XO bar / Vertshuset

Date of the meal: 17/05/2012
Number of people: 3 adults
Order: "Beef Saute", "Selection of trout, catfish and monk fish", "Tenderloin of deer"
Total price: 1056 NOK (about 300 for a la carte main course)

I have already reviewed this restaurant here and explained why I thought it was a good place for people willing to try a typical Norwegian dish (komler).

Today, for the 17th of May (Independance day of Norway), we thought that eating Norwegian food would particularly fit and decided to go there. We were with a Norwegian friend of mine. As the 17th May is a bit chaotic for restaurants, they were only proposing a-la-carte menu.

My friend went for something quite typical Norwegian: "biffsnadder". It is basically small pieces of beef with bearnaise sauce. The meat is generally well-done but you can probably asked less cooked if you prefer. My friend liked it very much and said it was really good. He liked the texture, the composition of the plate and the taste of the meat. The bearnaise sauce was also quite good and was put apart which in my opinion is a good thing, as you can choose how much you want of it.

My wife went for something called "fish symphony" in the menu in Norwegian. The menu in English only says "selection of trout, catfish and monk fish", which is a shame as "fish symphony" was a pretty name. It was a selection of three fish, served with vegetables and potatoes of your choice (gratinated, french fries, ...). My wife liked it but did not think it was exceptional.

As for me, I ordered the tenderloin of deer which was really good. Good quality of meat, well cooked and the sauce was really good too. Also, I don't have the occasion to eat deer that often.

Speaking about prices, this restaurant may be a bit expensive but you have to remember that it is located in city center, that meat of that quality is expensive and that overall Stavanger is an expensive city.

All in all, this was a really good dining experience. For more details about the restaurant, atmosphere, service and so on, please relate to the first post I wrote about this restaurant. You could also visit the website of the restaurant. Don't hesitate to share this page, comment it, facebook-like it, google+1 it, etc...