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. 

Self-pick potatoes (3rd time)

13 September 2025

It's that lovely time of the year again to do my favourite activity - to pick potatoes! I have done this activity 2 times (2023 and 2024), so this is the third time. The price has increased from SEK13 to SEK15 per kg for the first 100kg and SEK8 to SEK9 for 100 kg and above. This year, we picked 32kg waxy (fast) and 46kg starchy (mjölig) potatoes = 78kg! Now, all the potatoes are in the basement, cold and dark. Hopefully, they will last us to winter. I just checked our local grocery (Willy's - an affordable grocery store) website and the price for loose waxy potato costs SEK18,90 per kg and starchy costs SEK17,90 per kg. So, it looks like we had a good price for our self-pick potatoes!

The weather was perfect too - sunny!

A tractor goes around the field to pull up the potato plants so all we had to do was pick the potatoes from the ground. We remove the damaged and green potatoes for the farmer by putting them in the provided pails and empty the pails in the provided baskets that are put around the potato field.

Here is me crossing over the potato field from the waxy potato field to the starchy potato field. There were deep furrow lines made by the tractor so there were lots of high hops between each furrow line. It was fun because the soil is soft.

Weighed the waxy potatoes first. Last year, we filled up a sack with potatoes to the brim of the sack and it was too heavy to lift the sack up the trailer that transports the potatoes to the giant weighing scale. So, we filled the sack to a 2/3 of the sack and it was easier to carry the sack. 

Both waxy and starchy potatoes on the scale! Starchy potatoes in the red sack. Waxy potatoes in the yellow sack.

Archipelago - Rånö: Weekend camp

30 and 31 August 2025

The search to experience islands on the Stockholm archipelago continues. Today, my friend and I went to Rånö (Rån island). She wanted to camp and I convinced her to choose Rånö. There is a dedicated camping spot on the island plus there is a water pump. 

We took the 10.25am Waxholm boat from Nynäshamn (south of Stockholm) to Rånö, and the fare is 104kr for zone 3. The boat ride took us less than 1 hour. There were so many passengers on the boat and most of them got off at Nattarö, the first stop. This boat is smaller than the boat I took to Finnhamn last month. Lesser seats on the bottom deck and there is a small room on the upper deck but it gets very noisy very fast when people start talking as it is a closed room. There is a small cafe on the boat and the price is the same as on the boat to Finnhamn. There is one toilet on the boat.

It was a cloudy day. It was about 16 degrees and I know that I was going to be very cold, so I had my gloves on me. I should have brought thicker gloves though. What a huge difference from when I was in Finnhamn and Ingmarsö at the end of July where it was very hot. 

We arrived at Rånö at 11.15am. There were only 4 persons that disembarked from the boat. Us and two other girls. I suspected that there were not many tourists on the island as the sole restaurant on the island has already closed for the season. The grocery store is opened but for two hours only on Wednesdays and weekends after the summer season. 

The camping place is a 1km walk northwards from the jetty. It is an easy trail to get to the spot. The sign is clear and one cannot get lost. The island is smaller than both Finnhamn and Ingmarsö. 

The designated camping place. Unlike Finnhamn where it costs SEK120 per tent per 24 hours to camp, it is free here and maximum number of nights to stay here is 2 nights.

There was no one in sight. So, we had the opportunity to choose wherever we want to set up our tent. My friend brought her tent and we set it up. Then, we had our own-brought lunch on the rocks in front of the tent, with a view of the waters. I had sausage and vegetable pasta that I made the day before. It can be eaten cold so it is a perfect camping food.

After lunch, we took a walk on the Stockholm Archipelago Trail (SAT) that is clearly marked by the yellow, white and blue tapes along the way. We had our tea break along the way too with a view of the waters.

We walked the upper half of the island and that took us about 2.5 hours. Then, we headed back to our tent to prepare for dinner. My friend brought her camping stove and we cooked potato, lentil and carrot soup. I brought hard-boiled eggs so the only thing we needed to do was to peel the shell off the eggs. We had bread with us too. It was delicious with hot soup and bread to dip in it. 

After dinner, we were back in the tent. We chatted and drew each other. The next day, we cooked the same soup for breakfast. It rained while we were having breakfast. We cleared up under the rain. When we got back into the tent, the rain stopped for a while and rained again. When it drizzled, we started to pack and tried to dry off the tent as much as we can. We took the 12.37pm boat back to Nynäshamn arriving at 1.30pm. Also 104kr for the return boat ticket.

It was a lovely short weekend to camp at a new spot. I got to know my friend a little more and I got to enjoy peace and quiet in the nature.

Tastebud : Non Solo Bar (3rd time)

19 August 2025

After our Indian vegetarian meal, we went to a cafe where we could sit longer and enjoy our chat. The Indian restaurant, Saravanaa Bhavan was starting to get noisy as more customers walked in. Same as our previous dining experience in June where we ate at Chuan Tapas, we went to Non Solo Bar again as this place has places to sit indoors. Plus, it closes at 11pm. It was packed outdoors and I was impressed by the other customers' perseverance to sit outdoors with a temperature of 16 degrees without sun.

Previously, we shared a keylime pie but there was no pie today. So, I had a piece of coconut pastry dipped in chocolate SEK39. It was quite hard and I am pretty sure it contains a lot of sugar. And an alcohol-free pear cider SEK64, just like the previous time.

Tastebud : Saravanaa Bhavan

19 August 2025

Today, I had an Indian vegetarian meal for dinner. I did not find the taste to my liking as I thought it was bland. Probably because I had similar meals in Malaysia and they were tasty. Plus, Indian vegetarian meals in Malaysia do not cost a bomb...

This restaurant, Saravanaa Bhavan has branches in Malaysia too. We shared a small dish of rasa vada SEK79 and I had aloo gobi with rice SEK169 while my friend had ghee onion rava masala dosa SEK149. Just like in Malaysia, the the dosa is stuffed with potato and onion and served with coconut chutney, tomato chutney. However, the dosa is too paper-thin compared to the one in Malaysia where it is thick. 

Rasa vada is lentil doughnut served in rasam soup. Rasam is spicy lentil soup. I used to have rasam for free in some Indian restaurants in Malaysia but the rasam soup here costs SEK55! My aloo gobi dish has cauliflower and potatoes in onion cream sauce and comes with rice and a small serving of salad. 

The food is good here but it is not in my recommendation list or a restaurant I want to go back to unless I have no other options. 

Rasa vada.

Ghee onion and potato dosa.

Aloo gobi.

Tastebud : Ikea restaurant

28 July 2025

After a long hiatus, I got to eat at Ikea restaurant again. I have only eaten at Ikea twice since I moved to Sweden 8 years ago. Mainly because Ikea is far from where I stay and public transport takes about an hour. 

Today, I had a fish plate SEK99. Fried fish fillet with potatoes, sweet peas and a slice of lemon served with remoulade sauce. Remoulade is a French word. The sauce is made from mayonnaise, herbs, mustard and caper. I am satisfied with my portion. Also, I had a slice of cheesecake with berries SEK39. Very affordable meal! Many people come here to eat as it is so affordable. My glass of raspberry drink is included in the lunch set too. As I am an IKEA member, I could have gotten a cup of coffee for free. 

Tastebud : Vetekatten

29 July 2025

After dinner at Chao Na, it is time for dessert. There was no dessert in Chao Na, so we went to Vetekatten. It was either that or Gunnarsons Konditori. Most importantly, we needed a spacious space so we could talk and not be disturbed by others. 

We shared a slice of brownie SEK66. Very thick chocolate and filled with nuts. Sweet. I had to drink several glasses of water. 

Tastebud : Chao Na

29 July 2025

My friend was keen to try chicken rice and she saw it in Chao Na, a Thai restaurant. Well, the video in Instagram does look good. So, we went for it. It does not taste like Hainanese chicken rice or any chicken rice in Malaysia. The rice is cooked in chicken broth, that I can taste, but not as flavourful. We received fried and poached boneless chicken strips. Swedes don't enjoy bones in their meals. Very odd, I thought. Anything they eat must be boneless, both fish and meat.

Our chicken rice for SEK165. I enjoyed the sauce and crispy fried chicken. The poached chicken does not taste like my familiar taste of chicken rice. Probably it is the healthy version without oil, as the chicken was not 'shiny' from the oil. Portion was sufficient for me. I thought the portion was just nice for an adult. 

Me before every meal. Photo session to remember what I have eaten and to describe it here.

Archipelago - Finnhamn and Ingmarsö: Part 3 - Departure back to Stockholm

26 July 2025

Cost
1) Boat ticket - SEK186
2) Sandwich and 2 coffee - SEK121 

Time to depart to Stockholm today. Our boat departs at 12.10pm. My cottage and I. We hung our clothes to dry outside the cottage. We hung under the rail as there was bird poop on the top.

Other guests can pay to shower in the hostel for SEK20. Towel can be rented for SEK35. The reception is closed in the evening so I think others would have showered here without the staff knowing.

First, breakfast. One can sit outside to have breakfast too. When it is sunny, it can get very hot and not enjoyable to have breakfast. Yesterday, some guests had breakfast outside and came in as it got too hot for them.

Now, we check out. This is a small shed outside the hostel to put the luggage so that the staff can collect them and put in the jetty for departure.

This is where the staff collects the luggage from arriving guests at the jetty to be sent to the hostel.

We managed a last dip at the beach opposite the restaurant before we took the boat back. 

Light lunch on the boat. 

We were back in Stockholm 3 hours later. I would definitely recommend to do the hiking trails on the island during autumn where it is cooling and mosquitoes don't attack you. For the activities of suntanning and taking a dip in the waters, I am not a big fan of doing it in these islands. The entries from sandy beaches has many dead seaweeds or relatively big stones (the beach near the sauna). Most entries have to be done from large rocks where one can hop in and I am not good at that.