Valkyrien Restaurant

Valkyrien Restaurant is a traditional restaurant and pub located at Valkyriegata 15 on Majorstuen in Oslo, Norway, with its entrance facing Kirkeveien. The establishment opened in 1928 as Valkyrjen Restaurant and is commonly known as Valka or Valken. It is one of the few surviving traditional brown cafés on Oslo’s west side, retaining the unpretentious character associated with the city’s older neighbourhood restaurants and drinking establishments.

Valkyrien Restaurant has appeared in Elling (2001) and O’ Horten (2007). In both films, its old-fashioned interior is used as a familiar Oslo neighbourhood restaurant.

In Elling (2001), Valkyrien Restaurant is used for the café where Elling and Kjell Bjarne go out for a meal without their social worker, Frank. They arrive expecting to order flesk og duppe, but become distressed when they cannot find the dish on the menu. After the waitress checks with the kitchen, she returns with the final two portions. The meal represents an important step towards independence for the two men: Elling crosses the restaurant to use a public toilet and later telephones Frank to announce that they are eating at what he calls their regular pub.

In O’ Horten (2007), Valkyrien Restaurant appears as the restaurant regularly visited by the recently retired train driver Odd Horten. During one of his visits, police officers enter and arrest the cook after discovering that he is an undocumented immigrant. The unexpected interruption leaves Odd and the other customers sitting in the restaurant without anyone to prepare their meals.

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