Ethnic food shops in Oslo

I don’t usually write post in english, but when I do, it’s for a good cause – I thought it would be more useful for those who reside in Oslo and have the need to get some idea where to look for exotic groceries. Since I came to Oslo 5 months ago I have been actively exploring ethnic shops (known as intermat butikken / international food stores) and I am enjoying it a lot. Every single borough has at least one of them, and I believe that I have visited cca 20 of them until today. I rarely browse clothing / accessories stores – my wallet’s Achilles tendons are the food shops that offer groceries I never saw and / or tasted before. Here are the most famous and the best ones.

Scanasia shop | On the corner of Storgata and Youngs gate 1

Located in the city centre, one bus stop from Jernbanetorget station, Scanasia shop is a perfect example of southern-eastern asian shop with pretty much rich assortment of products. Most of it is food – spices, noodles of all sorts, some veggies, and specific Thai/Viet/Korea/Japan sauces and pickled stuff. It is clean and neat and I love browsing the shelves there, especially after a hard day at work, when the only thing on my mind is the unstoppable urge to spend a ridiculous amount of monies on some unusual grocery, and make something with it when I come home.

Scanasia is the only one in Oslo which offers powdered gochugaru and at a surprisingly affordable price (500 g costs 60 kr). Also, they offer some ramyuns from Shin / Samyang / Paldo / Neoguri pandemonium aka THE BEST RAMYUNS EVER, and you can expect to pay cca 50 kr for a pack of five. Not bad at all.

Asia Supermarket | Trondheimsveien 43, Grünerløkka

This shop is quite large, with unusual amount of empty space between and on shelves. Shop’s offer is based on Thai/Viet/Korea/Japan food and raw material, similar to Scanasia. Still, the whole assortment is larger and with some thingies which are totally unknown to me (this doesn’t happen often). Employees are incredibly nice and willing to help, although they cannot speak any english whatsoever.

Grønlandtorg frukt & grønt | near entrance to T-bane stasjon Grønland

When I enter this shop all I see is a huge mess, which is literally every time. Waaaaaaay too many people squeezed among the shelves who (hyper)actively contribute to the chaos which rules in this place. So I usually rush in, pick up the stuff I need and GTFO AFAIC. This one is the largest among the mentioned shops.

Also, offers the biggest choice of flatbreads of many sorts. I actually started to eat pita breads lately, and their ones are the best ones. It is kinda OMW from my work, so I gladly stop here to pick up thingies and whatnots.

Istanbul | near Hauketostasjon, Hauketoveien 8

Besides rich fruits & veggies department this place offers products much alike Grønland shop, also, fresh meat according to halal parameters. Istanbul is smaller and pretty much away from the city centre, on the southern side.

Lambertseter Torg Frukt Og Grønt | near Lamberseter T-bane stasjon and bus station, Langbølgen 15

This is the first one I have visited and also the smallest. It is peaceful, filled with many interesting groceries and the employees are very nice. Good choice if you need some exotic groceries ad hoc and you don’t want to spend 45 min for a ride to city centre, especially if you need a spice you cannot find in regular stores.

Oslo Bazaar | near T-bane siste stasjon Mortensrud, Helga Vaneksvei 1 J

One of my absolute favorites. Bazaar offers a huge list of varieties of vegetables and fruits, as well different seeds, spices, oils etc. It is located inside the shopping center Senter syd near Mortensrud T-bane station.

Although it is never empty and shoppers mingle and move through the shop, it is peaceful – quite the opposite of Grønlandtorg frukt & grønt. Also, it is very clean and neat, and I literally can (and I do) spend a lot of time exploring the stuff on the shelves. Extra thumb up goes to the person who keeps the veggies tidy and always so beautiful and fresh. Here you can find tamarillo, okra, dragon fruit, passion fruit, many unknown species of tiny fresh asian mushrooms, and many more – and all of them in perfect condition.