Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 02/07/2026 23:44:00

Scandinavia's longest bar counter runs through a foundry basement beside the Akerselva. Smelteverket - the Smelter - occupies the underfloor of Mathallen at Vulkan 5, Oslo's original indoor food hall built into a former iron foundry between Grunerlokka and St. Hanshaugen, with entrances from the river bridge on one side and down the stairs from the hall itself on the other. Big industrial windows face the water, and the narrow room stretches along that record-setting counter. The formula is gastropub-meets-culture-cellar: a deep beer selection with well-kept standards alongside rotating craft lines, cocktails and wine, and a programme that fills the calendar nearly every open day - music bingo, pub quizzes, live concerts, stand-up, paint-and-sip nights and club evenings that run late on weekends. The food arrangement is the clever twist: rather than run its own kitchen, Smelteverket encourages guests to order from Mathallen's thirty-odd vendors upstairs - by QR code from the table or a quick stair climb - and carry anything from Neapolitan pizza to seafood plates down to the bar. Hours run Tuesday to Thursday 15:00 to midnight and Fridays and Saturdays 15:00 to 03:30, closed Sunday and Monday, with the weekly programme changing constantly - the website and social feeds are the reliable guide. The Vulkan quarter supplies the rest of the evening: Mathallen's eateries above, the climbing hall and concert venues of the old industrial site around, and Grunerlokka's bar mile a five-minute walk up the river path. The Vulkan district rewards arriving early: the former foundry grounds between the river and Maridalsveien were redeveloped as one of Oslo's first energy-positive quarters, Mathallen's 2012 opening made it the city's food destination, and the riverside path along the Akerselva - waterfalls, listed factory buildings, street art - delivers walkers straight to Smelteverket's bridge entrance. On concert nights the long counter doubles as the best seat in the room.