Saturday, April 24, 2010

New Norwegians

Naboen is one of the best places in Bergen to find interesting beers. At the moment Naboen can offer several Norwegian craft beers from tap, and as far as I know this is the only place in Bergen to offer ales on hand pumps.

Last year Naboen started offering draught beers from Ægir brewery, and just before Christmas the new Kinn brewery was also present at the combined restaurant and pub. Naboen is really supporting the Kinn beers, and the last months they have always made two beers from Kinn available on the hand pumps.

I had a visit to Naboen last month. I was a little bit hungry, so I started out with a hamburger. The beef was perfectly cooked. Mince meat was not used, and the chips had a great, crispy consistency. The bun was also nice, so in all it was a good and filling fast food dinner with a tasty salsa on the side.

To drink I tried Ægir's special Easter beer, Påskesol. Påskesol (which means Easter sun in English) was a golden lager with very little carbonation. It was a nice lager with a solid presence of orange in both the nose and the mouth. The finish was tasty with a hint of bitterness. This was a great lager and one of the best I have ever had in Norway. Delicious! The price at Naboen was 94 NOK for a half litre, which is slightly more than 10 GBP.

I also had to try one of the Kinn beers. I chose the stout, which is called Svart hav (black sea in English). The beer lived up to its name, and Svart hav was a really black stout. In the glass it had no carbonation and was served with a little head. I felt some coffee aromas before tasting the beer. In the mouth cold coffee struggled with tastes of pears before it had a bitter finish. This was a very nice stout, and it is nice knowing that a little brewery in the little Norwegian town Florø makes this beer. 69 NOK was the price for a pint, which is around 7.50 GBP. At the moment, Naboen also sells Kinn's brown ale, Sjelefred, which is translated to English as "peace of mind".

I am a frequent visitor to Naboen when I am in Bergen, and I will recommend visitors to Bergen to take the trip to the restaurant. The food is nice, and the beers are great. In addition to Kinn and Ægir, you will always find beers from Nøgne Ø and Haandbryggeriet on tap.

No comments:

Post a Comment