Engine tests the gas station feed
- Many will be out on the roads in the next few weeks, and if you drive far or with a car full of children, you may need food along the way. Therefore, Motor has tested food and drink at petrol stations, together with food profiler and cookbook author Simen Vatne.
- Vatne has tasted his way through buns, sausages, hamburgers and coffeeso you can stop where the food and facilities are the best!
- The tests have been carried out starting from the sections E6 and rv. 3 through Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen, both main thoroughfares with heavy traffic between Oslo and Trondheim.
- Today: buns!
It is not without reason that the Shell station along the E6 at Espa is called Bolleland. Throughout the year, people pick over two million bowls from the counter here – incidentally from a selection of ten different varieties.
– The big question is whether it is actually true what they say, that they really have the world’s best buns, says cookbook author Simen Vatne.
Have tested the gas station food
Simen works full-time with food distribution, is a former Masterchef participant, has his own food program and his own product range. Has a passion for Norwegian produce, and now he has been out on the road with Motor to assess the petrol stations’ selection of food and coffee.
From before, he does not have particularly good experience with the pastries at the Norwegian gas station chains, and is therefore hoping for a surprise when he checks out the bun counters along the road.
– The petrol station bowls tend to be a little dry, and some stick a little in the mouth, says Simen.
A good bowl has three important factors, he believes. It should be fresh, airy and juicy. And if it also smells good, then the bun is absolutely perfect.
– If it’s not fresh, it’s not good either. It should smell like a freshly baked bun when you walk in the door at the petrol station, says Simen.
Price does not mean quality
Bowl prices at petrol stations vary between NOK 15 and 21 in our test. The station Best sold the cheapest, while Circle K had the most expensive bowl.
In addition, several of the chains have different package prices, and these vary greatly in both number and price.
– In general, there are big differences in food prices at the various petrol station chains, so it’s important to keep an eye on them. Price does not always mean quality, says Simen.
Circle K Dombås: roll of the dice: 5
– There was a lot of chocolate here, and that’s good, says Simen immediately.
Our tester embarks on a tasting of the chocolate bun at Circle K Dombås, and quickly falls in love with it.
– Fresh, airy and juicy. A little dry, but not too much. It was good, and I would buy it again, he concludes.
It is worth mentioning that Circle K has a freshness guarantee. This means that if you buy a bowl that does not meet your expectations, you can tell the staff.
Producer: Läntmannen Unibake
Price: NOK 21
Esso/Deli de Luca Brumunddal: roll of the dice: 2
It is not far into the day when Simen enters what looks a bit like an American diner in Brumunddal. It is the combination of Esso and Deli de Luca, and in the bun counter are three limp and wrinkled buns.
TRE SLAPPE BOLLER: De tre bollene som var igjen hos Esso/Deli de Luca i Brumunddal, var slappe og skrukkete." alt="" />– There wasn’t a large selection, he notes, and orders himself a classic chocolate bun.
The bun is probably airy, but it doesn’t seem particularly fresh. A plus for pleasant service, and some deductions on hygiene for not using gloves.
– And the taste of the chocolate bun, it’s perfectly fine.
Producer: Bakehuset in Norway
Price: 20 kroner
YX in Vågå appears to be a kind of roadside inn, and Simen sits down with the chocolate bun on a worn leather sofa.
KNASER I MUNNEN: Bollen som blir servert på YX i Vågå, var ingen høydare. – En bolle skal ikke knase, sier Simen Vatne." alt="" />– I don’t quite know what they have done with this bowl, he says quickly after the first bite.
It crunches in the mouth.
– Your mouth should not crunch when you eat a bowl. This one is dry.
Simen has tasted enough, because this was not a successful bun. It is still worth mentioning that it was not as dry as another YX bowl in a sample we took at Vinstra.
Producer: Baxt
Price: NOK 18
New and useful along the way:
Best Lom: dice roll: 4+
– I can still feel the lukewarmness, so this bowl is in any case fresh, says an excited Simen.
LUNKEN BOLLE: En kaffe og en rimelig fersk bolle på Best i Lom. En lunken bolle er et godt tegn, mener vår testperson." alt="" />He accepts a chocolate bun at the small Best i Lom petrol station – only a stone’s throw from the Bakeriet i Lom itself. Do you think the pastries at Best can compare with the artisanal pastries at the neighbour’s place?
– I see that it is very airy. It’s not dry, but it’s not juicy either, continues our tester.
The conclusion is that the bun is not bad at all!
– It is very good, but does not quite reach the top. I give it a strong four.
Producer: Läntmannen Unibake
Price: NOK 15
Shell Espa/Bolleland: dice roll 6
– The service here is really top notch. I notice that they are genuinely concerned with delivering a good product, exclaims Simen at Shell Espa.
I BOLLELAND: Shell på Espa påstår selv at de har verdens beste boller." alt="" />TESTKLARE: To varianter, for å sjekke om de egentlig er så spesielle." alt="" />Here he evaluates the rich selection, because there is a bun variant for every taste. That’s a big plus, Simen believes, and even goes for both the chocolate bun and the queen bun.
– People have different preferences, so it is important that the selection is good. Here I almost had to choose two types, he says.
So to the big question; are the buns at Espa “the best in the world”?
– You actually notice that they are different, and they are really good. In any case, the Dronningbollen is not a classic gas station bun, it tasted incredibly good, he says.
The chocolate bun also ticks the criteria, and Vatne wonders if they are really homemade – because that’s what it actually tastes like.
One of the Bolleland founders can then tell us that the bun dough is made at the bakery Bakers in Oslo. They come to Espa as frozen items, where they are raised and fried, among other things.
Producer: Bakers
Price: NOK 19
Shell Alvdal: dice roll 6
At Shell in Alvdal*, Simen also has trouble making up his mind.
LOT SEG FRISTE: På Shell i Alvdal gikk Simen Vatne for både sjokoladebolle og Shell-bollen, fordi det var for fristende i bolledisken." alt="" />– Look at them, I’m really tempted here, says Vatne in front of the bowl counter.
It ends with a chocolate bun and a Shell bun with vanilla cream, chocolate and powdered sugar. The chocolate bun is juicy and airy, but has a little too little chocolate for Simen’s taste.
– It’s stupid to have little chocolate in a chocolate bun, but otherwise it’s very good, he says and sets out to taste the bun he’s been looking forward to the most:
– The Shell bun tastes great, and it is very juicy and fresh. It was good, and right up there with Bolleland.
Producer: Läntmannen Unibake
Price: 20 kroner
* Bolleland’s unique position in the segment has meant that we have chosen to include a further Shell station in the test.
This is how we performed the test:
Motor’s test panel took the trip along the E6 north from Oslo, via Espa and up Gudbrandsdalen with a couple of detours to Vågå and Lom, and then along rv. 3 through Østerdalen.
Here we assessed food and coffee, hygiene, toilet conditions, waiting time and places to eat.
One station from each chain is highlighted in the assessment, and two Shell stations are included due to Bolleland’s position. Spot tests have been carried out at stations at Shell Brumunddal, Circle K Lillehammer and YX Vinstra.
