Cheap lunch in Oslo: how to eat well without paying full price

You get a cheap lunch in Oslo by combining four moves: eat at the right time, choose the venue's set lunch offer, collect stamps on loyalty cards and check deals in the BIMM app before you decide where to go. None of them means settling for lower quality. They are simply about planning a little smarter.

For many people, lunch out is a habit that quickly becomes a big line in the budget. The good news is that plenty of places to eat have their own arrangements in the middle of the day, and they are easy to use once you know what to look for. This guide walks through the advice step by step, so you can start using it today.

Choose your timing with care

Timing shapes both what you pay and how the lunch turns out. Many places have a separate lunch menu that applies during a limited window in the middle of the day, and it is often more affordable than the evening menu even when the dishes are similar. Arrive too late and you may end up ordering from a more expensive menu.

It also pays to avoid the busiest half hour. Go a little before or a little after the rush and you will find a table more easily, get served faster and have time to read the menu properly instead of grabbing the first thing you see.

• Check when the lunch menu starts and ends before you go.
• Go early or late in the lunch window if your working day is flexible.
• Notice whether the venue has its own arrangements on particular weekdays.
• Plan lunch with colleagues on days when you are in the city centre anyway.

Look for set lunch offers

Dish of the day, soup of the day and fixed lunch menus are classics for a reason. The kitchen makes large quantities of one thing, and that usually makes the dish more affordable than putting a meal together yourself from the à la carte menu.

Read what is actually included. A lunch that comes with bread, salad or coffee can be a better buy than a dish that looks cheaper on the board but leaves you paying extra for everything on the side.

Drinks are the item that most often sneaks onto the bill. Asking for tap water is perfectly normal in Oslo, and it is an easy way to keep the total down without making the meal any worse.

Use loyalty cards at the places you visit often

Most people have two or three regular lunch spots. That is exactly where loyalty cards make the most sense: you collect stamps or points every time you buy something, and you get a reward when the card is full. If you eat out several times a week, it adds up noticeably over time.

The trouble with paper cards is that they end up in the pocket of a different jacket. Digital loyalty cards solve that problem, because your phone is always with you. BIMM is an app for deals and loyalty at venues in Oslo, so your cards live in the same place as the offers.

• Pick a few places and stay loyal, rather than spreading your stamps thinly.
• Remember to register your purchase every time, even when you are only picking up a coffee.
• Use the reward on a day when you would have eaten out anyway.

Check deals in the BIMM app before you go

Deals are offers that the venues post themselves. They change, which is why we do not write about individual offers here. What applies today is in the app. Make it a habit to open BIMM before you decide where to eat, not after you have sat down.

1. Open the app and see which venues in Oslo have deals right now.
2. Read the terms: when the deal applies and what it covers.
3. Choose the venue, and follow the instructions in the app when you order.

A deal is also a good excuse to try somewhere you have not been before. That way you expand your list of lunch spots without taking a chance at full price, and you get more places to rotate between during the week.

Small habits that make a big difference

In the end, cheap lunch is more about habits than one-off bargains. A few simple moves let you keep eating out without it cutting into the rest of your budget.

• Decide in advance how many days a week you eat out, and bring a packed lunch on the others.
• Consider takeaway, and eat in a park when the weather allows.
• Share a large dish or a side if the portions are generous.
• Skip dessert and the extra coffee on ordinary weekdays, and save them for days when you want to treat yourself.
• Combine the moves: the right time, the dish of the day and a stamp on your card in one and the same visit.

Try one or two of the tips first. Once they stick, add the next one. After a few weeks the planning takes care of itself, and lunch out becomes something you can look forward to with a clear conscience.