After our massive fail at Trancher we were still on a mission to find the best steak in Oslo. Grilled, chargrilled that is. As my mother in law in in town, we organised a date night with hubby and he made a booking at St Lars. And so far I can confidently say I found the best steak in Oslo, and probably the best ever in my life! I know, bold statement, right?

Decor at St Lars

Very cosy. Dark with lots of candles, wooden panels, black ceiling, it feels very cosy especially on a cold winter night. It was busy but not too loud so still good for a date night, we could have a nice chat. In fact there were many couples there. The place is not big enough for big parties.

We were quite surprise we couldn’t get a table between 17.30 and 20.30 so we went for 20.30 when hubby called the day before.

My seat was a bit in the way soit wasn’t ideal but that wasn’t the important story there.

The food at Lars

We went directly for the grilled Cote de Boeuf to share and it was just amazing. The secret to tender juicy rare meat on the inside and chargrilled smokey flamey crust on the outside is to grill the piece of beef at 875 to 900 degrees with salt on the meat that caramelises and forms that crust.

It was the best steak I recall ever eating in my whole life, both from a taste and texture perspective. It is served with a delicious homemade bearnaise sauce, bordelaise sauce (onions and red wine, closer to a BBQ sauce), sweet potatoes fries and a simple salad with homemade dressing. It was maybe a little bit too salty but the dressing was not creamy, just a no frill vinegar, oil, salt and pepper one.

The place is pretty dark so apologies for the picture,I had to use the flash and it doesn’t look as good as when it’s bathed in natural light.

Bill and service

The Cote de Boeuf to share is 475 Kr per person.

One waiter didn’t understand I wanted an expresso coffee because when I asked for a caffeine free on he said he didn’t have it. So when we asked again he said it would be on the house but it ended it up being on the bill 🙁

On the other side, the other waiters were cool. Of course they spoke great English, gave those great details about how they grill the meat and have a very Viking like silhouette: tall, strong with a beanie and a beard, very confident. Don’t you like it when you order and they say “excellent choice!”

We will definitely go back. We have to try their signature grilled lamb, served with burning rosemary leafs on a wooden tray. Yum!

If I didn’t hear people saying that Grilleriet is even better than St Lars, I would stop my search for the best steak in Oslo there!