Bhoga Restaurang

At one point there are 19 glasses on our table. The server inquires considerately if we feel that we’ve finished any of them, but mmm ... no, we’d rather keep sipping. Drinking at Bhoga is pure indulgence, just as the restaurant’s name promises (if you happen to know Sanskrit). Few other places lay on a more enjoyable and comprehensive drinks offer. The wine list is carefully put together and full of small craft producers, locally brewed beer, cidre nature, house-pressed juices, and unusual spirits – and few restaurants at this level can boast a better hand with cocktails. The drinks packages change all the time. All of which is impressive in a place whose two owners are both in the kitchen. And mind you, they don’t do a bad job there either – after all, most guests come here primarily for the food. There are set menus of varying length, to suit the everyday guest as well as the work dinner and the party night. ‘But why don’t we start with a warming broth before you decide how much you want to eat?’ The kitchen knows its drinks as well – said broth is supped straight from the bowl, and is made from the autumn’s rich harvest of yellowfoot, allied with small bits of Gotland truffle and browned butter. It also gets on famously with the bready champagne generously bubbling in our glasses. This is followed by a tartlet triplet: fresh cheese and vendace roe, butternut squash with its seeds, and a small, narrow malted cracker with blackcurrants and shredded duck’s liver. Crispy, creamy and salty. Just like the next drink: a coriander-scented, naturally fermented beer with a touch of sea salt – a description that fits almost as well for the riesling from Hollenburger, an Austrian organic producer. New scents arrive with a scallop from Fröya, carefully smoked in hay and bathed in flavourful mussel broth, some browned butter and a splash of tart vinegar, all of it topped with wood sorrel. A lot of thought has clearly gone into each ingredient choice, and quality and sustainability permeate the whole experience – as does butter, which is a consistent feature throughout the menu. The celeriac dish makes spring-longing hearts beat a little faster. Roasted forever, it is accompanied by a butter sauce flavoured with the juice of fermented white asparagus and grated Gotland truffle. You can’t get more yumminess points than that. Bhoga keeps its banner of indulgence flying, and continues to be a fresh breeze on the Gothenburg dining scene – even if they haven’t pushed the envelope quite as far this year as we’ve got used to. Still, we do like it here in the frugal Nordic setting by the blustery harbour entrance.

Published december 2019