An izakaya in Stavanger! Kita by Deja Vu by night (Restaurant is permanently closed)
Note that this restaurant is permanently closed!
During the summer of 2015 we found out that chef Øyvind Næsheim would open a new restaurant in Stavanger. This was during a Magasin Blaa event where it was possible to sample some of his impressive creations. He pointed out that he was going to start a Japanese restaurant but not a sushi restaurant. Øyvind has previously worked for the restaurant Nobu in various places but now he has returned home to the region where he is from to present a “izakaya” concept to the Stavanger audience. The restaurant opened on September 10th 2015 and I got to check it out with Nikki and our friends Ivy and Gaute at the end of September. Kita is located in the same place as Déjà vu…so Déjà vu runs the show during day time and at night it turns into Kita. Déjà vu is a decent place to eat but it has always been a lunch place as it is in a small shopping mall that closes early. But now they have made some adjustments and Kita is open till late. Kita has a more upscale atmosphere but still welcoming. The lampshades are especially interesting in the evening.
We came to Kita a bit late after a comedy show (about 10.30 pm) and we got a table and the menu. The menu is not that extensive and it will be changing depending on what ingredients the chef can get his hands on. We decided to try to share all the warm dishes and the waiter said that this was fine for sharing but he suggested doubling the portions on some of the dishes and we followed his advice on that. It did not take long before we got a lovely fried fish on the table and it came with a couple of dips. The fish was excellent and it was a joy to taste that it seemed to come straight out of the frying pan and not dripping in oil. We even got the bones and they were deep-fried and edible too.
After a few minutes we got some dumplings on the table. Again it turned out to be a great little dish. It seemed to be some sort of minced meat stuffing in a pasta shell that had been steamed. I think they are known as gyoza in Japan. Next we were served some small hamburgers – or sliders as they are also known. The sliders were awesome actually – the meat was fried to medium and rare in the center; the buns were warm; and the sauce was excellent. I was not crazy about the wasabi ketchup that was served on the side but then again I’m not a big fan of kimchi.
The fried mushroom that we had was also good but the next highlight was steamed buns with pork belly! Again served fresh and warm and with a great sauce. Nikki was inspired so now we need to perfect steam bun recipes! The next two dishes served were monkfish with wasabi and deep fried squid / calamari. The wasabi that was on the monkfish was apparently only made with the stem of the root that wasabi comes from and that should give it a different taste. I’m not big on sushi and I don’t really like the taste of wasabi – so this was not my favorite dish. The squid was not bad either and was served in a similar way of the fish we started with. To round off the meal we got chicken skewers (Yakitori) with a tasty dressing.
We enjoyed the meal at Kita – the food was served in portions which were great for us as we got to taste the dishes one by one. It was also great to have this meal together with friends as it was perfect for sharing. The meal that we had was enough to make us comfortably full and we walked out of there at about midnight. The price for us was about 450 Kroner (50 USD) per person and that included a bottle of Riesling that we shared. The drinks menu also listed some sake.
I’m always glad to see new restaurants open in Stavanger and I’m even happier when it turns out that it is a good restaurant that has opened. This is absolutely a place that we will go back to and I hope that we can go there with more friends in order to taste more of Øyvind Næsheim’s creations.
Check out the Kita homepage for more information. It is great to see that they have a proper solution for online booking!
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
During the summer of 2015 we found out that chef Øyvind Næsheim would open a new restaurant in Stavanger. This was during a Magasin Blaa event where it was possible to sample some of his impressive creations. He pointed out that he was going to start a Japanese restaurant but not a sushi restaurant. Øyvind has previously worked for the restaurant Nobu in various places but now he has returned home to the region where he is from to present a “izakaya” concept to the Stavanger audience. The restaurant opened on September 10th 2015 and I got to check it out with Nikki and our friends Ivy and Gaute at the end of September. Kita is located in the same place as Déjà vu…so Déjà vu runs the show during day time and at night it turns into Kita. Déjà vu is a decent place to eat but it has always been a lunch place as it is in a small shopping mall that closes early. But now they have made some adjustments and Kita is open till late. Kita has a more upscale atmosphere but still welcoming. The lampshades are especially interesting in the evening.
We came to Kita a bit late after a comedy show (about 10.30 pm) and we got a table and the menu. The menu is not that extensive and it will be changing depending on what ingredients the chef can get his hands on. We decided to try to share all the warm dishes and the waiter said that this was fine for sharing but he suggested doubling the portions on some of the dishes and we followed his advice on that. It did not take long before we got a lovely fried fish on the table and it came with a couple of dips. The fish was excellent and it was a joy to taste that it seemed to come straight out of the frying pan and not dripping in oil. We even got the bones and they were deep-fried and edible too.
After a few minutes we got some dumplings on the table. Again it turned out to be a great little dish. It seemed to be some sort of minced meat stuffing in a pasta shell that had been steamed. I think they are known as gyoza in Japan. Next we were served some small hamburgers – or sliders as they are also known. The sliders were awesome actually – the meat was fried to medium and rare in the center; the buns were warm; and the sauce was excellent. I was not crazy about the wasabi ketchup that was served on the side but then again I’m not a big fan of kimchi.
The fried mushroom that we had was also good but the next highlight was steamed buns with pork belly! Again served fresh and warm and with a great sauce. Nikki was inspired so now we need to perfect steam bun recipes! The next two dishes served were monkfish with wasabi and deep fried squid / calamari. The wasabi that was on the monkfish was apparently only made with the stem of the root that wasabi comes from and that should give it a different taste. I’m not big on sushi and I don’t really like the taste of wasabi – so this was not my favorite dish. The squid was not bad either and was served in a similar way of the fish we started with. To round off the meal we got chicken skewers (Yakitori) with a tasty dressing.
We enjoyed the meal at Kita – the food was served in portions which were great for us as we got to taste the dishes one by one. It was also great to have this meal together with friends as it was perfect for sharing. The meal that we had was enough to make us comfortably full and we walked out of there at about midnight. The price for us was about 450 Kroner (50 USD) per person and that included a bottle of Riesling that we shared. The drinks menu also listed some sake.
I’m always glad to see new restaurants open in Stavanger and I’m even happier when it turns out that it is a good restaurant that has opened. This is absolutely a place that we will go back to and I hope that we can go there with more friends in order to taste more of Øyvind Næsheim’s creations.
Check out the Kita homepage for more information. It is great to see that they have a proper solution for online booking!
Regards
Gard
gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures
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