Fuglen, Oslo Sentrum, Norway

https://fuglen.no/
Universitetsgata 2, 0164 Oslo, Norway

A gloriously weird coffee roaster-come-cocktail bar, Fuglen is decked out like a 1960s bar in an airport lounge. Raffia-clad walls with ceramic flying ducks and bizarre knick-knacks play host to undoubtedly Scandinavian-designed furniture, such as single-piece wooden tables and dark leather chairs with sharp hardwood angles from the arms and legs. It gives me a sense of items I’d definitely seen at my nan’s house or, latterly, the first home I can remember living in with my parents. The kitsch-cool vibe sort of embodies how much of Oslo feels in its effortlessly cool style that would be slightly out of place anywhere else but just seems right here.

I grab a floral, yet crisp oat latte that tingles on the tongue and leaves me wanting more, so much so that this becomes a regular haunt for me throughout the rest of the week. It’s not just this that stands out though and, when the clamminess of my room becomes too much one evening, I turn to Fuglen in its bar form as somewhere to sit and write for a while. Not being a drinker though, I’m intrigued by their Espresso tonic slush; a slush puppy for grown-ups that zings a little in the warm evening and gladly has me sitting out on the street, sipping for quite some time.