Buffet part 4: Bølgen&Moi

Date of the meal: 20/05/2012
Number of people: 2 adults and 1 child (2 yo)
Order: 2 Sunday Buffet
Total price: 690 NOK (345 nok per adult)
Other restaurants proposing a Sunday buffet: Akropolis and Mikado (Alanyal has unfortunately stopped serving a sunday buffet).

In my review of Bølgen&Moi here, I was explaining how Bølgen&Moi was a good restaurant but with the problem of being a bit slow to serve food. I was also explaining that even though it was a quite formal place to eat in the past, it had become quite informal recently. Well, it seems that the restaurant has decided to rectify both points by offering a Sunday buffet. This means that the food is ready when you arrive (no more waiting time) and the price is probably in order to become again a formal place to eat, which may be a shame, as it was quite practical for families with children to come here after or before a visit to the oil museum.

Today the weather was nice so we got a lovely view of the sea/bridge/harbour from the restaurant.

The buffet includes breads, salads, warm dishes, cheese and desserts. Today there was quite a lot of choice for breads and salads. There was some ham, chorizo, salami and pate (lever) with bacon. The warm dishes were pork with bbq sauce, sausages, meat balls with tomato sauce and bacalao. As a side dish you had boiled potatoes. There were two types of cheese including blue cheese and for desserts, the choice was quite wide, with for example fresh fruits (apple, figs, raspberry, ...), carrot cakes, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate mousses, and a strawberry mousse.

As the buffet will not feature the exact same dish all the time, it would be useless for me to comment on every single dishes. I would simply say that the salads were good and diverse (pasta salad, tomato salad, vegetables only, with some fish, ...).

The main dishes were a bit disappointing: the pork was a bit dry and the bbq sauce was a bit bitter (I actually found it interesting but my wife did not appreciate it). The sausages were nothing particular (not bad either). And the bacalao was quite salty (but that may be the way bacalao is supposed to be). The potatoes were quite good but was the only side dish option.

The cheese and the cakes were good. I particularly liked the chocolate cupcakes which really tasted chocolate (nowadays too many chocolate desserts only taste sugar). The fruits were also good and were giving a little refreshing touch to the meal.

All in all, I think the buffet is quite nice but a bit expensive. The main dishes were a little under the quality of the rest of the buffet but that may change over time (if I understood correctly, they do not intend to serve the same dishes every weeks).

As usual, your comments are welcome. You can share this review or give it a +1 mark, that would keep the team motivated for the future reviews.

XO bar / Vertshuset

Date of the meal: 17/05/2012
Number of people: 3 adults
Order: "Beef Saute", "Selection of trout, catfish and monk fish", "Tenderloin of deer"
Total price: 1056 NOK (about 300 for a la carte main course)

I have already reviewed this restaurant here and explained why I thought it was a good place for people willing to try a typical Norwegian dish (komler).

Today, for the 17th of May (Independance day of Norway), we thought that eating Norwegian food would particularly fit and decided to go there. We were with a Norwegian friend of mine. As the 17th May is a bit chaotic for restaurants, they were only proposing a-la-carte menu.

My friend went for something quite typical Norwegian: "biffsnadder". It is basically small pieces of beef with bearnaise sauce. The meat is generally well-done but you can probably asked less cooked if you prefer. My friend liked it very much and said it was really good. He liked the texture, the composition of the plate and the taste of the meat. The bearnaise sauce was also quite good and was put apart which in my opinion is a good thing, as you can choose how much you want of it.

My wife went for something called "fish symphony" in the menu in Norwegian. The menu in English only says "selection of trout, catfish and monk fish", which is a shame as "fish symphony" was a pretty name. It was a selection of three fish, served with vegetables and potatoes of your choice (gratinated, french fries, ...). My wife liked it but did not think it was exceptional.

As for me, I ordered the tenderloin of deer which was really good. Good quality of meat, well cooked and the sauce was really good too. Also, I don't have the occasion to eat deer that often.

Speaking about prices, this restaurant may be a bit expensive but you have to remember that it is located in city center, that meat of that quality is expensive and that overall Stavanger is an expensive city.

All in all, this was a really good dining experience. For more details about the restaurant, atmosphere, service and so on, please relate to the first post I wrote about this restaurant. You could also visit the website of the restaurant. Don't hesitate to share this page, comment it, facebook-like it, google+1 it, etc...

N.B. Sørensens Dampskibsexpedition, 1st floor

N.B. Sørensens Dampskibsexpedition has been in Stavanger for quite a long time but is actually a new discovery for me. Somehow, I had hardly noticed the main entrance and the back entrance is not really attractive (don't really see inside, can't tell if the restaurant is open or not, ...). And then a month or two ago, I decided it was really time to try this restaurant. My wife and I liked it and on Friday we decided to go there again.

N.B. Sørensens Dampskibsexpedition is composed of 3 parts. The "new" bar, quite fancy and only to drink, the first floor (or "første etasje" in Norwegian") which is a casual dining place (but as far as I can tell, you can also have a drink there) and the second floor ("annen etasje" or "andre etasje" in Norwegian) for gourmet experience.

We went both times on the first floor and this is the part of the restaurant I am going to review here.
First, the restaurant is pretty well decorated and got a prize for it. Taken directly from their website: "N.B. Sørensens Damskibsexpedition has been awarded The Norwegian hotel and service industry’s interior environment prize. The interior oozes of vintage maritime industry and commerce, with walls and ceilings decorated with historical images and objects."

What surprised me in this restaurant is the quality of the service, despite the fact the place was casual. I would have more expected this quality of service for gourmet places. There are many waiters and waitresses, all are nice, careful and efficient. Also the kitchen is quite beautiful, half open which gives the safe feeling that you can see what the cooks are doing.

The menu is in my opinion quite good, in the sense it offers enough variety to have some choices, but not having so many choices that you get lost, cannot decide and show that the chef could not choose what he is doing best. You can find the whole menu here (the names are in Norwegian but you have the English translation beneath them): http://www.herlige-restauranter.no/menynbny.cfm?pArticleId=21922&pArticleCollectionId=3277&dtype=ny
My only regret about this menu is the lack of a children menu.

On Friday, my wife decided to go for the burger (Burger with chipotle mayonnaise, onion rings and french fries), while I went for the veal (Veal with baked root vegetables, onion, potatoes and béarnaise).
The burger was a bit disappointing. It came in a small basket and that was both unpractical and a bit too much fast-food like design. The meat was well cooked on the outside but a bit raw inside. My wife also thought there was too much pepper in it.

My veal on the other side was really good. The meat was perfectly cooked, tender and tasteful. The sauce was also very good, yet discreet. In terms of vegetables, there were potatoes, carrots and onions. the potatoes and carrots were fitting very well with the rest of the dish and I particularly like the onions. Not bitter, a bit sweet, a tiny bit crunchy, ... The bearnaise sauce was also good, but there may have been a bit too much of it, as its strong taste may hinder the subtle taste of the sauce and the meat. I liked it but if you are a gourmet, you may want to ask the bearnaise sauce on the side so it does not interfere with the rest of the dish.

Concerning the price, here is what we pay (20/04/2012):
Veal: 289 NOK
Burger: 198 NOK
Glass of wine: 79 NOK
Total: 566 NOK

All in all, a good restaurant but a bit disappointing for the burger. You will find the menu, the opening time, the phone number, address etc... on the webpage of the restaurant:
http://www.herlige-restauranter.no/english111111111122222222229.cfm

Hall toll

Update 26/07/2012: if you want a more recent review, you could check this article. It is from another blog about Stavanger restaurants.

Hall toll is a famous bar / night club in Stavanger but something that is less well known is that this place is also a pretty nice restaurant.

The restaurant is located on the harbour but a bit further towards the sea and less "central Stavanger". It is a really good spot in summer to see the sunset.

About the name and the icon, I have to say that the building where Hall Toll is located seems to be an old house for customs ("toll" means customs in Norwegian). So Hall Toll basically means the hall of the customs. The funny thing is when you pronounce it, we cannot know if you mean Hall Toll, or "Halv tolv" (which means 11:30), or even "Halv toll" (half of the customs building ?). They redesigned the customs traditional icon so that the lion holds a fork and a glass instead of an axe (I would not have dared to do so in France for example).

The restaurant is a bit more expensive than the other restaurants I have reviewed here but the food is good. We also had a good surprise to get some olives and small dry sausages before the meal.

Three of us had fish and one meat. Both were really nice, well presented and the service was really nice.



The interior was really nice but I have heard they changed it completely and have not been there since then.

All in all, not a restaurant I would go to every day (a bit too formal and expensive for me) but a very good on-occasion-restaurant.

Bølgen & Moi

This restaurant is somehow a new discovery for me. It was recommended to me by a friend and I have been there several times since then.

First of all, the restaurant is located in the same building as the oil museum. So generally a good place to go before or after visiting this museum.

Then, I have to say that this restaurant has been evolving since I first went there. In the past, this restaurant was a bit more for business men or at least for formal evenings. It tends to become more and more informal / family oriented and I think it is a good thing as the museum does attract many families.

The interior is elegant and it must be really nice to sit by the window (or outside) when it is sunny.

Before the meals come, you will be served some bread. Nothing particular except that in the past the bread was too salty (at least the top of the bread was covered by salt, which looked nice but did not taste good). They have changed this and the bread is now good. The sauce that comes with the bread is also really nice.

Above is the Entrecôte sandwich, one of the best presented sandwich I have ever had. The fries are also pretty good. Otherwise, the restaurant proposes a sanwdich of the day and a soup of the day and you can even get half a portion of each.

Here is a meat dish I had. It tasted really good, especially the sauce and the mushrooms. I tried once their coq-au-vin, a French recipe and it was pretty good.

Here their apple crumble with ice cream. Tasted nice but I would have expected a bit more crumble.

PS: since this review, I have been there several times. We tried their fish soup once which was good and once their soup of the day was a crab soup with shrimps and fennel and it was lovely. The children menu includes a burger, a pizza, some grilled chicken and some ice cream. Children around us seem to enjoy it.

PS2: I forgot to mention 1 little thing about the service. It is a bit slow. I have seen several times people simply giving up at the entrance of the restaurant (too long to get seated) and some of the reviews on the internet do pinpoint the fact that it can take a long time to be served. So yes, if you are in a hurry, you may consider another restaurant; otherwise, just relax, and enjoy the view on the sea if possible :)

Egon

Egon is not the kind of restaurant I would generally review here. A bit too "family/easy-going", a bit too much of a "chain restaurant". However I have to admit that Egon in Stavanger has managed to overcome this status.

First of all Egon is situated next to the fish market, which in my opinion is a good thing. Less crowded that on the other side of the harbour and the perfect place to have lunch before or after visiting the old Stavanger district.

The menu is wide and I am impressed by the fact they have menus in Japanese. My wife ordered some salmon as seen above and liked it. Not the best salmon ever, but pretty good. I myself ordered a sandwich and really appreciated it.

The good thing about Egon is that it is really all about family. Contrary to other restaurants where you may wonder if it is OK or not to bring children, here you may wonder if it is OK or not NOT to bring children. There is a small play room with TV and video games (personally I am 100% against letting my son mix TV/video game and meal time but for those who are not it is nice to have). They have air balloons and some pretty cute children meals as shown below (salmon too, not too bad compared to my wife's salmon).

Another thing I really enjoy about Egon in Stavanger is the decoration. Entering the restaurant is a bit like entering Ali Baba cave or some sort of Stavanger history museum. I particularly like their lamps and their photos of old Stavanger.

Just a small thing I did not really like is the pizza buffet. Only two sorts of pizzas, generally too hot when they arrived and quickly gone after that. I would not recommend it.

To sum up, Egon is not the restaurant you would go to if you want to eat some fancy Norwegian cuisine but is a nice place for family or even group of friends who want to have lunch/dinner in an unformal atmosphere. The staff in Stavanger has impressed me so far, being really polite and nice.

Bevaremegvel

I am a bit nostalgic while writing this review as I was going quite often to this restaurant when I first moved to Norway.



Something that surprised me the first time I went there was that everyone around me had ordered the fish soup. Well, I do know now that this is because they have a really good fish soup, maybe one of the best in Stavanger. My friends who tried it when they visited me are still talking to me about it.

Something else that I particularly like in this restaurant is the way they are cooking vegetables that are presented with the meat dishes. Cooked perfectly with some kind of meat/wine sauce... Difficult to describe but I have seldomly liked my vegetables that much

The restaurant is really central, in one of those 2 main restaurant streets of Stavanger. As most restaurants there, this restaurant is also a bar / restaurant with light meals. You can get for example a salad, a hamburger, ... but I don't think there is anything particularly good there. Good food but simple and a bit "as usual".

Also, I was a bit disappointed by their traditional Norwegian Christmas food. Not bad but not the best in Stavanger.

As I don't want to finish on a negative note for such a nice restaurant, I would like to say that the staff is really nice and the decoration original. The restaurant is not too much children-friendly (not so much space for strollers, tables are a bit small too) but it is not impossible to eat there with children. If you plan to eat there, I advise you to book a table. In normal time, this restaurant can be quite full.

XO Bar

Many people coming to Stavanger want to try something typical Norwegian. Unfortunately, this is not easy because Norwegian people mostly eat "international" food: burgers, sausages, sandwiches, pasta, ... You can have steaks, oven-cooked salmon, ... but nothing of this is specifically Norwegian.

The solution I have found is the XO Bar. I will not review the "bar" side of this place (this blog is not about bars) but this place also serves food and they more particularly serve "Komler". Komler is a typical, traditional Norwegian dish and you will probably not have it anywhere else in the world, so this is perfect for curious people willing to try Norwegian food.

A precise description of this dish can be found in wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspeball
(notice that this dish can be called differently depending on where in Norway you are).

So the komler itself is a quite compact ball of smashed potato, flour and other ingredients. It does not have too much taste in itself but the point is to have it with bacon, salted lamb, sausages and other very tasty meats. So all in all the dish is pretty good and very filling.

Back to the review of the XO bar in general: this restaurant is quite nice, the service is better than the average in Norway and the prices are OK (the steaks are quite expensive but the meat is of high quality and meat in general is expensive in Norway).

What we recommend:
- Komler (because it is typical Norwegian, because it is original and because it is actually quite good)
- Typical Norwegian Christmas food (this implies that you go there during Christmas time but I believe this is one of the best place in Stavanger for Christmas food)
- The tenderloin of beef was really good but quite expensive (well the meat itself is expensive in Norway)

Otherwise we have tried two of their burgers (beef and chicken) and they were quite nice. Last time we even tried their lasagna and we were impressed (we were not expecting italian food to taste great there).

The only dishes we are less happy with is the fish soup (quite good but not the best place in Stavanger according to us) and the meat balls (vey nice brown sauce but the rest of the dish was not really special).

We have not tried their dessert but last time we were there, their "creme brulee" had a big success around us.

Also going a bit off-topic, once an interesting discussion happened at a table next to us. Well, interesting because I think it is a common mistake for people visiting Norway. Basically, a customer was complaining to have ordered trout and to have got salmon. The waiter tried his best to convince him that it was trout but it did not work. I personally believe the restaurant was right and that the problem is that people are used to river trouts with grey flesh. In Norway, it is quite common to eat ocean trout with pink/orange flesh. It looks like salmon and it tastes like salmon unless you are careful. Actually, most Norwegian people will eat trout and let the salmon for tourists (because let's be honest, Norwegian trout is not as famous as Norwegian salmon). So next time you come to Norway and you order trout, don't be too surprised if something looking like salmon arrives (this is true in whole Norway, not only in this restaurant). From wikipedia: "Salmon belong to the same family as trout"

Charles&De

Charles&De is a nice restaurant located in Sandnes, not too far from Stavanger. Something quite impressive about this restaurant is that the cook (Charles Tjessem) has won the Bocuse d'Or, one of the most prestigious cooking prize. My wife and I have been there several times for lunch and something that always surprises me is the simplicity of the food. You would not expect to get burgers, salads and sandwich from the best cooks in the world and yet that is what the restaurant serves for lunch. To me, it really shows the nature of Norwegian people in general: simple and not at all show-offs. I would like to try this restaurant at night time though as this is a completely different menu (and surely a complete different culinary experience).

You order at the counter, take the bread/water yourself, ... the typical norwegian style. The only difference is that here, the bread is home made and you have a quite large choice of breads. The butter is nice but salted and there is no non-salted alternative.

Also, something quite interesting about this restaurant is that the kitchen is facing the street and has big windows so that everyone can see how cooks are working.

My wife ordered pasta with shrimps and asparagus and I ordered a sandwich. The pasta was pretty good and it was big enough for one person. The sandwich was maybe a bit too simple and a bit light for one person.

Charles&De has also various desserts and we tasted their tiramisu and a chocolate cake. I am generally not too fan of chocolate cakes as I find them a bit too sweet but this one was pretty good. The tiramisu was also quite good. The only thing is that both desserts were a bit small.

Concerning the prices, I don't think this restaurant is expensive compared to local prices (Stavanger and Sandes are quite expensive cities), ie they don't "charge" you for the fact that the cook has won a prize and as they are using good products, it cannot really get cheaper than that.

All in all, if you want a simple lunch with good quality raw products, Charles&De is a good option. Also, the casual style of the restaurant (at least for lunch) makes it possible to bring small children. But for people looking for some advanced cooking or for people going to this restaurant thinking about the Bocuse d'Or, this restaurant may be a bit disappointing for lunch.

Small Update

We went to Charles&De again and I wanted to share with you some new photos/comments.

The overall review from last time seemed correct this time again. Simple menu with high quality raw ingredients. I ordered a hamburger and my wife went for a shrimp sandwich. The hamburger was quite nice. I was surprised with the bread (more like sandwich bread) but it did actually fit pretty well. The meat was really nice too, so all in all I was satisfied with it.

My wife enjoyed her sandwich. A bit simple but well, traditional...

This time we also ordered the children version of the fish and chips. Tasted quite nice and was well presented.

We also ordered two desserts. A small strawberry tart that our son liked really much.

And a small chocolate mousse that my wife enjoyed even though she found it a little bit too sweet (but this can be said for desserts in general...).