New opening of Los Tacos

Los Tacos has just re-opened in Stavanger after expanding from a small takeaway joint to a larger restaurant/bar. I went there on a Wednesday night and the new facilities look great. There are a few tables, their funny slogans in neon light in various places and a new bar section that I assume close a bit earlier at night compared to the restaurant section.

  

The menu is not extensive – there is a focus on tacos, burritos and bowls. I decided to have the BJK Burrito which is chicken with French fries, beans, lettuce etc. You make your order at the counter and the guy that was making the food was talented as he was making 4 burritos at the same time. Maybe it was a bit too busy – the guy that was making the food was using a gloves to take the lettuce, cheese etc but he was also using the cashier at the same time and maybe that is not the most hygienic. The burrito was rolled up in a sheet in the end, but it would have been nice to have a plate to bring it back to the table. It was also a bit strange that to buy a beer we had to go to the bar counter to get the beer there and pay for it and get a separate bill.

 

The burrito was not that great in my opinion – the main problem was that it was lukewarm. I don’t know if we came at a bad time as when we were leaving, it seemed like there was more steam coming from around the “pots” that was keeping the meat selections warm. It is of course not fair to review this is as a full fledged restaurant. This is fast-food joint that stays open late at night and my guess is that they make most of the money late at night when people are on the way home after being out for a few drinks. If you want tex-mex/Mexican inspired food, I think it is better to head to e.g. Harry Pepper.

 

Facts:

Homepage: http://lostacos.no/

Location: Skagen 8 – see Google maps https://goo.gl/maps/1BbY8aeV9TkNZPaC6

Price: a burrito is about 120 kroner (14 USD)

 

Casa Gio - Italian food made with love

We went to Casa Gio on a Friday night in the end of May of 2019. Located deep in Pedersgata, it is one of many restaurants that have appeared in this street over the last few years. Maybe I shouldn’t do this review as I still feel that Casa Gio is a hidden gem – but I choose to share it as I think that more people should experience this great Italian restaurant.

 

When you enter Casa Gio, you walk into quite a small restaurant and you can look right into the open kitchen. The restaurant has maybe 20-25 seats so remember to book in advance to make sure to get a table. The menu changes frequently and based on access to ingredients but the menu of the day is written on a blackboard – there are usually 2-3 starters, 3-4 main dishes and a couple of desserts. Now if you are looking for a standard Italian restaurant that only serves pizza, lasagna and pasta carbonara, Casa Gio might not be the place for you. Yes, there are pasta on the menu (handmade) but it is usually not the traditional ones that you find in more traditional Italian restaurants. To give an example of the menu, this very night we had the option between Orecchiette alla Pugliese, saffron risotto with lobster, linguine with mussels and saffron ravioli with ricotta and spinach.

 

Nikki ordered the mozzarella salad with grilled vegetables while I decided to have the veal. And for mains we decided to have the risotto and the ravioli. Our waitress also asked what we wanted to drink and when we said that we preferred red, she brought over 3 bottles in various price categories that she thought would fit our menu choices and we decided to go for a wine made with primitivo grapes which is quite common for the Puglia region in Italy.

 

Our starters came after a few minutes. My veal was sliced in thin slices and had been lightly fried by the looks of it and it was served with solid slices of Parmesan cheese, king oyster mushroom, tomatoes and green. A lovely starter with fresh flavors and like I think Italian food should be: simple, with good ingredients and with amazing flavors. Nikki was also happy with her starter with the grilled vegetables that were served with slices of mozzarella on the side. The mains were served thereafter and they did not disappoint either. Nikki’s risotto and lobster were great! If you have followed me on Instagram for a while, you know I love risotto. It is very few places I get a great risotto like the one at Casa Gio! My ravioli was delicate with hints of saffron and filled with spinach and ricotta and topped with a butter sauce and pine nuts. I wrapped it up with tiramisu (yes, so they do have some classical dishes on the menu after all) which is always a treat!

Conclusion: Casa Gio is our go to place when we want a good meal and still a hidden gem in many ways. It is not cheap, but you do get fresh handmade food made with love and passion. I hope that this place stays in business for many, many years so that we can keep on going back to experience a slice of Italy – in Stavanger.

Facts:
Homepage: https://casagio.no/

Location: Pedersgata 48 – see Google map https://goo.gl/maps/U33HdTgvVYAFqvex5

Price: The food (excluding drinks) listed above was 1200 Kroner  (140 USD)

Maggis Munchies: slow food - fast

Once again, I went to Pedersgata to check out a new place – this time Maggis Munchies. The slogan is “slow food – fast” and the concept seems to be salads bowls, wraps and sandwiches with a focus on locally produces vegetables and comfort food that can be prepared fast. I went there on a Wednesday afternoon and there were only a few other people there and they were all getting food to eat out.

 

The restaurant seems to be a hole in the wall from the street, but it opens up quite a bit when you enter with 2-3 tables with highchairs and a sofa to wait on if you are just picking up stuff. The friendly chef asked me what I wanted to try out and I decided to go all vegan (for once) and I ordered the red falafel bowl. The bowl was served in a “cardboard” bowl after a few minutes and the presentation was an explosion of colors. The green from the herbs and salad, orange carrots, the red beetroot puree, the off-white couscous and the slightly reddish (and warm) falafel balls – topped with a vegan aioli.

 

The salad was great with the fresh salad, the warm falafel balls, the great beetroot puree and even the vegan aioli. And it was great to see that they have a variety on the menu as you can also get a pork bowl and a beef bowl and even a chicken bowl (well, called super Caesar salad). 

 

Conclusion: The places is open from 11 am to 8 pm but I’m not sure what kind of market the place is targeting. Maggis Munchies is not inviting as a restaurant (as there are not that many tables) and I think most people will just order and pick up their food. I hope that Stavanger is ready for a place like this – I see places like this all the time when I travel but it has not been common to see restaurants like this in Stavanger. I do hope they find their niche as this is a good add on to the restaurant scene in Stavanger!  I’m looking forward to going there again to try out some of their other dishes.

Facts
Homepage: https://www.maggismunchies.no/

Location: Nytorget 8 – see Google map https://goo.gl/maps/1QddtL8JcmCQGCDZ7

Price: a bowl is from 160 til 190 kroner (18 to 22 USD)

 

Baos and dumplings at Yips

Yips Dumplings & Digg is located in Pedersgata, the “new” food street in Stavanger, and we went there on a Friday night. The place is split into a takeaway section and a restaurant and this concept seems to work great as it is no fun to have lots of people hanging around in a restaurant waiting for the takeaway meal. We got a bit of a strange welcome – we had booked a table and when we got there, a guy came to ask us if we had booked and I said yes and told him my name. He went to check and then we didn’t really get more information as he continued serving some of the guest. Then another one came over to ask us if we had book and under what name. But in the end, we were shown to our table and we got the menus. 

 

The restaurant focuses mainly on bao (steamed buns), ramen, poke, noodles and dumplings. On Fridays and Saturday there is also a set menu. The waitress didn’t have a written list of this so she just mentioned all the dishes that would be served. I think it would be a good idea to have a small add on to the menu for this. We decided to go for one set menu and one à la carte. The restaurant opened recently and is modern – you can look into the kitchen and see the chefs in action. The restaurant has an open plan but seemed to miss a bit of atmosphere. Not that I’m able to pinpoint what was missing.

 

It didn’t take long before Nikki got her first part of the set menu: three bowls containing ceviche, seaweed and cucumber, and shredded duck leg. The ceviche was good, and the seaweed and cucumber certainly had a distinctive taste of the seaweed. The shredded duck leg was not the favorite in this batch as there was too much going on with the flavors. I also got my first dish and that was oxtail dumplings. According to the menu it was mixed with fermented soy, ginger and spring onion – I’m not sure that I tasted all of that, but the mix was excellent as I found the dumplings to be delicious. The rich oxtail mix in the dumplings reminded me of a rich ragu served on pasta in Italy.

 

Nikki moved on to a small tomato salad with tofu which was great and a beef tartare with lotus chips. I don’t have long list of experience with beef tartare but this one was probably the best I have had. It was tender and tasty and served traditionally in a way as there was an egg yolk on top.

My next dish was a pork belly bao which seemed a bit uninspired when it was served. But when I started to bite into it, the bao was really good and the meat was tender with lots of Asian flavors as it was made with Hoisin sauce. Then it was Nikki’s turn to get a snow crab and pickled daikon bao followed by pork dumpling with garlic. I’m not totally convinced about the snow crab bao but maybe that is because I prefer meat in the bao. The shrimp and pork dumplings that came next was served steaming hot and was also very good.

 

Nikki wrapped up her meal with Wonton in shiitake consume and Grilled pork with wild garlic sauce. The last portion was a bit too big in my opinion and the pork meat was not as tender as we were hoping for. I ended my meal with pork belly ramen that I enjoyed. It was served with pork belly (obviously), a pretty strong miso broth, homemade noodles, eggs etc. In the end we got a coconut soup with mango as a dessert. We were both full and this was not a favorite of ours.

 

Conclusion: it is a tricky to give a good conclusion on Yips. Some of the dishes were awesome and some were good. The set menu gave us the possibility to taste quite a bit which was good, and maybe this is being used to test out various dishes. The main menu is not that big with only 4 baos and 3 dumplings! Regarding the set menu: it would have been good to have this as an add on list to the menu or on a blackboard as it would have been easier to make the decision to have it or not.

My favorites this night was my oxtail dumplings, the pork belly bao and the beef tartare which were all outstanding! Yes, I would like to go there again but next time I think we will just stick to bao and dumplings and share them with my company.

Facts:

Homepage: https://yipsas.com/

Location: Pedersgata 33 - see Google map https://goo.gl/maps/wdqTaMckujWW7ozPA

Price: 600 kroner (68 USD) for the set menu. Bao and dumplings are about 90 kroner (10 USD).

 

An evening at RE-NAA

 From time to time it is amazing to enjoy a fine dining meal to celebrate special occasions. In May 2019 we had the pleasure of going to RE-NAA at their new location in Eilert Smith hotel in Stavanger. We have been to RE-NAA before at their old location (see this old review) but we were of course excited to see the new facilities. We went there on a cold and windy May day and the staff was waiting for us to let us in the door. I think that set the standard for the rest of the evening as the service in amazing.

 

RE-NAA has managed to keep the Michelin star even if they have been on the move. The new restaurant is a bit bigger than the previous place but still small and intimate and the centerpiece is the kitchen where you can see the chefs at work – and trust me, there are a lot of people involved in the process.

 

We got the menu and that gives a few keywords about what to expect – there is not much to decide as this is a set menu so the only think you must choose is wine pairing or not. We started with getting some small starters which was great as I was hungry. The favorite from this section was the crispy chicken skin and the duck liver paste balls. Everything was served on various plates and usually served by 4 people to our group of 4. Presentation was also beautiful as you can see from the photos.

 

 

We moved over to a seafood section where we got shrimp, oyster, mussels, caviar. I’m not a huge fan of oyster but there were some added flavors here that I also enjoyed. The caviar was served on tofu if I’m not mistaken and there was a topping of almond milk. We continued with the seafood as we got squid, a beautiful presented langoustine before we had a piece of trout topped with roe.

  

Some people fear that they will not get enough food at fine dining restaurants. That is not my experience – even if the portions are small, you do get many portions! We continued our meal with morels in a great Asian inspired broth, eel and beets and a BBQ cod! As we were enjoying the various dishes, we also got to see the quails that were in the process of getting prepared for us. The quails come from the area and we got it served by the chef himself, Sven Erik Renaa.

   

We were nearing the end of the meal but there was still time for some dessert of course. We started with some yogurt from Stavanger Ysteri, continued with a small buckwheat cake and then a Sea buckthorn (tindved in Norwegian) sorbet on an Italian meringue. We ended the whole thing with some fruit and sweets! I have not gone into too much details as you can see but I hope that the photos will give you an impression of the experience.

   

The wine pairing was great, and it seems like they have taken this to the next level with some excellent wines. The wine servings seemed to be a bit smaller than usual, but I think this is great – rather good quality and less quantity. As a dessert we e.g. got a 1975 Rivesaltes.

Conclusion: a meal at RE-NAA will cost you quite a bit! But in my opinion, it is worth the money. We spent the whole night there; we enjoyed some amazing food and it was a feast both for the eyes and for the taste buds. The service was outstanding and a special thank to the master himself, Sven Erik Renaa for opening such a great restaurant in Stavanger. And also, a thank to Torill Renaa for being such a great hostess and for making everyone feel welcome when they walk in the door. I have not been to all the restaurants in Stavanger, but I still think RE-NAA is the best restaurant in town. So if you want to celebrate a special occasion or just life, head to RE-NAA for an amazing experience.

Facts:

Homepage: http://www.restaurantrenaa.no/renaa/

Location: Nordbøgata 8 (Eilert Smith hotel). See Google map 

Price of food: 1600 Kroner for the set menu (180 USD)