Bellies opened just a
week ago – a great new addition to Stavanger by the same guy behind café Resept
in Østervåg a few years back, Øystein Lunde Ohna. Bellies is a vegan (plant
based) restaurant and if I’m not mistaken, it is the only vegan restaurant in
Stavanger. We went there on a Thursday night and finding our way in proved to
be a bit of a challenge – the area is under development and there is lots of
construction going on. Øystein reassured us this will improve over the next few
months. This part of town used to have a lot of industry and this building was
a canning factory. They have managed to keep some of the old elements of the
factory, combined with a modern interior, featuring some pickling jars and
local art and an open kitchen – that is dominated by a huge pizza oven.
The menu is not
extensive but includes mezze (classics and seasonal), Jamaican stew and pizza.
We decided to have the tasting menu called Full Bellies which included a bit of
everything. There is also some wine on the menu and some beer on tap. The wine
prices are not that bad (compared to some other restaurants). If you haven’t
dared to before, try the orange wine – it’s a mild intro to the revived world
of orange wine. It’s bit surprising that the wine list didn’t feature more organic
wines.
It did not take long
before we got the starter – the classic mezze. We got fresh pita bread straight
from the pizza oven and the mezze consisted of hummus, baba ganoush (roasted
eggplant mash) and tabbouleh (fresh herb and bulgur salad). The hummus and baba
ganoush were both excellent and was a perfect accompaniment to the warm pita.
Admittedly we may be victims of own travel experiences so the tabbouleh was not
a favorite for us. – it seemed to have more bulgur and less herbs than we are
used to.
We continued with the
seasonal mezze - Romanesco broccoli, stuffed vine leaf rolls, squash with
kimchi and carrots. The rolls were delicious and exotic with flavors of apricot
and mint and a stark tartness that was difficult to identify; the baked carrots
(fermented, if I’m not mistaken) were great; and the squash with kimchi was also an
explosion of flavors. Of the four, the Romanesco broccoli was a bit plain in
comparison.
Next up was a bowl of
Jamaican stew – apparently this was a dish that was popular at Resept and they
have brought it along as a tribute. And it was a good dish indeed – sweet
potato and eggplant stew with spices that reminded me of Indian dishes served
on rice. But there was more to come – Bellies also have pizza on the menu, and
we got a white pizza with shredded vegetables in a bundle in the middle. As
this was a sharing menu, one was assigned to untie the Gordian Knot and to
spread the vegetables evenly. The pizza was excellent, and it was also a bit
spicy as it contained Midsummer hot sauce (made in the neighborhood).
To round off the meal,
we got a piece of pecan pie each served with a whipped “cream” made from
coconut cream.
Conclusion: first of
all, none of us in the group that night are vegan and we all enjoy both meat
and fish. But I do have an open mind and enjoy food (vegan or not), as long as
it tastes good and leaves a lasting culinary impression. Nikki is also lactose
intolerant so it was quite refreshing not to have to mention food “allergies”. This
was a solid and very satisfying restaurant experience. We shall definitely return to try some of the
other dishes on the menu and will keep an eye out for seasonal dishes - especially
if the other pickled goodies in jars get served too (the kimchi was splendid).
I especially enjoyed
the starter mezze, Jamaican stew and the pizza (I’m a bread lover so fresh, warm bread is
always something that I enjoy). On this day, I had done a pretty hard workout
and for me it would have been good with larger portions but on a regular day, I
think this would have been sufficient. I hope that Bellies will make it in the
restaurant market in Stavanger. There is more focus on vegan and vegetarian options
these days and Bellies is a fantastic addition to the Stavanger restaurant
scene – great vibe, passionate owners / chefs, and good food. So a little
encouragement to the average Joe, you’ll be missing out on a great new
experience if you let labels aka vegan / plant based (or the current
construction site) get in your way!
Price of food: 540 kroner (59 USD) for Full Bellies for 1 person.
