The annual wine festival known as Stavanger Vinfest is coming up on April 18th to April 21st. As usual Route de Vin will start the whole thing but unfortunately it is already sold out. Please take a look at the Stavanger Vinfest homepage http://www.stavangervinfest.no/ to see a list of participating restaurants and to see other events in connection with the festival.
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
This Italian restaurant is located in the middle of town and the concept seems to be a success as there are now 4 Al Forno’s around Stavanger - I guess everyone enjoys some Italian food. I guess it didn’t start that great as the local food critic Tore Bruland gave it a pretty bad score. I went there on a Friday night with my wife and a friend – we had no reservation but they seemed to have lots of tables available and we chose to sit upstairs to avoid draft from the entrance door. Their menu is extensive and it contains all sort of variations of pasta and pizza – but their wine list is very,very limited. We were starving when we came in and we decided to go straight for the main course and I went for the Pizza Al Forno, Nikki went for the Gnocchi con carne and our friend went for Pizza frutti de mare.
My pizza was quite good – it was topped with a spicy sausage, a bit of artichokes, lots of cheese and it had been fried in their wooden fired oven I guess as the crust was crispy and a bit black. I love my pizza together with red wine so I very much enjoyed it. The gnocchi was not that great but there was nothing wrong with it or anything – it just seemed a bit boring. And our friend did not complain about her seafood pizza either – it was served with various seafood like shrimp, mussels and calamari. I went a bit overboard and went for the tiramisu for dessert after the meal – and that was also quite good but the portion was quite huge and it was served with a splash of whipped cream from a can. I’m not sure why they had to add that – the tiramisu is great and there is no need for whipped cream on the side. To round it of I asked them if they had limoncello and they were like “of course” 
If you like your Italian food and you just want an informal meal together with friends this could be a nice place to go. The food we had was pretty good and the service was OK. As we were about to leave a larger group came into have some food and that brought up the noise level considerably – with an open plan it can be a bit noisy there. It would have been great to see a proper wine list but I guess their main target group is not going to buy expensive wines anyway. Most of the pizzas are from 150 to 200 kroner (25 to 35 USD) just to give you an idea about the price level. Check out http://pizzeria-alforno.no/ for more information and to read the entire menu. And here is the review from Tore Bruland: http://www.rogalandsavis.no/nyheter/article3129710.ece (NB Only in Norwegian).
There are not that many true fine dining places in Stavanger but I guess you can call Café de France this along with places like Nero, NB Sørensen 2. Etage and Renaa Restauranten (click on the links for my reviews). Café de France appeared in 1988 and after a few years they changed name (to Setra) but a couple of years back they moved back to the original Café de France name. The food is not necessarily French – it is just fine dining based on a European cuisine but I guess with focus on good ingredients. This review is based on a visit to the restaurant in March 2012.
Café de France is quite a small place located in what seems to be the basement of an ordinary house on Eiganesveien (just behind Radisson Blu Royal hotel). The restaurant logo is recognizable on the wall outside on the slightly pinkish house and when we arrived the front door was locked so we had to ring the doorbell and our host Emil Heimdal opened the door or greeted us welcome. After a bit of Valentine Rose champagne as an aperitif, we were ready to get to know Tuscany through some wine tasting. But I’m not going to focus on that in this review – let us talk about the food instead. 
As I said, the place is quite small and there are only seats for like 35 people maximum and based on the video on the restaurant homepage, the kitchen looks tiny! But there is a nice atmosphere in the place with the neutral white painted walls, old wooden beams and some rather strange art works. The host Emil seems to keep him calm and is knowledgeable about both the food and wine that is presented.
We were starving after a long day so it was great when we got a selection of fresh bread. We also got a small starter before going into our 5 course meal. The small starter was a small piece of salmon with løyrom (not sure what that is in English), a soup and a pate. The salmon was excellent (even if I do prefer my fish fried/boiled/steamed etc) and the soup had a very, very rich seafood taste if remember correctly.
Our first dish was a cold plate of salad leaves, clip fish I guess and poached quail egg. The egg was perfect but the rest of the dish was a bit on the boring side. Keeping track of the dishes and taste is always a challenge when going to a place where you get so much good food but I’m trying my best to summarize the experience based on what I remember and the photos I have taken. Dish number two was also a fish dish: fried turbot with artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke and a sort of block on mashed Jerusalem artichokes. The fish was great in taste and texture and I enjoy Jerusalem artichokes. But this block on mashed Jerusalem artichokes was very bland and maybe this portion of fish was a bit on the large side.
The next dish was a real treat – a big piece of foie gras. I guess it is not politically correct to enjoy this dish but from time to time it is a real treat to have this but only in small portions. The foie gras that we got was served on a piece of bread and with a fig, fig juice and some nuts. The foie gras was just right in my opinion but the portion was one of the largest that I have come across in a restaurant here in Stavanger and it can actually get too big as it is rich in taste.
After a small refreshing drink to clean the palate a bit we moved on to the main dish of the evening: chicken confit with cabbage(?), potato and onion. If you don’t know about confit, I guess it can be summarized by slowly boiling e.g. chicken in e.g. duck fat at low temperature for several hours and it was previously used as a preservation method. Slowly cooking the meat like this makes the meat very juicy and tender. And this dish was also very, very good and the chicken was just amazing.
To round of the evening we got a dessert where we got one piece of chocolate cake topped with a chocolate cream and cumquat and a raspberry sorbet I guess. The dessert was not the highlight of the evening but as I love my sweet stuff I didn’t have any problem finishing it together with some Vino Santo. The restaurant also has an excellent selection of cognac that you can enjoy along with the sweet stuff that is served as you round of the meal.
Conclusion: We were at Café de France from 6 pm to midnight and the place proved once again that it is one of the real fine dining restaurants in Stavanger. Some of the people I was there with was not totally Impressed and felt that the 5 course dinner was too fatty and not as good as what you can e.g. get at Renaa. But in my opinion we got a lovely 5 course meal with wine pairing (with wines taken from Italy) and the best dishes in my opinion were the foie gras and the chicken main dish. A big thanks to our host Emil for giving us an entertaining introduction to various wines of Tuscany based on Sangiovese grapes. If you are going to celebrate a special occasion you should consider an evening at Café de France. You can read more about the restaurant on the restaurant homepage on http://www.cafedefrance.no/ . A 5 course meal is about 800 NOK (140 USD) and if you want wine to go along with the food you have to pay an additional 750 NOK (130 USD) but you can also go for a three course meal. 
We have gone to Sting many times over the years as it is a great informal place for a snack before going to e.g. the movies. One of the highlights at this place is the annual garlic festival in March/April where they have a special focus on…you guess it, garlic. The place is located at the top of the hill right next to Valbergstårnet so the location is pretty unique as most other restaurants and bars are located closer to the waterfront. And this location is also what makes their new feature so spectacular: they have opened a new rooftop terrace! I saw the sign for this new rooftop terrace a few months back but I could not really see how this could happen – but the other day when I stopped by they had just installed a sliding door in the middle of the main seating area leading out this new terrace and with a staircase leading up to the rooftop terrace.
We came there at about 5 pm on a Saturday to have a snack before going to the movies. The weather was beautiful as the sun was shining from a cloud free sky but it was also a bit of a chill in the air. But we went to the rooftop terrace and we were happy to see that there were a few tables available. I think this will soon change when the word gets spread that this terrace is now open. The rooftop terrace is placed in such a way that most of the tables did get sunlight and that is always a plus in a cold place like Norway. The rooftop terrace still needs the last finishing touches but nothing that prevents it from being a nice hangout spot already.
As always I had to go to the cashier to place the order and we decided to go for the burger (as we have tried that at various places lately). Sting is also the only(?) place in Stavanger were you get wine by the glass by the weight. They just place the glass on a scale and they ask you to “say when” as they pour the wine in. They have a few bottles to choose from when it comes to wine but with the new rooftop terrace I think it can turn into an even more popular spot for a cold beer as long as the weather cooperates.
It was great to sit in the sun and enjoy the view of Stavanger while waiting for the burger – and the burger was served sooner than expected. We talked a bit to the girl who served us the burger and she said that it had been a bit chaotic earlier on and people had been waiting for quite some time to get their food served. I guess that is something that the management has to deal with – they have just more or less double the seating capacity but it seems like they have the same kitchen and staff. That could spell disaster if they don’t plan for it. The burger was served with small, fried potatoes on the side and a garlic dip. But where was the tomato sauce or ketchup? The burger itself was good but I would have enjoyed pickles on mine instead of just cucumber. We were never asked how we wanted our burger done but it seemed like medium was the default setting so Nikki found her burger to be a bit too rare. The garlic dip really had lots of garlic in it by the way – I could feel my garlic breath myself the rest of the evening. Not that it is a negative thing but just be aware of it ;-) So I think the burger at Matbaren is still the best burger in town so far (you can read the Matbaren review here). The burger at Sting is 169 Kroner – with the current currency value that spells about 32 US dollars or 22 €.
But all in all – Café Sting is still a great place to go for a bit of snack. Even if their menu is limited you should be able to find something that you like. And it looks like there are lots of new things happening at this place and I’m sure they will stay in business for many years to come. With their new rooftop terrace I’m sure they will attract new crowds when the sun hits Stavanger in the summer months. You can read more about Sting on their homepage http://www.cafe-sting.no/ . It does not seem like their homepage is in English but click on Mat (meaning food) to see the menu, it is both in Norwegian and English.
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
The annual Stavanger wine festival is coming soon – this year it is from April 27th to April 30th. The “Route de vin” is already sold out unfortunately but there are of course other activities. You can read more about the wine festival on http://www.stavangervinfest.no/
It is not that easy to find new places to check out in a small town like Stavanger – and certainly not on a Sunday afternoon. We were going out with some friends and as the weather was good we looked into places like Bølgen & Moi (full), Sting (only opens at 3 PM), Hall Toll (closed on a Sunday) etc. In the end we decided to go for a new place called Matmagasinet located on the corner of Løkkeveien/Eiganesveien. Well, it has been there for a while I guess but it is new to me at least. The place is quite small and it seems to follow the concept that quite a few stores in Stavanger is following 
these days…it is part café, part coffee shop, part restaurant and part shop where you can buy food products (including Kusmi tea) to bring back home. The same concept is being used my e.g. FoodStory, Ostehuset etc. Anyway, we came there about 2 pm on a lazy Sunday afternoon and there were a table for us – they even have a few tables in the backyard if the weather behaves, how excellent is that? We decided to go for an antipasti menu as a shared starter while Nikki went for the risotto a fruite de mare (seafood risotto) while I was a bit more boring and went for the lasagna. This is not a restaurant by the way so you just place your order by the cashier and pay up front and the food will be served at your table. I tried to tell the young Swedish girl behind the counter that we wanted the antipasti as a starter but I’m not sure she totally understood my Stavanger dialect 
We had to wait quite a bit for the antipasti to be served but it was a excellent platter: Brie de maux, pecorini, Parma ham, Italian salami, artichokes, olives, capers flowers(?), pesto etc. It was an excellent selection and a good starter for the four of us. The only problem was that it took so long to get it that we were only half way through it when the main dish was served – so you guys have to work on your timing a little bit! Nikki’s risotto was quite a sight when it was served. A good portion of risotto served with a big crayfish on top and with 3-4 scallops. It was of course Nikki’s food but she allowed me to taste a bit as I love risotto – the risotto was maybe a bit over cooked but with a great taste of seafood so I think good stock has been used here. It could also have been seasoned a bit more with salt and pepper but apart from that it was excellent and Nikki was also happy with the crayfish and scallops. Actually this risotto was far better than risottos we’ve had in many other fancy restaurants!
My lasagna was also a good portion and what seemed to be good chunks of meat in it. On the menu it says lasagne with meat ragu and that is actually what it tasted like…like the ragu I had in Bologna last year (see my Bologna trip report). It was maybe a bit on the dry side but I guess I’m just a bit spoiled as I make it all fresh at home from time to time (and there is nothing like home cooking right? ;-) We were actually quite full already but as it had been so great so far we decided to go all the way and also go for dessert. Nikki went for the carrot muffin and I went for the tiramisu (quite a boring choice once again). Nikki was not totally crazy about the carrot muffin as it was a bit compact and it also contained chocolate chips. My tiramisu was served in a small bowl and the taste was good but serving it in a bowl like this makes it look pretty messy if you ask me. I would have like to see more defined layers of cream and ladyfingers. I always try the caffe mocha hoping to find one that can match the one at Charlie Brown but I think I will stick to double espresso the next time.
But all in all I think we have found a small gem in Stavanger 
It is only a few minutes walk away from the city center but I doubt that it is as crowded as e.g. Ostehuset on a Saturday afternoon but I will certainly check it out. From the web pages I see that this place has been open since the end of 2007 and I’m wondering how I have been able to miss it. The owners, Ruth and Else, seems to have lots of experience from around the world and are inspired by the Italian kitchen – my kinda place in other words. Well guys, I will certainly be your guest again, that is for sure and I will certainly recommended your place to people that I meet. There are some details that could be improved like a web page in English, a larger selection of wine, timing of the starter vs. the main dish etc. But these things are only details – I will be looking forward to my next visit and the next time I’ll try Ruth’s famous chocolate cake.
The antipasti was about 175 Kroner (32 USD), the ristotto was 245 kroner (45 USD) and my lasagna was 28 USD). Here is the link to the Matmagasinet homepage: http://www.matmagasinet.no/ . The also have wi-fi available and you‘ll get the password if you ask them politely ;-)
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
We arrived at the restaurant at 7 PM and we had booked a table in advance. We got a nice table with a great view of the harbour in Stavanger and for once this summer there was nice weather :-) But after we had sat down it took a long time before we got further follow up...we did not get any question about having a aperitif and it took about half an hour before we got the menu! The menu was only "Menu for the evening" that consisted of 5 courses. We asked if it was possible to order from the a la carte menu but we got told that this was not possible as the restaurant was full. I'm not sure that this is a good answer but we ordered from the evening menu and waited in anticipation.
To start with we got a small asparagus soup that was very good...and the focaccia bread also finally came to the table and this was served with a nice aioli. The first real dish for me was the pan fried monk fish served with carrot candy, fennel and lime beurre blanc. The fish was pretty good and the same goes for the Lois wine from Austria. Two of us had monk fish for starter and two others had saffron poached halibut ....but the halibut was not served until after we had finished the monk fish. This seemed to be a typical problem this evening...it just seemed like they had too much to do in the restaurant and they struggled with the timing the entire evening.
The main dish that night was entrecôte of veal with a puree and broccoli and asparagus and morel sauce. One of the members of the party had only ordered this main dish and dessert and normally the size of the portions varies according to how many dished you have. But here it seemed like we all got the same portion. We started eating the meat and after about 5 minutes the waiter all of a sudden brought in some potatoes. We were well into the meat and we didn't know that we would get potatoes as he didn't inform us about this...another evidence on the timing problem that I have mentioned. It turned out that the potatoes were quite dry so it didn't really matter if they were served a bit late. The veal was good but not as tender as I had hoped it would be and it would also be nice to have it a bit more fried. But the wine, a Chianti Classico from Felsina, was pretty good :-)
Two of the members of the party went for a cheese platter as well and this was served together with some dark bread and some sweet syrup. We got a brie de meaux, a blue veined cheese and another French cheese that I can't remember the name of. The cheese was very good and so was the dark bread that came with it. The wine was a Symphonie de Novembre.
The dessert of the evening was only described as Chocolate on the menu. When the waiter cleared away the cheese platter we asked if we could get some coffee to go along with the dessert and he said no problem. But it turned out to not be that easy...the coffee was served 5-10 minutes before the dessert and with no sugar and cream on the table. So we were more or less done with the coffee before the dessert was served...and before the sugar and cream was brought to the table. The dessert was excellent and was a nice combination of a really dark chocolate cake, a fruit cocktail and vanilla ice cream. I wouldn't mind having the recipe for the chocolate cake as it was pure candy. The wine for the dessert was Recioto Della Valpolicella, a sweet red wine and that was excellent to the dessert.
Here is a short review of Café Sting in Stavanger. We have visited this little restaurant many times over the years and it is usually a safe bet if we want a small and fast meal. The place is located right by the Valbergtårn and you can check out more info about the place and see the menu on their homepage http://www.cafe-sting.no/ . It is a small place so it can be hard to find a seat. It is also a popular place for just sitting down with friends to have a glass of wine or a beer. The place is informal and you order your meal by the counter but the food is brought to the table by a waiter
We stopped by Sting in March and even if it was Stavanger Wine festival it was not a problem getting a table. Nikki wanted to have the Italian pork chop while I went for the salad with grilled chicken. The food came surprisingly fast and Nikki was satisfied with her pork chop...the only problem was that they didn't have any real sharp knives and hence she had to do some tearing to get the meat of the pork chop :-) My salad was also goo with lots of chicken, marinated portobello mushroom etcWell, let us talk about the dining experience. We arrived at 7.30 PM and the place is very cosy even if it is some kind of basement. There were candles on the tables and soft music in the background. This was a company dinner by the way and we were out with clients. We decided to go for the 8 course meal (about 500 kroner/80$) and the wine package to go along with it (635 kroner/100$)
We started with a Kir Royal but the first course arrived pretty fast. We started with foie gras served with some sort of apple "jam" and with beetroot syrup. We got a pretty sweet white wine to go along with this (Marc Tempé Tokay-Pinot Gris Vendage Tardives ’99). I don't think that I have had a sweet wine like this for a starter before (normally you get the sweet wine for the desserts) but it worked surprisingly good. Foie gras can be a bit overwhelming but in small portions and together with the acidic apples and sweet wine it was very good.
We continues with a soup based on cauliflower and truffles. The truffle taste can be a bit too much but in this soup it was just right :-) We went over to more traditional white wine now...Rieffel Riesling Brandluft ’2004. In the description of the dish it said that the soup would also contain ”chicken mousse and parma ham...”. I have no idea where this chicken was but I think I found a tiny piece of meat in the soup that might have been the parma ham :-) But the soup was good in any case.
We continued with the same wine and the next course was fried scallop. Scallops are not my favorite but having one like this is pretty good. I'm not quite sure I know what we got served on the side for this dish. The description said ”beurre noisette”? and I guess you have to check out Wikipedia if you want to find out what it is :-). 
Next dish in line was the traditional Norwegian klippfisk (salted and dried cod). This was a klippfisk tempura with pepper coulisse og saffron vinaigrette. I know...it sounds very fancy but I didn't find it to be great. It just tasted like deep fried something with a sweet and sour sauce. The fish was OK but it didn't really taste like klippfisk in my opinion...some might say that is positive :-) The wine to go along with this dish was José Michel Carte Blanche.
And then we started on the first main dish of the day...fish of the day. In our case this was cod with leek, spinach and anchovies mayonnaise. The fish was excellent and it was quite nice to get a red wine to this dish...we had a Terreno Chianti Classico ’2004. 
Maybe it was the food that influenced my taste buds but this wine didn't taste like a Chianti...but it was good and I think it went very good to the cod. The second main course was lamb carré with polenta, small onions and tomato based demi glace. Once again an excellent plate and the wine was Chateau des Sarrins Rouge ’2002. The wine was OK...when I say OK I guess you have to take into account that I have not developed a taste for French wines yet...until now my favorites are Spanish and Italian red wines.
On the menu it said ”Pina Colada” for the next dish. We thought that we would get a cocktail drink but it turned out to be a small dessert where small pieces of pineapple was topped with a sweet whipped cream with coconut taste. This was a very good dessert and it was refreshing.
I have to admit that I have no idea what wine we got for this dish...maybe this shows that I had had too much wine already :-) The last dish was chocolate nemesis, some sort of eclaire with custard and a raspberry and champagne sorbet. The small chocolate cake was fantastic and it tasted like they had used dark, dark, dark chocolate to make it. And it was nice and fresh with the sorbet to go along with this.
All in all this was a very good meal. But this is a top restaurant so I would also like to mention some things that were not perfect.
As you can see this is just details and it did not ruin the experience in any way.
My conclusion: I recommend that you try out Jans mat og vinhus. Bring someone you love and go for the whole package with wine and food. It is a great experience.
Here is the review of the restaurant in the local newspaper RA: http://www.rogalandsavis.no/bruland/article2561379.ece - only in Norwegian I'm afraid. And here is a link to the restaurants homepage http://www.jans.no
Regards
