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Himkok

Oslo

Boundary-pushing, moonshining, Nordic cocktail playground

From the outside, Himkok is easy to miss and dismiss as just an assuming wooden door in a central Oslo alleyway. But once within, Himkok unfolds and reveals itself to the guest, becoming a labyrinthian playground of bars.

Upstairs, a high-volume draft cocktail spot, in the back there's a terrace serving local ciders and beers and there's even a barbershop if you fancy a trim between rounds. But the heart of Himkok is downstairs in its front bar-slash-distillery. This low-lit drinking lounge with dark leather and mirrored furnishings is where bar manager Maros Dzurus and team produce their boundary-pushing cocktail inventions – quite literally, as the attached micro-distillery feeds homemade aquavit, gin and vodka directly to the back bar.

Menus at Himkok have become collaborative artistic projects and frequently push the constraints of a cocktail list. In the past, the bar has partnered with local Norwegian musicians and fashion designers and for its latest, Designed by Sipping, Himkok has collaborated with an Oslo-based design studio. The list sees each of the 13 cocktails reimagined in tangible design form – ranging from small, functional items and interior objects to sculptural and conceptual art pieces (unsurprising for the bar that took home the Best Bars Design Award in 2024.)

Try Softis, a cocktail based on soft-serve ice cream cones with aquavit and an ice cream made from amaretto, white cacao and fino sherry. It's accompanying design object? A sculptural clock, of course. Or try the bar's signature dry martini twist, Birch – with Himkok Old Tom gin, meadowsweet, birch sap and a blue cheese olive – which has become a modern cocktail icon.

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