Tastebud : Balkan Wine & Meze

30 April 2024

It was a great weather today despite the cold wind. The warm weather is approaching. Winter is gone for now. I walked to the restaurant from work because I wanted to get some sunshine. All outdoor seatings were filled with people drinking wine or beer while facing the sun. The atmosphere was lively! My friend and I chose to try Balkan food at Balkan Wine & Meze. There were menu sets but I viewed that it was not worth the price. So, we took individual dishes instead. The food came in small plates and we ordered 2 portions in each dish. There were different prices for 1 and 2 portions. Here are my hands with the small plates - to give perspective!

We shared:

1) Punjene paprike 2 portions for 175kr - Dried red bell peppers with minced beef filling served on lettuce and kajmak (Balkan version of fresh cheese - made by boiling milk at low temperature for 2 hours and the cream is skimmed off to ferment for several days)

2) Sremska 2 portions for 175kr - Spicy sausage with salad and kajmak.

3) Pljeskavica 2 portions for 190kr - Ground beef "Balkan style" (120g). Served with ajvar (mashed roasted bell pepper), urnebes (mashed garlic with bell pepper) and chopped onion. The beef patty was bouncy in texture. It reminded me of fishball. 

ALL THE FOOD IS SO DELICIOUS! I enjoyed the taste. I wondered if they use Vegeta in their cooking. Vegeta is a seasoning that is commonly used in Balkan cooking. 

Tastebud : Paladar

16 April 2024

Dinner at a Cuban restaurant - Paladar! A colleague spoke of Cuban food and mentioned of a restaurant which I googled and I found out portions are small and pricey. So, I looked for other recommendations and this place popped out. It got good reviews. Food was really great! 

For our drinks, I chose Old Cuban which is made of dark rum, cava, fresh mint, lime, sugar, soda water and Angostura bitter. This is a recommended drink in the menu. SEK159 for 50ml. So many ingredients in a 50ml drink. I was not drunk with this drink and I suppose that there is more soda water than rum. It tasted slightly bitter. I did a quick check and the difference between rum and whisky is that rum is made from sugar cane while whisky is from cereal grains for example wheat. rye and barley.

We received complimentary bread and paprika paste (could be ajvar?). I think we should have been given 4 pieces or 2 pieces as we were 2. So odd to be given 3.

For the meal, I chose the dinner set made of starter and main dish for 390kr. So, I took a combination which if ordered separately, is more than 390kr.

Starter - Tostones Cubanos com salsa de Aguacte. 140kr. Fried green plantain served with garlic mojo and avocado salsa. I did not know that mojo is a kind of sauce. I got two pieces of plantain. One long and the other was cut into half. The plantain was served in a seashell. It reminds me of banana fritters (goreng pisang in Malaysia) and the price is too much for banana fritters. Haha! So, the difference between banana and plantain is plantain has more starch and banana has more sugar.

From Wikipedia - Mojo is a herb sauce of finely chopped cilantro or parsley with salt, plenty of crushed garlic, and olive oil. In Cuban cooking, mojo applies to any sauce made with garlic, olive oil, or pork lard, and a citrus juice, traditionally bitter orange juice. It is commonly used to marinate roast pork or as a dip for plantain chips and fried cassava.

For the main dish, I had grilled entrecote with grilled potato, grilled avocado and bean salsa. 320kr. The entrecote is not a thick meat but the meal was sufficient for me. I thought it was a big entrecote but the meat was placed on the bowl of grilled potatoes. I did not know that avocados can be grilled! 

My boyfriend had the Ropa vieja which is Cuba's national dish - pulled beef with congri (Cuban black bean and rice), banana chips and avocado salsa. 270kr. The congri and pulled beef were very delicious!

Tastebud : Warung

10 April 2024

Indonesian food for dinner because we (2 persons) thought it would be nice to have almost-Malaysian food for Eid Mubarak today. We ate at Warung and I would not come to this place a second time - the portion is very small which makes the food pricey, the spices are not strong so it is quite bland for my Malaysian tastebuds and it was very noisy. We were placed right in front of the counter and the staff came out to do mojito and started shaking the canister so it was very annoyingly loud. The bench was high too so I sat in an awkward position, bending forward to eat. 

We had: 

1) Rendang roti SEK195 - long-cooked meat in spicy stew served on flatbread. The meat was chewy and the stew was not spicy as how rendang should be. The plus point was we got an extra piece of flatbread when we asked how many bread was there. There were two of us so we got an extra piece.

2) Ikan bakar SEK155 - grilled fish. The fish is so tiny and thin. There s no grilled taste. I doubt it was grilled on charcoal.

3) Nasi goreng SEK145 - fried rice with poached egg. Tasty but nothing to shout out. 

All portions were so small. You can see how small the bowls are compared to my fingers. I supposed that it is meant for 1 person. In the menu, it was recommended 2 to 3 dishes per person.

For appetizer, we got a complimentary bowl of spicy potato chips. I liked that. 

Tastebud : Coffeehouse 72

22 March 2024

Dessert after main meal, at Coffeehouse 72. We left Eatnam as lots of customers were dropping in and the place was getting noisier so we decided to have dessert. I found a place near Medborgarplatsen train station that is affordable as I saw retirees and adolescents (not dressed richly) hanging out here. It reminded me of a mamak stall in Malaysia but this is the indoor version!

My friend treated me to a raspberry chese cake and an apple pie served with custard sauce. Each slice costed SEK45. They were not very sweet desserts so I enjoyed them. 

Tastebud : Eatnam

22 March 2024

Vietnamese food! The last time I had Vietnamese food was last year in July at An Nam. There are quite a number of Vietnamese restaurants in Stockholm. I have tried 7 places including this - Saigon Baguette in 2019, Nha Trang in 2019 and 2023, Hanoi Pho in 2021, Restaurant Springrolls in 2022, Ong Vietnam in 2022 and An Nam in 2023. Looks like, on average, I have Vietnamese food twice a year.

Eatnam has 3 branches in Stockholm. We chose the branch located near Medborgarplatsen train station. The two of us shared Bo Kho (Vietnamese beef stew) with rice for SEK185 and Pho (noodle soup) chicken for SEK175.  The beef stew uses chuck steak according to the direct Swedish translation of högrev. This cut of beef is located on the shoulder. The beef stew was yummy. I put my hands to show how big the bowl is. I have slightly longer fingers than an average person. 

Tastebud : Lilla Prag

13 March 2024

Awesome dinner at Lilla Prag! The place got crowded very quickly by 6pm. Mostly locals and there were retirees too. So, you can count that this is a good place to eat. I had the Lilla Prag Special which is a pork schnitzel and cheese schnitzel served with thinly sliced fried potatoes, salad and tartar sauce for SEK249. It is important to finsh the food while it is still warm otherwise it can get a bit boring.

Tastebud : Ikki Kista Galleria

9 March 2024

Random lunch stop at food court (MEET) in Kista Galleria. I was craving for noodles in a soup as it is cold and I wanted it to be spicy but not crazy chilli hot so I had Bun Curry for 125kr. Rice noodles in coconut milk curry. Bean sprouts were served separately. Not spicy but good enough to fill up the tummy. It came in a big bowl but there was more water than noodles. Haha! Typical. 

Stronger today

I have lived in Sweden for almost 7 years now. 

Today, I am a very different person that I was before I moved here. Before I moved, I was a different person after a family incident. 

Tough and uncomfortable situations mould and can remould a person. A person's personality is so fluid that you can adapt and be a new person. 

Last year, I turned 40.  

Suddenly, I stopped giving a shit of how people treat and think of me and I set my boundaries by not allocating time for people who gives me bad energy and makes me feel lousy. During the last 6 years, it was mentally and emotionally draining for me. First, it was the longing for the sense of belonging and I was very lonely but I was different from the persons I tried to connect with. We are adults and everyone has their own personality so it is difficult to adapt to new persons compared to being a teenager where you are still getting to know yourself. Second, when I tried to network because it is so important here to get a job, I was suffocating inside because the network did not continue the contact or end with 'let's meet up again' but it never happened or I was invisible to the network the next day at work when I thought we had a good chat the day before. It made me wondered - What is wrong with me? Did I offend them? Do I sound weird? Maybe we did not have a good chat. 

There is no third. These two points has made me finally put things to a stop. 

I wished I had the courage to set boundaries earlier so I did not have to carry these heavy emotions for so long. I have been tired for a very long time.

When someone here asks 'how are you' as they usually start their conversation, you are not expected to say 'it has been tough'. I know it is just being socially polite although I think it is not necessary. It is fake. This is the society's norm here, and I think it is also okay to not follow that norm. I ask 'how are you' if someone asks me because it is expected as a response. But when I initiate the question, it is because I genuinely care for the person and I listen. 

Today, I do not bother of how I am being treated. I enjoy my space and my own company. I set plans for my own priority. I do not give a second chance to people who do not respond the first time. 

It is well-known that Sweden has an integration problem and I went through it, experienced it and survived it. 

I may experience episodes of emotional and mental turmoil in the future but I know I will survive it. I am supposed to be hardened by experiences that do not kill me but I am still human. However, I am very much better than I was in the last 6 years. 

I can share without feeling ashamed and bitter. 

I can smile today. :) 

Tastebud : Blue Chili Thai

7 March 2024

Today, I had dinner with a new friend! It feels really great to be able to share with someone who understands and who went through similar experiences as I did to adapt in Sweden. We had dinner in a Thai restaurant. This is a new place for me. The food is not as spicy as described in the menu, 3 chillies! Haha!

We shared three dishes together and surprisingsly, we could finish them. I think it helps that we could not stop talking! We were there from 6 - 9pm. The food was salty for me and I kept drinking lots of water. It is also due to the fact that I do not use a lot of salt in my cooking. The food was tasty but they are not exceptional for me. The chef cooked two portions for each dish. The main dish comes with jasmine rice. We had:

1) Tom Yum chicken SEK189. Only the tom yum came with a tea light candle so the dish was kept warm the whole time. I put my hand next to the bowl to give a perspective on the size. I do not have a large hand but a 2-portion bowl is quite small. A guest next to us had a 1-portion bowl and it was quite small.

2) Green curry chicken (Geang Khiew Wan) SEK189. It cooled down quickly so I poured the rest in the tom yum bowl ,once we finished the tom yum, to heat up the curry. 

3) Fried rice beef (Khao Phad) SEK209. Fragrant and I think it has MSG. 

Tastebud : AM Cafe

7 March 2024

Finally, I had the opportunity to go to the AM Store. Here, I saw that there is a cafe and I had a lunchbox that contained 8 pieces of pork dumplings which were sold for half the price. I suspect that the dumplings had been prepared earlier but the date of preparation was not printed on the package. Since I cook, I know that there is nothing wrong with cooked pork that is stored in the fridge within 7 days or even longer as long as it does not taste sour. The cashier warmed up the dumplings so I could have my lunch in the cafe. So, I got my lunch for SEK38. Yay! 

It was really just pork inside the dumplings! 

Tastebud : Jakarta

10 February 2024

Indonesian food for dinner. In general, I do not eat Thai and Indonesian food as the food is similar to Malaysian food but my boyfriend suggested it and I was just keen to go out with him on a weekend. It had been a long time since we ate out by ourselves. Mostly, I think eating out is so expensive... The food here is flavourful with the spices but the dishes took some time to be served. Overall, I would come again if I am out of options. 

For starters, we had Balado Kentang 70kr. Balado = Spicy. Kentang = Potato. It was a bit spicy and the smell of lemon grass was strong. And we had Lumpia which is spring rolls for 49kr. I think that is an expensive spring roll especially when it is vegetarian spring roll.

Then, we ordered a basket of prawn chips (50kr) because it took quite some time for the main dish to appear. I took a picture with the chips to show the portion.

Indonesia has yummy avocado juice so I had a glass. It was not sweet. 55kr. I drank it very slowly.

For the main dishes, we had Balado Daging (spicy beef) 220kr and Gulai Domba (Curry Lamb) 225kr.  The gulai domba came in a bowl and the portion was not big. There were more beef chunks than lamb chunks. The beef dish is spicy just like its name. 

Tastebud : Chong Qing

7 February 2024

Hotpot for dinner! Good to have hotpot when it is winter. I had my first hotpot in April 2022 at Lotus House. It is nice to have hotpot again at another restaurant - Chong Qing. Lucky me that I have some company to enjoy hotpot with as hotpot is best eaten with a group of people. There were 3 of us and it costs SEK279 per person. My friends ordered a 640ml Tsingtao beer that costs SEK99. Before we got our hotpot, we were served 8 pieces of warm dumpling (4 filled with meat and 4 vegetarian). What a lovely surprise! The menu states that 4 dumplings cost SEK75. 

Everything was really good! Happy that I managed to find this place. There are many Chinese restaurants in Stockholm!

These are the condiments to eat with the hotpot. A small bowl of cucumbers and carrots dipped in soya sauce. The big bowl consists of spring onions, garlic dipped in sesame oil.

Our vegetable plate. After we have finished the first plate, we ordered another plate of vegetables with lesser variety - pak choy, napa cabbage (in Sweden, this is known as Chinese cabbage) and glass noodles. 

Our hotpot is set up! Pot filled with two types of broth - vegetable broth and spicy broth filled with Sichuan pepper. The waitress informed us that she will top up the servings when we are done if we need more. We did not order more for the meat and seafood.

For the meat - a bowl of chicken and beef strips. 

For the seafood - fishballs, prawns, squid, fish cakes. 

We were satisfied with the portions. 

Tastebud : Spago

27 January 2024

Italian dinner experience at Spago. Yummy food. 

For starters, we had green olives shared between the three of us. 45kr. Bread was complimentary and we had it dipped in olive oil. 

My main meal is Ravioli di vitello (veal i.e. calf meat) cooked in truffel sauce and sprinkled with parmesan cheese 229kr. I think there were 8 pieces of ravioli although I wished I could have had more. I accompanied my meal with a glass of white wine - Rizzardi Soave Classico 145kr. The waitress explained that it is heavy taste but when paired with the creamy truffel sauce, it has a light taste. I don't know how does that work and I did not catch her explanation but I did find it light when I sipped it and I was surprised that the waitress did explain that. So, she was not making it up. Haha!

For dessert, I had chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream 119kr. I ordered panacotta but the waitress heard it as chocolate fondant and when she repeated my order, I acknowledged it and I thought I heard panacotta as it was so noisy. Anyway, they could exchange my dessert to panacotta but the chocolate fondant looks good too so I took it. My boyfriend took tiramisu 115kr and it tastes good too.

Tastebud : Lao Wai

23 January 2024

Dinner experience at Lao Wai. A VERY overpriced vegetarian restaurant. In its website, it described the restaurant as a Chinese restaurant but the server could not speak Mandarin when I called to book a table. We went ahead with it anyway as my friend was very keen to try the place again. He said that he was here 5 years ago and was really good. After my dinner experience, I did not think it was anything special. Also, there were no Chinese customers at all. I think that says something if a Chinese restaurant does not have any Chinese customers.

We shared the starters and warm food, so each person paid 345kr. Great that we could try many dishes when there are a few of us! 

For starters, we shared 3 types of dishes. They are served in very small plates.

1) Ma la hou tou gu (translated as 'spicy mushroom'. Specifically monkey head mushroom)- Chinese porcini mushrooms are marinated in chili and Sichuan pepper oil, coriander and roasted garlic. Served with peanuts and scallions. 120kr

2) Liang ban dou fu (translated as 'dressed tofu (cold food) with sauce')- Silky tofu is served with seaweed caviar, nori flakes, sesame seeds and green onion sauce. 110kr

3) Liang ban ju rou si (translated as 'dressed chicken (cold food) with sauce) - Shirataki noodles, minced soy chicken, garlic and coriander are marinated in a spicy chili-lime sauce. 110kr.