Casa Salsitas - a real taqueria

Recently Patricia opened Casa Salsitas in Pedersgata, an authentic Mexican taqueria! It is brave to open a taco place on a taco Friday (it is a thing in Norway), but at Casa Salsitas you can get tacos as it is made and eaten in Mexico. This means handmade corn tortillas, meat or vegetarian fillings and good salsa on top. The place is quite small and there is only room for a few people at the time so it is mostly based on takeaway in boxes of 3 or 5 tacos.

 

Patricia also runs Salsitas, which makes salsa based on tomatillos grown on Finnøy, so this is really a fusion of Norwegian and Mexican food and culture. Thank you so much for allowing us to visit before opening to see the place and to taste your delicious tacos.

Facts:
Homepage: https://casasalsitas.no/
Location: Pedersgata 23 - see this Google map

 

ANGR - new restaurant in Stavanger

Tako by Fortou disappeared last year and now ANGR Bar & Kitchen has opened in the same place and it is still Arnt and Elin Skjerve who are running it. We were so lucky to get a table on the opening day May 6th! The slogan for the place is "Natural food - natural wine" and unfortunately, we were not allowed to enjoy wine this day due to covid-19 restrictions. We went for a tasting menu to taste a bit of everything and soon we got a lovely oxtail terrine bite which was delicious! 

 

The next dish was variety of Jerusalem artichoke with a delicious tender squid and then we had asparagus with hollandaise - a lot seemed to have stopped by the grill for a few seconds so there was a wonderful barbecue taste to the food. We then got skate wings flaking in a creamy sauce with celery and barley! 

 

There was a little weird cucumber granite before we got grilled lamb shank and rounded off with yogurt with granola and rhubarb. I thought this was very, very good and we will definitely go back to experience the food along with natural wine. I want to compare ANGR with Restaurant SØL and as you may have read, we have had some fantastic experiences there. Good job ANGR! We look forward to the next visit.

Facts:
Homepage: https://angr.bar/
Location: Ryfylkegata 22 - see this Google map
Price: see menu on homepage. A tasting menu is 675 Kroner

 

 

Finally got to visit Restaurant Annen Etage again!

 

I have had some of the best dining experience in Stavanger at Restaurant Annen Etage and it was to visit it for the first time (way backin 2007) for a "fine dining" dinner. Over the years it looks like the restaurant has struggled a bit to find its place on the Stavanger restaurant scene but last year it was refurbished and now we finally got to visit the restaurant again. Before, the interior was old school and inspired by the fact that it is an old sea house. But now after the renovation, it has become warm with stylish green interiors and great lighting - and if you get a window table, you also get a great view of Stavanger harbor.
 

We decided on a 5-course menu this evening and soon we got a little appetizer - a mussel croquette served on a tray of mussel shells. Inside the croquette there was bechamel sauce and it was a lovely little snack. The first proper dish was grilled salad (hjertesalat) on yogurt and topped with Fønix (blue cheese from Stavanger Ysteri) and this was lovely and it would have been nice with some bread to be able to get all that lovely juice from the plate. We continued with a plate of spring greens with smoked cod roe and asparagus. As you can see from the picture - a joy for the eye but also a joy for the palate. 

 

At this point we got some bread, and it was a delicious as it was a fresh campfire style bread with good butter. There is usually some fish on the menu and the next dish was a very good redfish (uer) served with tomatoes and kale and after that we also got some local lamb. Before dessert we got a little palate cleanser but I think I would rather call it dessert number 1 because it was a lovely buckthorn ice cream with granite of spruce sprouts and dessert number 2 was coffee ice cream with choclate and cognac. It was all rounded off with stuffed canelé. 

 

Chef Runar Helgeland has done a great job here - lovely flavors and contrasts and dishes that were beautifully presented. I would have enjoyed having the portions a bit bigger but all in all this was a wonderful experience and I look forward to the next visit!

Facts:
Homepage: https://www.nbsorensen.no/annen-etage/om-annen-etage/
Location: Skagen 26 – see this Google map. 
Price: 950 Norwegian kroner (115 USD)

 

 

Smashin' - first smash burger place in Stavanger

 I love it when new places open in Stavanger! This time we are talking about a new burger place and they make “smash burger”. This means taking the patty and flatting the meat while it is frying. Due to this the name of the new place is Smashin’ of course. We stopped by this new place in Østervåg on a weekday and it was quite empty – they have only been open for a couple of days. There are a few tables, a hidden door is disguised as a bookshelf and leads to the toilet. You order the food using Order on your cellphone and at the moment they only offer burgers and wings. 

 

We decided to taste the Juicy Lucy (a cheeseburger) and Maggis hot wings. The food came after a few minutes and the burger came with a paper wrap which was great as it was juicy! The burger looked great with well defines cheese slices, thick slices of onion and tomato and of course the beef patty. And it was not just looks – it tasted excellent as well! The wings were also great as they were fresh and juicy – and with a great sticky, spicy glaze. This was awesome and I look forward to trying some of the other burgers on the menu – and look forward to seeing some fries and salad on the menu!

Facts:
Homepage: https://www.facebook.com/smashinstavanger
Location: Østervåg 47 – see this Google map.
Price: 189 kroner for Juicy Lucy - 23 USD

 

Seafood at Fisketorget

We had a fantastic lunch at Fisketorget last summer (see this review) with amazing weather and a great outdoor view of the harbor of Stavanger. The visit this time was quite different as we visited for dinner on a cold March night. There was a bit of confusion regarding the booking but after showing the confirmation e-mail that I had received, we were guided to the table. It would be great if they could get a proper booking system in place! The menu varies according to season, but the focus is on seafood – and the menu this evening was presented on a large blackboard. You have the freedom of choosing a bit of “everything” (a taste of 5 of the menu items) or you can choose 2 to 7 courses. We decided to “only” have two courses this evening and soon we got some bread and aioli as a starter. Note that there is quite a lot of cream-based food on the menu that can be an issue if you have lactose intolerance. We did not have the chance to ask if it was possible to make some of the food dairy free.

 

My first dish was Skrei 45° (a piece of cod) that was lovely – served with a delicious and rich sauce of smoked roe and crème fraiche. Nikki chose the scallop bouillon, and she was very happy with this. We decided to have the catch of the day as our main dish and this was cusk (or brosme in Norwegian) served with mussel sauce, cauliflower puree and vegetables. Again, a great piece of fish with a tasty and rich sauce! The service was a bit rushed this evening and maybe they were a bit understaffed, and I would also loved to have a bit more light at the table to be able to read the wine menu. But the most important thing is of course the food – and the food was delicious. I hope to taste more of the menu when we visit again!

 

Facts:

Homepage: https://fisketorget-stavanger.no/
Location: Strandkaien 37 – see this Google map 

 

New wine bar: Lapin

There is a new wine bar in town! Lapin opened this week and it is the crew from Restaurant SÖL that is behind it. If you remember my reviews from Restaurant SÖL (see this review), you will know that they have focus on nature wines and that seems to also be the concept at the Lapin wine bar. We went there on a Friday evening and it is so new that there is not even a sign outsider the bar yet. It is located in Pedersgata not far from other brilliant places like Casa Gio, Panzanella pizza, Siddis Gelateria, Hekkan Burger – there is a lot to choose from in Pedersgata these days.

 

The wine bar has 20-30 seats and has an extensive wine menu with Pét-Nat (pétillant naturel), white wine, red wine, and orange wines. The most extensive selection is of course by the bottle but there was also a good selection of wine by the glass. At the moment they also have a bit of snack that you can order – e.g. platter of cheese, platter of cold cuts, sourdough bread etc. We had some of the excellent sourdough bread (that you also get a Restaurant SÖL and a platter of cold cuts. The cold cuts were of good quality as it is supplied by local butcher Idsøe. We got parma ham, mortadella, salumi and it was lovely with bread and butter.

Congratulations on opening of the wine bar! I hope that the people of Stavanger will use the opportunity to broaden their wine horizon!

  

Restaurant SÖL still rocks!

We visited Restaurant SÖL on a Friday night and the table was ready when we got there a few minutes before our booking We have been there before (see this review) and as you can see from my guides on Instagram , I think Restaurant SÖL is one of the best restaurants in Stavanger. Due to this we were excited to see if this was still true! The concept is still the same: a set menu and you can choose wine pairing or have wine from an extensive wine list. We decided to go for the wine pairing and soon we had a Sylvaner wine from Stefan Vetter in the glass and fresh, warm sourdough bread in front of us! The wine was unfiltered and reminded us a bit about a cider and had a funky natural wine notes on the nose. The restaurant focus mainly on natural wines. It is always lovely with fresh bread and butter (yes, still a bread lover) and especially when you get the impression that the bread comes straight from the oven.

 

The first warm(er) dish was spinach in a cheese sauce made from pecorino and parmesan. It was topped but crisps (or potato chips depending on where you are from) so we had to dig in to get a bit on the cheese sauce and the lovely spinach. We moved on and got a glass of Calcarius Ca 40.08 Hellen Bianco. This Italian white is made by Valentina Passalacqua and we have tried some of her orange wine and sparkling wine and they are always fun to try. This wine was served together with skrei (the north Atlantic cod that is in season) and it was topped with thin slices of mushroom. The fish had a great grill taste to it and underneath there was a mushroom sauce bursting with umami and fermented Brussel sprouts. An incredibly tasty dish and luckily we had some bread left to make sure to get all that delicious mushroom sauce. The main dish this evening was a slice of duck breast served celeriac puree and pieces , onion and an amazing chicken stock sauce. The puree was soft as silk and with a great taste of the celeriac and the sauce was just incredible. This was served with a Spätburgunder (the German was of Pinot Noir) from Michael Fiebrich that worked well with the duck.

 

It was time for dessert, and we got some mead to drink – the Underfundig Mjød was sweet but maybe not as sweet as I thought it would be. But there was a strange mix of honey and hops and it was a bit like drinking a sweet, rich beer. It worked very well with the toasted bread ice cream for dessert. The ice cream itself was rich and creamy and topped with a jam made from quince (kvede) and topped with Jerusalem artichokes (jordskokk). Sounds like a strange mix but this was a delicious dessert. To round it off – a potato donut to be dipped in yogurt and sea buckthorn (tindved).

 

There is no need to elaborate a lot on a summary. Well played Restaurant SÖL! Great dishes with well defined and rich flavors. This was served with good wines – and with good service. Restaurant SÖL is still one of the best restaurants in Stavanger if you ask me.

Facts:
Homepage: https://www.restaurantsoel.com/
Location: Hetlandsgata 6 - see this Google map
Price: 585 kr (68 USD) per person for the food

 

The best burger in Stavanger

 It is hard work, but someone must do it! ;-) The "hard work" this time was to decide which place that has the best burger in Stavanger? I brought along a friend on a Saturday afternoon and we did a “mini burger marathon” in downtown Stavanger and we started at Hekkan Burger in Pedersgata. This place is very informal with almost an industry look to some of the elements. But they do have a good burger menu and also serve beer/wine. We were there for lunch and decided to have the BBQ burger. As we were stopping by many places, we had to skip the side orders. The burger was served fast and there was more vegetables on it compared to other times I have been there (or maybe I just remember wrong) and there was both lettuce and pickles on it together with a well defined slice of cheese and lovely bacon. The burger was juicy with a good grill taste and the BBQ sauce was both spicy and sweet. The bun was not that exciting and could have been toasted a bit more. But all in all – a very good burger!

 

 

 We moved on to DøgnvillBurger and we managed to get a table! My impression that it is usually quite crowded here so do book a table before you go there. We got a table on the upper floor and the place is more refined than Hekkan. The menu is extensive and includes burgers, side orders, menu for the kids, shakes etc. You can also make your burger vegetarian by switching the patty with Beyond Meat. We decided to have the Cheddar & Bacon burger as this was the closest we could get to the burger at Hekkan. There were not that many people when we came but it took about 25 minutes for the burger to be served. As you can see from the photos, the burger was tall with chunky vegetables and a pickle on the side. I would have enjoyed a more defined piece of cheese on the burger and I would have preferred pickled onion instead of the raw onion. The patty was also quite firm and due to this it also appears a bit chewier compared to the Hekkan burger.

 

 

Next stop was The Shack a few hundred meters away. The place has rustic interior with wooden benches and tables and funny sayings on the walls. We were met by a friendly waiter and got a table – ordering the food is done in a cellphone app and we decided to have Mr. Spicy BBQ. The Shack can also server the burgers with Beyond Meat patty. The burger was served fast and it was a bit smaller than the burger at Døgnvill bit it was beautifully presented with bacon, lettuce, pickles, and sauce oozing out from the top. We ordered a 200 g burger and I thought that it would give us a thicker patty, but we got two patties instead – but they were fried according to our specification. All in all: a juicy burger, beautifully presented and a great taste! Kudos to The Shack for making it possible to adjust the toppings to your preference in the app in an easy way!

 

 

So which place has the best burger in Stavanger? In this highly subjective test we concluded that we prefer Hekkan and The Shack over Døgnvill. First of all because the burger appeared more juicy but also because there was more of a grill taste. Which burger joint in Stavanger is your favorite? Other places that were on the list of places to visit was Burger & Beers and Groovy Diner. But there is only so much burger that one can eat in an afternoon, right?