Oslo, since December 2010 — three Michelin stars
Mother earth, one menu
The name is Finnish for mother earth. There is one menu, it is a surprise, and it follows the Norwegian season: every ingredient is organic, biodynamic or wild, and the kitchen works as close to zero waste as it can, sending what is left back to its farms.
Norway, month by month
Pick a season to see what the country gives
Typical produce
The restaurant
A kitchen that answers to the country
Maaemo opened in December 2010 and moved to Bjørvika, beside the Opera House, in 2021. Chef and co-owner Esben Holmboe Bang was born in Denmark and has spent his cooking life in Oslo; in 2012 the restaurant entered the MICHELIN Guide with two stars, and in 2016 it became the first in Norway to hold three.
The evening begins with a drink in the lounge and continues in a high-ceilinged room where the open kitchen is lit like a stage. Guides describe a surprise seasonal menu rather than a card to choose from — you sit down and the season decides.
As described in the press
Three dishes critics have written about
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MICHELIN Guide
Langoustine, hazelnut, garlic
Honey-glazed and grilled over embers, served with hazelnuts and roasted garlic — one of the dishes the guide singles out.
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MICHELIN Guide
Dry-aged reindeer, blackcurrant
Aged in-house and finished with blackcurrant and verbena; coffee and petits fours follow in the lounge downstairs.
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Frommer’s
Reindeer heart, pine-glazed langoustine
Two courses guides have reported from past seasons. The menu is never published in advance — it changes with what the farms and the coast send.
The chef, quoted in the press
His focus is on “the relationship between the raw nature, produce and our cultural history”.
Esben Holmboe Bang — head chef & co-owner, via The World’s 50 Best
Press & guests
What has been written
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Three stars
“Time seems to stand still when you dine at this truly exceptional restaurant.”
The guide also awards a Green Star for the kitchen’s work on sourcing and waste.
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100 points
Norway’s first three-star kitchen — and the first to win the stars back.
Falstaff notes the third star in 2016 and its return after the 2021 move to Bjørvika.
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Traveller reviews
Ranked 19th of more than two thousand restaurants in Oslo.
Guests describe an evening that walks through Norway’s seasons, with cooks explaining each course.
Tables go months in advance
Guides advise booking well ahead and note that larger parties often find dates sooner than couples. Open Tuesday to Saturday.