Tastebud : Asahi Fondue & Grill

1 July 2025

Today's dinner is a new sort of cuisine for me - Korean barbeque. I read from the reviews that this is unlike the real Korean barbeque as the slices of meat are not marinated. (according to Wikipedia, the meat is marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, ginger, scallions, sesame oil, garlic and pepper). Apparently, there is unmarinated meat too but then it will not differ from any usual meat. 

As the meat served was unmarinated, I did not find anything special with today's dinner. There were three of us and each person paid 359kr. It includes beef, chicken, bacon, oyster, prawn, squid, sweet potato, onion, zucchini, mushroom and a cabbage head to eat the grilled food in. We could create our own dip sauce too from the sauce booth. It reminded me of the sauce booth in Happy Lamb Hotpot. One can have a refill of meat and vegetables if one is still hungry. We did that but half of the portion.

We could take the fried food from the buffet section too. The raw ingredients were served to us at the table. So, I took fried chicken, a spring roll and fried bread (you tiao). I was so excited when I saw the fried bread (second photo - the food next to the prawn chips) because it is one of my favourite food! But it tasted not good at all! It was tasteless and hard. Ugh. 

For dessert, there was an option of fruits and an ice-cream machine. So, I had ice-cream with strawberries and raspberries. Yummy. The three of us agreed that we should not eat buffet next time. We ate too much and walked home instead of taking the train.

Tastebud : Non Solo Bar (2nd time)

26 June 2025

After our dinner at Chuan Tapas, we spent the rest of the evening at Non Solo Bar. Our reserved time at Chuan Tapas was limited to 1.5 hours and the place was very noisy due to its small space. We went to a nearby bar / cafe to have our dessert. The place has an outdoor seating and was packed with people as it was a lovely sunny day. It is the only sunny day this week. So, many are outside to take advantage of the sun. 

We shared a slice of key lime pie 72kr and I had alcohol-free pear cider 64kr. It is definitely an expensive piece of pie. I was here in 2019 and I sat outdoors with a cup of brewed coffee and the price then was expensive too - a cup of coffee for 35kr. Small cup, too! 

Tastebud : Chuan Tapas

26 June 2025

Despite me telling myself that I am going to stay away for Chinese food for a while, I still went to Chuan Tapas because the meal concept here is different. I thought of Asian food being served in tapas and that was intriguing. But my friend and I did not choose that when we were in the restaurant. We chose the skewers served in hot soup, and of course, the soup base is the tongue-numbing Sichuan soup, which was the original reason of why I am staying away from Chinese food for a while. Last experience that made me decided that, was my dinner at Lilla Kina. 

The restaurant has a very small space and I thought that there was no toilet. But a customer requested to wash her hands and we found out that the toilet is located behind a curtain that is behind the counter. Good thing there is a toilet! Because of the small space, the restaurant gets noisy very fast. A couple who sat next to us spoke very loudly, especially the man. We had a similar experience in Her Name is Kim. I understand that the restaurant would like to maximise the space but it was not a fun experience for me as a diner. Our seating is reserved for only 1.5 hour, which is also understandable due to the limited space. Even I had to hang my bicycle helmet on a wall-mounted clothes rack.

I had special mix set 229kr that includes - as described in the menu: Coriander Beef (2 sticks), Beef (2 sticks), Shrimp (2 sticks), Squid (2 sticks), Beef Tripe Leaves (2 sticks), Duck Tongues (2 sticks), Pork tripe (1 stick), Lotus Root (1 stick), Potato (2 sticks), Bamboo Shoots (2 sticks), Thousand Layer Tofu (1 stick). 

The duck tongue was really weird. It looked scary and does not have much meat - instead, it has cartilage and tiny bones. The shrimp is so tiny. Definitely not worth the price. By writing this, I have already decided that I am not coming back here again. 

For starters, we received a complimentary dish of pickled cucumber.

The scary duck tongue. I just googled if duck tongues are edible! And indeed they are, and considered even as a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.

The tiny shrimp.

I took a picture of the utensils as they looked different from the usual. I used the chopstick to eat the pickled cucumber but the knife and fork were not used. I requested for a spoon for my soup. Fancy utensils but too bad cannot be used for the meal. 

Painting on canvas

17 June 2025

For the first time, I did painting on canvas. My friend asked me if I was interested and I said yes! I prefer drawing than painting. I painted with watercolour during my school days but I was not good at painting. 

The website showed various paintings at selected dates and my friend chose the painting of a girl with a midsummer wreath. I bought this 1.5-hour activity for 501kr. It is quite expensive. I thought it included wine in this activity but I misread the text. There were two locations for this activity. The one we chose at Clarion Hotel did not include wine in the ticket but offered 30% discount on food. The other location at Hard Rock cafe includes wine. So, I had a vision of myself with a paintbrush and a glass of wine the whole time until I found out I was wrong. Haha!

Regardless, I had a good time at the activity. Each participant was given a small canvas, acrylic paint, 3 brushes and a small printed paper of the finished painting. We could refill the paint if we needed to. The artist guided us on how to draw on the canvas and recommended on how to paint it. Each participant has their own interpretation of the painting.

Tastebud : Bara 2.Noll

17 June 2025

Today, a girlfriend and I chose a random pub to have dinner before our painting activity. The customers were there to drink beer. I think we were the odd ones out as we ate instead. I had a burger that fell apart when I bit into it. My burger came with fries, salad and pickled cucumber. 195kr. It was affordable. Not a place that I will come back though.