Tastebud : Gunnarssons

18 November 2025

After our dinner at Mormors restaurant, we had cake at Gunnarssons. This bakery and cafe has been around since 1946 at the same place. But Vetekatten is still older being established in 1928. I am aware that the prices in Gunnarssons are not cheap. But we were here because it was still open and it is near the train station. We shared a Catalan for SEK48. Small and expensive. A sort of mazarin with raspberry jam under the icing sugar glaze. There is not much of a jam on the pastry. Just lots of icing sugar glaze. Very sweet. Good thing that we shared it. 

Tastebud : Mormors Restaurang & Dumpling

18 November 2025

Yesterday, my friend and I had dumplings and beef noodles for dinner. I read good reviews about Mormors restaurant and I have seen the queue outside and inside the restaurant. I went to two restaurants (Chao Na and Dionysos) that are located next to Mormors restaurant and on both occasions, the dumpling restaurant has always a queue.

The restaurant opens at 5pm and when I arrived at 5.10pm, the place was full. There are several tables in the restaurant, not many, but the owner maximised the space as possible so it was quite narrow to walk between the tables. We shared a bowl of 10 pork and 10 chicken dumplings SEK149 each and a bowl of noodles with marinated beef SEK159. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the bowl. I like big portions. But I was cheated by it. The dumplings have thick skin dough and the slices of beef are very thin, probably 0.2mm. 

I started my meal with complimentary miso soup that does not have seaweed. It gave me some warmth.

I prefer the noodles soup at Tan Tan Dan. It is not very flavourful here. I think the relatively affordable price makes it a customer favourite. 

This is what I meant by thick skin dough. I reacted to the thickness when I took my first bite. I make dumplings and I know that the skin can be thin. 

I was happy before I dug into the food.

Tastebud : Farsi

15 November 2025

Random weekend dinner at Mall of Scandinavia. Tried Persian food from Iran. I had lamb stew with a large portion of rice that is sprinkled with saffran rice on top that came with cucumber yoghurt and salad SEK179. The lamb stew came with kidney beans and according to the menu, it has dried lime but I tasted nothing sourish. The food was good but it was not exceptional to me.

Stockholm Food & Wine, Baking & Chocolate Fair 2025

9 November 2025

6 years later, I visited the fair again. This time, the fair includes food and wine. The ticket prices have went up. When I went there in 2019, the ticket was SEK135. Today, it is SEK250 but I got it for half price as it was an offer for Sunday's entrance. I thought that I should get out more in November as it is a dark and cold month. Barely any sunlight. Since it was SEK125, I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, it was not as fun this time. There were no mini competitions or lucky draws that can win prizes on the spot. Instead, one needs to buy and participate in the booth's lucky draw or spin the wheel.

My post in 2019 had a similar photo. I suppose my taste in colourful food has not changed. The price then was SEK20 and today's price is SEK30. I had the white ball - it is vanilla and white chocolate. Very sweet and it is a huge ball.

A large area for potatoes. Lots of space were wasted here. The booth had advertisements for potato chips and a very sharp potato peeler from the Kitchen Lab. Nothing exciting. 

There were some food and chocolate samples. After a while, the sampled chocolates tasted the same everywhere. We sampled noodle in kimchi soup, and tempeh.

There were food trucks at the end of the hall. I had a sandwich that has fillings of lightly smoked shoulder pork, cabbage with mustard vinager, BBQ mayonnaise sauce and topped with chips. Bread is sourdough bread. I was very full from the sandwich. SEK170.

I had sour beer from Nya Carnegie Brewery. They had a beer truck here.

We were here for two hours only.

Tastebud : Robin Delselius cafe (Sickla branch)

8 November 2025

Today, we did an outing at Sickla shopping center. Lunch was at Robin Delselius cafe. It came highly recommended and there were so many customers too! Well, the sight of all customers definitely speak highly of the place.

I had grilled focacia with brisket and kimchi mayonnaise SEK139. It came with salad. I think there was cheese inside too. It was a big portion of focacia. I wanted to eat somethin warm, hence grilled focacia. And with cappucino SEK51. My lunch was tasty. I saw that there was Soup of the day for SEK149 and one can take from the buffet spread - there was bread, butter, salad, cake and coffee! I think it was much worth it with the soup as it includes coffee and dessert. 

Tastebud : No 17 Palace (2nd time)

30 October 2025

Second visit to No. 17 Palace. The first time I was here, I was pleased with my experience. We had sliced beef and pork tongue, boiled entrecote with duck blood and tripe and fried eggplant. Today, the first two dishes are no longer in the menu. Fried eggplant is still in the menu and costs SEK10 more.

Today's company is a non-Swede so we had steamed fish. Swedes are unable to eat fish with bones. Even meat too. Everything must be boneless. I love steamed fish. Today, we shared xiao long bao 89kr, steamed fish 339kr, braised pork with preserved mustard green 298kr, and fried choy sum 178kr. Rice is included. I had hot water which is not charged for. 

My friend was disappointed with the xiao long bao as there was no bursting broth when we bit into the dumpling. I was not familiar with this dish so I thought it was just a dumpling. So, we don't recommend that. I peeled a bit of the dough to see the fillings of the xiao long bao and there is no broth inside. 

Choy sum was good to eat too although some stalks were not properly cooked and were too hard to bite through and I spat some out.

The fish is not big so there is not much meat in the fish. But it was good enough for both of us.

I enjoyed the braised pork a lot! The fat in the meat but there were bits of hard cartilage in the meat. I was surprised to find that as I had a similar dish in Winner House - bigger portion, cheaper and no cartilages. Plus better presentation from Winner House.

Tastebud : Winner House (5th and last time)

18 October 2025

Today, we had dinner at my favourite Chinese restaurant and I got the news that the owner had sold his business. The staff and menu will be replaced by end of October. It was very sad to hear it. I thought the staff will stay on but they have to look for another workplace. I enjoy talking to their staff. One of them is especially friendly and is one of my reasons that I love coming back. I wonder if the name of the restaurant will be changed too.

We received our complimentary shrimp chips - 3 times as our main meal had not arrived. Really nice of them as I enjoy my shrimp chips. Got fried springrolls too. I did not take any photos of the shrimp chips and springrolls but you can see in this post when we were there the 3rd time. 

Today, we had brine lamb 238kr and garlic pak choy 158kr. Total 434kr including a Cola can 38kr. I think I have tried most of the main meals in the menu. We did not try any fish or seafood options as my boyfriend don't enjoy them. We had rice and a refill too. Rice is included. Let's see how the new owner prices the food and if they will offer complimentary starters and dessert.

We received complimentary dessert too. This time, we received a small plate of fruits with honeymelon and grapes. Complimentary dessert - a small bowl of red bean syrup, a small cup of jasmine tea, fried bread with custard sauce and a fortune cookie. I don't tip in any restaurants but I tip in this restaurant as we always receive more than we ordered. Today's goodbye to them include a wish for them to have a smooth future ahead. 

Tastebud : Tan Tan Dan

9 October 2025

Japanese noodles for dinner today. The restaurant is really small and it can accommodate 6 guests. So, the guests are expected to leave when the food is finished. Most customers do take-away. No toilet here so I did not take any water. I suppose the owner lives nearby to be able to use a toilet.

Delicious ramen. I had dry noodles with roasted duck slices 198kr and my friend had dry noodles with pork crumbles 168kr. Both were so good! We added a smoked egg 20kr and a rice ball 20kr. I don't mind coming here again to have the ramen. Yummy! My friend had their fuzzy drink (called Tan Tan Dan cola) that is supposed to have lemon taste but I tasted nothing. 

My rice ball is cute. It has almost a love shape. There is an instruction on how to eat the rice ball. One adds it into the broth after the noodle is finished to absorb the rest of the broth. 

My friend's noodle with pork crumbles.

Camping at Vattgruvmossen

26 September 2025

I celebrated my birthday by camping in a nature reserve so I can enjoy some peace and quiet. I took leave from work as I did not want anyone to ruin my day. My boyfriend chose Vattgruvmossa which happens to be part of the trail for Sörmlandsleden 11 and 12. I did some of the trails for Sörmlandsleden until it became troublesome to take the public transport. It was better to drive instead. So, I stopped until trail 13.2. We drove here. I did not want a place that was too far and I set a driving limit of 1 hour. 

I was very lucky with the weather. It was sunny despite the chilly temperature. There were other cars at the parking spot. The public toilet is very clean. 

I walked this trail - Sörmlandsleden 11 and 12 in 2019 and I had the same photo of the signboard. This time, we did not do any long trails. We walked around the area. There were many mining holes that are now filled with water. 

We followed the orange sign.

Tastebud : Let's Malatang

16 September 2025

Today, we tried Sichuan street food - mala tang. The restaurant combined the two words in its name. It got me confused until I checked the website. Ma = numbing. La = spicy. Tang = soup. Together, the words mean hot spicy soup. I was trying to avoid Sichuan food due to their numbing pepper but this concept is new to me, at least in Stockholm. We have similar food stalls in Malaysia that have this concept too.

I entered into the restaurant and I liked the interior. It gives a street vibe with all the street signs and lighted signs, in this case, Chinese characters, and lanterns. 

There are many ingredients to select from and fill in a large bowl. It is similar to a buffet or a hotpot. Once done, I give my bowl to the cashier and get my bowl weighed. It costs SEK36,90 per hectogram (100 grams). I pay and choose my choice of soup. Since it is my first time, I chose sichuan spicy as that is the signature soup base of the restaurant. A few minutes later, my bowl of ingredients is cooked and is now transferred to another large bowl where I can enjoy with an apron to avoid soup splashes. I like that! Well-thought!

There is also a counter to mix your own sauce. Similar to Happy Lamb Hotpot and Asahi Fondue & Grill. 

Paid SEK158,67 for the first bowl. Yes, I took a second bowl to share with my friend where we chose spicy wok and had it with rice.

The bowl reminded me of a washbasin. A washcloth and hot water to wash one's face. I could say that this type of washbasin is common in Chinese household.

I was coughing frequently as I ate up my bowl. The sichuan pepper irritated my thoat. 

Next bowl - we shared a spicy wok base that came with a small bowl of rice - SEK128,46.

For dessert, we shared a bowl of jelly. SEK45. The jelly has raisin and peanut toppings. 

I enjoyed my experience here and I would not mind coming here again and try a different soup base.