Chicken burger at Delikatessen Hinna

We're not especially good at making use of the neighbourhood restaurants around Stavanger — a habit worth breaking. A few weeks back we stopped by Delikatessen Hinna before heading on to a sauna session at Hinna, and it turned out to be a very good decision.

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  Interior

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  Delikatessen Hinna

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  Interior

The place felt both larger and cosier than I remembered. It sits inside Stadionparken, but you forget you're in a shopping centre remarkably quickly — the room has enough warmth and character to stand on its own. The menu is more wide-ranging than expected: fish soup to char siu (Cantonese pork neck), gnocchi to steak, and what looks like a decent pizza selection too. There's genuinely something here for most moods.

I took the easy route and went for the Firecracker chicken burger — and it was outstanding. It arrived after 15–20 minutes, built on thigh meat, which means properly juicy rather than dry, and it came loaded with kimchi coleslaw, black garlic mayo and a gochujang glaze that brought a decent kick of heat. All of it wrapped in a brioche bun from the local baker Vaaland Dampbakeri. What's not to like, frankly. The kimchi fries served alongside were good in their own right. Personal preference talking here — I tend to like my fries without too much piled on top — but there's no faulting the execution.

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  Firecracker burger

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  Burger and fries

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  Kimchi fries

The beer selection leans heavily on Lervig. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd love to see a few other producers represented — Jåttå Gårdsbryggeri is practically a stone's throw away (with a decent tailwind, at least). The wine list, on the other hand, is perfectly respectable.

All in all, I'd happily return — both to work through more of the menu and to put a bit of support behind the neighbourhood restaurants. Worth planning a visit around the neighbouring bar Zip 4020 too, which runs wine tastings from time to time.

The verdict is that this was a reminder that the local spots deserve more of our attention. It is important that we use the neighbourhood restaurants if we want to keep them.

Highlights

• Genuinely varied menu

• Very well-executed chicken burger

• Solid wine list

• Cosier than its location suggests

Watch out for

• Beer selection almost entirely Lervig

• Kimchi fries won't suit every fries purist