in the time since. Locally it is known as «Valka» or «Valken» — the names used by people who actually go there. The more formal «Valkyrien på Majorstuen» is what people who have never been tend to say. The interior is a textbook brown café: heavy dark furniture, booth seating and sofas, plain wooden tables, original wall lamps, and a street-facing façade with covered windows that gives no preview of what is inside. The walls hold drawings and notices that repay some attention — there is a good deal of local history displayed there. A fire on 5 April 1972 came close to ending the story, but the premises were restored in their original style and reopened. That decision was itself a statement about what the place was considered worth. Valkyrien is best known internationally as a filming location for the Elling films — the beloved Norwegian film series in which the protagonist eats his traditional meal of flesk og duppe here. More than two decades after the films were made, tourists still arrive daily asking about that table. The restaurant also lent its name to the Norwegian folk music group Valkyrien Allstars, who took the venue's name as their own when they debuted in 2007 with a platinum-certified album. These cultural connections were not manufactured; they accumulated organically. The kitchen is operated by Chinatown Majorstua, which occupies the floor above, and the food is carried down an internal staircase to the bar below. The arrangement produces a menu considerably broader than the surroundings might suggest, including dishes that regularly surprise first-time visitors alongside the traditional Norwegian options. Beer is served at reasonable prices and the whisky selection is better than one might expect. Staff occasionally sit at the piano and play; once a week a band performs traditional music. The regulars — who tend toward the older end of the age spectrum — are vocal presences, debating at length from their established spots. Valkyrien is described consistently as one of the last surviving original brown pubs on Oslo's west side, placed alongside Schrøder and Dovrehallen as touchstones of the form. Valkyrie plass and the Majorstuen intersection are immediately outside, tram connections run along Bogstadveien, and Chateau Neuf and the Oslo Transport Museum are within walking distance.

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