Restaurant SÖL — Restaurant in Stavanger

This restaurant opened in February 2018 and the reviews were good. We decided to check it out on a Friday night in May to see what Restaurant SÖL is all about. It is located just a short walk away from the city center. It is in quiet surroundings and maybe that is why the previous restaurants in this location has gone out of business very fast.

Restaurant SÖL is a small place with room for maybe 20-30 guest. The guests have a view into the open kitchen and I was surprised to see that the three young chefs that runs the place, carries out all the work themselves. According to their web site they will have a focus on good vegetables with an add on of meat/fish if this fits in. Keywords are Nordic flavors, sustainability and vegetables. To match this, they also focus on serving natural wines.

We got there just after 8 and got a table right by the kitchen. In some places this can be an issue as there is a lot of noise from the kitchen. But in this place, I could hardly hear that food was prepared just feet away from us. We got the menu and it is simple: they have a set menu! We decided to go all in and have the menu with matching wine. It did not take long before we got some white wine in the glass and some lovely fresh (still warm) bread with a fluffy butter on the side. I was starving so this was very appreciated.

The first dish was a bowl of bacondashi, cabbage, ramson (ramsløk in Norwegian) and egg. The first question we had was “What is dashi?” and apparently it is a Japanese stock with quite a lot of umami flavor. And it had a lot of flavor indeed! It was a lovely starter and first of all because of the richness in the dashi. In addition, it was great to find a perfectly poached egg at the bottom.

We got a new glass of white wine (I did not note down the names as most of them are not available at Vinmonopolet) and prepared for the second dish. Again we got a dish that was beautiful presented: half a cauliflower served with buttermilk, nuts and roe from a fish called rognkjeks (lumpsucker in English). I’m not that crazy about cauliflower so this dish was not my favorite. But it was interesting to taste the grilled cauliflower together with the slightly sour taste of the buttermilk.

The main dish of the evening was a sort of risotto served with chicken (or actually organic hen) and topped with lovage (løpstikke) and salad. Instead of using risotto rice they had replaced this with grains that can be grown in Norway I assume. The “risotto” was not bad at all – but as I love my risotto made from risotto rice, I always feel that it is false advertising to name a dish like this “risotto”. But the chicken/hen was juicy, and the grains had a good firmness. I would have preferred more grains and less of the green salad on top. The risotto was served with a red wine.

The dessert was lovely: grilled apple with an ice cream that had a slight malt taste to it (or toast ice cream according to the menu). And to round it of we got a fresh warm dish called “epleskiver”. It is some sort of Danish pancake balls and it was delicious. Not sure why it is called epleskiver as it does not seem to contain any apples ;-)

Conclusion: I’m impressed to see three chefs venture into something like this and I hope that the place will make it in the Stavanger restaurant scene. We enjoyed the dinner at Restaurant SÖL even if we were not totally blown away. They change the menu based on what they have so I would not mind going there to try...

My favourite place to eat out in Stavanger when I want some extra luxury without breaking the budget entirely. Been here twice now, first with the job which was a super awesome experience and recently with family which was just as great. The service delivered by the staff is very high standard. The waiters are super friendly and knowledable about the food and wine combinations. The chefs are down to earth, and their passion for the food really shines through when they come to your table to describe what's in front of you. I especially liked the story / explaination about the name of the place, "Söl", which is a type of seaweed. Their wine-pairing with natural wines are and awesome addition to their menu, but expect them in general to be more sweet and acid. Their coffee is also really good. Not many places where you get light roasted coffee, I would consider going here just for that if that was an option during the day. Only thing to put a finger on was the small cake filled with jam and topped with whipped cream which we were served after the dinner along with the coffee. The cake itself didn't taste of much, and the jam was an overwhelming sweet taste. We were also told to just eat it with our hands, which was a messy business, since the cake was to big to go in one bite and too small to get a good grip. Didn't feel it met the same standard as the rest...

Restaurant SÖL's history can be traced back to ten years ago, when a couple who loved cooking decided to turn their dream into reality. They started with a small kitchen, focusing on providing fresh and healthy food options to the community. As word of mouth spread, the restaurant gradually expanded and attracted more and more diners. The restaurant's name "SÖL" comes from Swedish, meaning "sun", symbolizing warmth and enthusiasm. Over the years, SÖL has continued to innovate and develop, striving to introduce new dishes and styles. At the same time, the restaurant is also active in community activities, regularly holding food workshops and charity events, and has won a good social reputation (p3) Figure 2, 🦌The meat itself has the characteristics of low fat and high protein, and the meat is tender. In the preparation of the sauce, the sour taste usually comes from fresh fruits (such as oranges, pineapples or vinegar) or seasonings (such as yogurt). This sour taste can effectively neutralize the gamey flavor of venison, enhance the deliciousness of the meat, and make the overall taste more balanced. The sweet taste comes from sugar, honey or jam, etc., which add a natural sweetness to the dishes, making the overall taste heavier and layered. The combination of sweet and sour flavors makes the flavor of venison more prominent, adding an unparalleled...