Welcome to the first posting on the Prague vs. Dresden Musical City Competition!

Our trip begins in Oslo. We had a day-long layover on our Norwegian Air flight (the airlines was voted the best in 2014) here, so I made reservations at Nodee Asian Cooking in advance. Fascinated by the Chinese diaspora, Gee Kin and I always like to visit Asian restaurants when we are in Europe. I decided that trying a reputable sushi establishment with emphasis on fresh fish in Scandinavia would be a good alternative to heavy meat-based Nordic food. Another couple we met on a similar escape from the airport were searching for good moose and reindeer.

We weren’t able to get reservations the last time we were in Copenhagen to Noma, deemed the world’s best restaurant. I researched comments on Eater.com, a website for foodies. I settled on Nodee based on fairly good evaluations and the fact that it was open for lunch. Although not intended to match the standard and quality of Noma, we weren’t disappointed. After a healthy 20 minute walk to whet our appetites, we found the restaurant adjacent to Frogner, a city park.

Painted in soothing mute colors with a Zen influence, the restaurant served attentively prepared and beautifully presented sushi. We chose a mixed plate of sashimi and nori sushi, and tempura-wrapped maki that you see in the photos. We easily whittled away our jet lag and time away from the din of the airport.

The restaurant staff was speaking both Cantonese in Mandarin in the background. Our waiter was a native Norwegian Chinese, whose parents immigrated to Oslo from Shanghai. It’s always intriguing to encounter Chinese in these far-flung places, and to find out what motivated them to live there. Despite their being amusing to us, we realize that we are novelties as well. Our accents and mannerisms are quickly detected as being different from native Chinese or the locals.

Going to Nodee was a great respite from the bustle of the city. We got a glimpse of the city and daily life in Oslo, and made good use of our down time while waiting for our connection to Prague. We were able to create a destination event to entertain ourselves and enjoy a decent meal without breaking the bank! You can see the menu and more at http://www.nodee.no.