Full package at Craig's (Restaurant is permanently closed)

Note that this restaurant is permanently closed!

In January the restaurant Craig's kitchen got a pretty good review in the local newspaper RA (see article http://www.rogalandsavis.no/bruland/article2535867.ece - only in Norwegian) so we decided to check out th place again since we haven't been there in a while and since we had a 10 year anniversary :-) We booked a table for 7.30 PM and when we arrived we were told we were the last guests to arrive that evening so we could pick any table. I guess there is about 30 seats in the restaurant and even if there are some nice decorations (garlic, vanilla etc in jars) the place looks a bit cold and "uninviting"...and the chairs could have been more comfortable :-)

We went for a full package which means a 6 course dinner with the wine package to go along with it. Craig's is one of only 5 restaurants in Norway that can use the title Best of "Award of Excellence" in the american magazine Wine Spectator (see http://web3.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/article230412.ece -only in Norwegian) so they have a pretty good wine selection. We started with a drink....and after a trip to Paris last year (http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm ) we have a standard drink: Kir Royale (a refreshing mix of crème de cassis and champagne). I had this in Paris last week and in general I think it is better when we travel...maybe it is all in the mind :-)

We got some bread to start with but the first course came suprisingly fast. Our opening dish was smoked pork roll with apple and foie gras. Foie gras is strange but it works very good in a small dosage and together with the acidic apple. Along with this dish we got a Fritz Haag Riesling that worked pretty good with the food. Each wine was explained to us by the waiter but he was aiming a bit too high in his explenations...we don't know that much about wine. I would loved to have more redwine but that is because I like redwine better in general :-) Second dish was scallop in a potatoe soup with truffles. The soup was excellent and the scallop was very good. Once again we got a riesling...this time Hirsch Riesling from Austria is I'm not mistaken. This was drier but once again it went good with our dish....it must be hard for them to choose which wine to serve to each dish when they have about 750 bottles to choose from :-)

We continued with cod in a butter sauce with capers and parsley. The cod was delicious and split into layers as it should do. And the sauce was to die for...I'm pretty sure that they used the real thing here and not some diet margerine thing :-) We continued with an Austrian wine if I'm not mistaken...a Prager-Hinter Grüner Weltliner (another white wine) and once the wine was good. The only problem with the meal so far was that the different courses came a bit too fast so Nikki was struggling to finish her wine. In the end she was left with numerous glasses in front of her :-)

After a fast pause dish (champagne and ice) we had another main dish...suckling lamb, homemage sausage, spinach gnocchi and pepper sause. The lamb, sausage and gnocchi was excellent and the sauce was again to die for. For this dish we finally got a red wine....a Cornas Granit "30"...where the 30 number indicates the age of the wine bushes according to our waiter. It is always great to taste red wines that are different and this red wine was a nice new acquaintance :-) Nikki said no to the next dish but I did go for the cheese. I got some brie, a blue mold cheese and a "regular" cheese. The blue mold cheese was a bit too intense for me so it was pretty nice to "rest" by eating nuts and grissini :-) We got a sweet French wine for the cheese: La Quintessence. Sweet wine like this is pretty good if you only get a glass :-) For dessert we got tiramisu with a passion fruit sorbet. I have tasted many strange versions of tiramisu over the years so I have become a bit sceptic when I see this on the menu...but Craig's made it pretty good and the way it shoud be made (at least in my opinion). To this dessert we got a very sweet Astrian white wine called Weinrieder Eiswein.

We had some coffee before we headed back home...pretty full at a bit tipsy after all the wine. Craigs met our expectations and the food was great. But note that if you go for a full package (food and wine) it will cost you a bit. The total bill was 2600 kroner for the both of us (about 420 $)...the Kir Royale was about 110 Kroner per glass (about 18$). I think it is a bit strange to charge 10 kroner for tap water when you are paying for such a meal. The 6 dishes cost 645 kroner (105$) exluding the wine. As I mentioned earlier the different dished came a bit too fast and Nikki was struggling to keep up when it comes to finishing the wine. But all in all....if you are looking for a good meal in Stavanger you should consider Craig's :-)

Read more about the place on http://www.craig.no/

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com/ - trip reports and pictures