This story has a happy ending…read more It starts unimpressively. * * * Our Airbnb host told us this was the most quintessential Norwegian food in Stavenger. We were expecting classic Nordic cuisine in a fine room. We got a coffee and sandwich shop in the middle of downtown next to some ugly office buildings. ??????? But it had some nice modern decorating. It sold fancy pillows and grocery oddments on the side. (Marcona almonds, Danish licorice, Norwegian health food cookbooks.) We were tired, so we said what the hell. * * * The first half of the meal confirmed our worst impressions. We got two healthy good-for-you salads of the types prepared by major priests of the good-for-you-school. The salads were made competently enough. I struggled through my kale-equivalents. There were some surprisingly good and strong Norwegian red-purple sprouts on top which added a nice accent to the salad. Norwegian sprouts aside, I was beginning to curse the moment Moosewood ever opened its restaurant. * * * But now that I had eaten my vegetables, I could have my treat. The second course was a platter of Norwegian and French cheeses. OSTEHUSET, YOU ARE SO FORGIVEN! No duh, Ostehuset means cheese house in Norwegian. You wouldn't think this was a cheese house. The only cheese in their grocery holdings were two small refrigerated cases, less than 10% of their total inventory. My local supermarket carries more brands of cheese. And the overwhelming majority of menu items and grocery items they sold were non-cheese. But cheese is one thing they do extraordinarily well. I won't bore you with an item by item list of the cheese orgasms I had. I will just point out that the brie they served was the best brie I have had in my life. Not the bland cream cheese of people who are afraid of Brie. Not the death metal brie of people who want something to shock themselves into insensibility and to hell with cheese tasting good. This was an uncompromising nasty brie that was also suave and mellow. Beauty and the beast in a cheese. An added treat on the side were apricots candied in orange peel. A vast improvement on normal candied apricots. * * * We did not get the grand Norwegian classics we were looking for. But we ate healthy and had nice French cheese. You can do worse.

An excellent alternative if you have had your fill of sandwiches. Great vegetable dishes, coffee,…read morecheese. Fancy cafeteria style. Can get pricey but I had a great salad plate for under 80k ($10).

Good coffee, colorful and a genuinely happy staff. This has…read morebeen an (almost) daily stop over the last week while in Stavanger. I enjoy smiling, happy, faces and since the custom around here is for people to keep to themselves, it's nice to walk into a coffee shop and be greeted with good eye contact and a smile, regardless of who is behind the bar. The glass front of the shop allows for fun people watching while you sit and drink your coffee too.

I took my Hawaiian friend here for breakfast and it was an absolute success! Even though it was a…read moresimple selection of sandwiches they're so good AND they had two options for vegetarians, one of them vegan! We had the flat white coffee which was awesome, the chicken /bacon/avocado sandwich and the cream cheese/tomatoes/onions bagel. Also had to try the pink makron cake(picture) and it was heaven!! The lady who owns the café is so sweet and lovely. It's a private business and her and her husband built up this cafe and one in Sandnes. Good job!!! Creds!

Tasty and affordable sandwiches, this is my to go lunch spot when I'm at work in town. Very…read morefriendly people working there. Definitely a laid back spot, great for grabbing coffee with a group of friends.

An excellent place with a delightful atmosphere, serving both the cheesiest mouthwatering pizzas,…read moreas well as shakes, coffees and other delicacies. With a gracious hospitality, seldom found in your average coffee bar. My most excellent recommendations to this one of Stavanger's oldest of its kind. Very affordable prices.

Efendi Tea and Coffee House is a great place to stop for tea or a cocktail along the colored…read morestreets in Stavanger. The freshly brewed tea was so beautiful and so delicious. Love the set up for the tea. The teapot. The seven minute timer. The clear glass tea cup. The woven coaster. So excited to see the rose colored pomegranate spiced tea being poured after the wait. So unique. So delicious. Our friends also had a couple of beautiful drinks as we sat on the outdoor front courtyard. Love the small flower petals that decorated the drinks. A nice place to enjoy a beautiful summer day with friends in Stavanger.

All is wonderfull. Ambiance is perfect. Service is so fast…read more You can find easliy and places is same as the name os street. If you need to talk with your friend and hear what says, choise the efendi cafe

Coffee to the people! Best place to get your coffee, with great personell and brilliant service…read more Support your local independent coffee shop! These guys are experts.

Great coffee, brilliant service! Independent coffee shop,…read moreway better than Starbucks and the like.

This was a very delicious stop. The egg and bacon bagel was excellent. Very fresh. Although the…read moreegg was over easy, it worked. The fish soup was a bit fishy, but I guess that's what it is. Not a good breakfast item, but had to try. The quiche was perfectly done. Tasted fresh and was flaky and delicious.

This place has the best fish soup (and maybe just best soup in general) that I've ever had! It's…read morebeen over a year since I've had it and I'm still thinking about it!

Smelled so yummy as we walked by. It was a great stop while touring the city. I tried their raisin…read morebread amd it was very soft and yummy! We also bought the cinnamon bread and a cinnamon bread with vanilla custard, both very delicious! Definitely a stop to be made while walking around and seeing the fun art all around the city

We walked all the way across Stavanger with the express purpose of eating in this one bakery…read more It was totally totally totally worth it. * * * The baked goods are what make this place stand out, But the coffee is pretty darn fine too. We have been drinking cafe lattes. Intrinsically, these don't vary much from place to place. As long as the coffee is not stale and the milk is fresh, you should be in business. But at Kanelsnurren, the cafe lattes are dramatically better. Better beans? The Edvard Grieg of Norwegian baristas making the espresso? Who knows? But the world perked up with the first sip. * * * But at a bakery you are there for the baked goods. They have both heavy Scandinavian breads and lighter fluffier wonders. I did not try the heavies such as the ryes or the korns. I had a ham sandwich with one of the mixed seed sandwich buns. Inferior versions of this taste okay and sit in your stomach like a shot put afterwards. This version of the bun tasted complex and amazing. The bread was light and ethereal both while being consumed and afterwards. Leaving the restaurant, I could have floated up the hill to the neighborhood church. (I actually did so. The cafe latte provided the additional lift.) * * * But as good as the sandwich was, the star of the show was dessert. I got a chocolate and hazelnut bun with a big dollop of chocolate on top. Surprise, surprise, the pastry was nearly empty inside, like a popover or a Yorkshire pudding. But it was rich and buttery and comforting like a Popover. Yes, the inside of the popover cavity had dollops of chocolate and of hazelnut. It was big enough to be filling, light enough to be ethereal, delicate enough to be guilt-free, and chocolatey-nutty enough to totally delight my inner three year old. Popovers for dessert? Proof that God exists and the Universe is a Wonderful Place. And the extra lightness got me down the other side of the hill with the church after the sandwich and the coffee had done their job. * * * The bread and pastry at Kanelsnurren are insanely good. But with all of that lightness, maybe one of their secret ingredients is helium?

Gamlevaerket is three things in one. Mostly, it's a restaurant with a bakery and patio. But they…read morehave guest rooms, priced well and just about the best location you can get if you are in Sandnes - on the main shopping street, near the transit center / train station, and walking distance to everything Sandnes has to offer. One tip if you stay at Gamle Vaerket - get a room that has a window to the "outside" - ie: real nighttime air. We didn't have A/C in our room and it was one of the rooms with a window opening to the inside of the hotel. Those windows can let in hotel/bar noise, but they don't cool the room down much. We still liked our room, and they had fans which helped keep it somewhat cool. (Note - their web site lists air conditioning as a feature - either #201's A/C was busted or they are generous with their definition. The outside hallway was cool, so somewhere there was air conditioning, but our room tended towards stuffy and we didn't see an obvious way to cool the room other than the two fans. I'd book one of the outside facing rooms just to be sure.) Breakfast and wifi was included. The breakfast buffet was good, including a fair variety of basics with a few regional flavors for the locals or the adventurous (herring and brown cheese, for example).

Came with a friend after a walk at Borne Beach. My friend ordered the cashew burger which came with…read morehummus and some vegetables. I had not yet had a burger in Norway and figured as it was my last night, why not get one? He seemed to love his meal. Me? Not so much. I guess they use frozen burger patties (our server had to come and tell us that there was a delay as they had to thaw one in order to make mine-I would not have ordered it, had I known). It had an odd flavor and texture. The hamburger roll was a bit dry. The fries were perfect and they gave me a tasty cheese to dip with to apologize for the delayed meal. Service was excellent. The restaurant is beautiful. Maybe if I was to go again, choosing a different option would offer a better meal.