Tango Bar & Kjøkken (2015)TV-Chef Kjartan Skjelde's Stavanger Restaurant
I don’t know for how long I have wanted to dine at Tango bar & kjøkken. Everyone kept telling me that Tango was one of the very top restaurants in Stavanger; a place which is close to my heart since I was born and raised in the neighbor city of Sandnes. The mysterious concrete block building would let me wait for a long time, though.
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The Tango house
In fact, I have attempted to book a table at Tango several times, but there have always been some fuckups in the booking system which left me without a table. Once we even showed up, thinking we had a reservation, but it turned out our e-mail was never read by the restaurant. For a period of time, I was a bit annoyed, I’ll admit, and almost scratched the place off my to-visit-list completely. Ironically, I had to be a judge for the Gladmat food festival to finally land me a seat.
That being said, it was not hard to let go of the past, because the team at Tango really delivered a high-quality meal and dining experience. So good, actually, that I had to return several times during the festival to try some extra dishes on the menu and check out the rooftop serving as well. I suspect a lot of the dishes are not presented the same way off-food-festival-season, but the flavors and texture combinations in almost all servings were really outstanding.
The owner Kjartan Skjelde is a profiled Norwegian chef, author, and TV-host. He runs a top-level restaurant in a city that doesn’t even seem to be on the map of the Michelin guide. One can only hope that changes soon. I knew I had seen the restaurant manager Jonathan Lundgren before, and had to ask if he had worked at restaurant Måltid in Kristiansand. That turned out to be correct. Måltid is another restaurant which deserves more attention from the French food tourism book.
Welcoming us in the door was Børge Strøm, the daily manager, and Jonathan Lundgren, the restaurant managerAn amuse bouche of fried, honey glazed goat cheese with chives. Tasty! You’re left wanting more than a tiny bite. It serves its purposeFried crab cake, nouc-cham and acidic cabbage, mayo and corianderAfter a rosé Champagne we got the evening’s first white wine. A crisp, fresh Huber Grüner Veltliner TerrassenMarinated raw scallops , celeriac cream, pickled celeriac, miso brown butter, cress and potato crumbs. Full of flavor and contrasts without killing the gentle taste of the scallopsThe second white wine, richer and more complex, a Claude Riffault Sancerre Les BoucaudsTartare of veal, crispy onions, ponzu, radish, chervil, nasturtium and a horseradish mayo. A great dish! High quality meat, a fatty mayo mixed with an acidic sauce and the slight sting from both the horseradish and nasturtium. Crispy onions supply the necessary textural contrast which makes it more interestingThis dish was a complete surprise! It looks like it will be a bit boring, taking you back to the foam era in the restaurant world. Once you stick the spoon into the glass, however, you realize this consists of many layers. “Løyrom”, pickled halibut, pickled chanterelles, croutons and mushroom espuma. Fat and acidity is balanced, and the textures vary from soft foam, to fish with a bite and crispy bread dices. My favorite servingDry aged duck breast, duck hearts, red beets, kale, celeriac cream and a sauce from the duck juicesThe only red wine. Franck Massard Licis 2009.Lamb confit from Prima Jæren, potatoes from Gyda gård at Hommersåk, peas, carrots and turnipAn original cheese serving. Kraftkar blue cheese, cress and variations of rhubarb, served on a crispy breadTo match the cheeses we got a Mikkeller Big Worster, an American style barley wine ale. A rich, flavourful beer that can deal with some serious blue cheese punchesDeconstructed Snickers! What’s not to love about this dessert? A chocolate terrine, salty caramel ice cream, peanut crisps, chocolate mousse, raspberry and wood sorrel.Time for dessert wine! Müllen Riesling Auslese Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. I love the sweetness of Rieslings like this. It’s not a powerful sweet flavor, just soft, light and smoothSouschef Jan-Erik Hauge in the kitchenI snook into the kitchen to snap some photos of the final dessert in the makingCheesecake parfait, strawberry sorbet, rhubarb gel, mini churros and elderflower “nitro”Karl Torbjørn Andersen playing with liquid nitrogenSantero Brachetto Dolce. Another dessert wine for the final dessert, but not my favorite kindRaspberries from Brimse gård, with a lemon cream and frozen elderflower meringue
Tango Rooftop Terrace
We also checked out Tango terrasse & grill on the rooftopMussels “green curry” with bread and aioliSteambun with caramelized pork belly, chili mayo, spring onion and coriander. Insane size on the steambun, and they look like they have been baked as a bun and slized open rather than steamed as a pocket. The flavor, though, oh my god!
Have you dined at Tango in Stavanger? During the Gladmat food festival, or at regular service? What’s your impression? Please leave a comment below.Lagre
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Yes truly a inspired Of japanese causin with the touch of Nordic