Oceanen
“Your typical Gothenburg-vibes pub.”
Gothenburg has a specific vibe to it. It’s a mix of maritime themes, industrial history and vibrant, down-to-earth people. Stigbergstorget is a prime example of exactly that. A bit rough, a bit weird, but a great place to show people Gothenburg. Oceanen is one of the staples around here and regularly visited by locals.
Right at Stigbergstorget and next to Gathenhielmska Huset (beautiful building, worth visiting!), you will find Oceanen. Outside seating will guide you right into it. It’s a cosy pub. A bit messy, but that makes it all the better in my book.
But we are here for food. It isn’t my first visit to Oceanen, but a first in a long time. The reason? Sometime in the past years Oceanen changed their menu from typical pub food to Indian. Sounds weird, right? Yeah, it was. Not only that, the food was really bad as well and nowhere near the beauty of Indian spices well blended in a nice composition. Whether this was just a special for a few weeks or even a day? No clue, but it turned me and my wife off so much, that we didn’t dare to visit Oceanen for a long while (when hungry).
So it came as a nice surprise to see their pub menu is back. A lot of burgers (vegan options), and sausages (vegan) are on the menu. Love it! We went for the currywurst. As someone who grew up in the capital of currywurst (not Berlin, the other with the B in the west), I have quite some standards though.
Plated metal on metal (hell yeah!) the sausage is on a bed of fries topped with mayonnaise, the curry sauce and pickles. After a first bite though a weird sensation. The curry sauce is cold? I mean, it tastes great, works well with the vegan sausage and fries, but it’s cold? I have never experienced a currywurst with cold sauce. And this is just so dumb in my opinion, as the whole composition with the same sauce, but warmed up, would be pretty darn fantastic (for pub food). This way, it’s just really really odd and threw me off. It doesn’t help that there is also too much sauce on the entire plate, so that everything gets a cold soggy mess quite fast.
This way, the whole composition falls apart fast and even for pub food standards it becomes rather average. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s still quite nice, and with a beer a great combo, but it falls flat by execution. I haven’t tried the burgers yet, so we will see how that will work out in the long run.
However, big plus for the vegan options and the vibe. Oceanen is not a place to eat necessarily, but the vibe is much worth it.
Price:
Burgers: 110-170 SEK
Sausages: 110 SEK
Sides: 40 SEK
The Verdict
I like Oceanen. It’s a great Gothenburg pub, good people can be met here and it’s always buzzing. I also love that almost everything on the menu is also available in a vegan option. But in the end, it’s pub food, and rather average at that. Still, the good price point makes up for it. As a place to eat (as a vegan) it’s a 3/5. As a pub to drink with friends it’s more of a 4/5 or even 5/5. I also like it as a concert venue.
Don’t get discouraged by my review, visit it. And who knows, maybe the burgers will change my mind and blow me away somewhat? We will see next time.
3/5 Leaves
Pro
Friendly and alternative atmosphere
Vegan options everywhere
Good location
Cheap prices
Con
Execution of food rather average
Just your typical pub food
Location
Stigbergstorget 8
Opening Hours
Ti-Th: 16:00 - 00:00
Fr-Sa: 16:00 - 01:00
Su-Mo: closed
