Valborgsafton (Walpurgis Night) 2025

30 April 2025

6 years later, I get to see a bonfire again on this lovely evening at Ulriksdal castle's garden. Perfect weather. This time, I get to see how the bonfire started. The Scouts were there to sell warm boiled sausages with bread, coffee, tea, packet drinks and sweet buns. We got the warm sausage 25kr and a small packet drink 10kr. The crowd is not as huge as the one I saw in the photos of the bonfire in Rålambshovsparken. 

Most people see the bonfire as a sign that spring is here. But that was not the case on how this tradition started. A bit of history on this special day. The history behind Valborg - to celebrate Saint Walpurga, a nun in Germany who studied medicine and battled “pest, rabies and whooping cough, as well as against witchcraft." She was canonized on 1 May. They celebrated her on this day with a bonfire and the fire also scares away the witches. 

Look how bright it is at 8.20pm!

At 8.30pm, the boy scouts came with giant lit candles and placed the candles around the heap of branches. Slowly, everything caught fire and a bonfire is lit. It got warmer and we moved back to a slope and we could see the bonfire from there too. We left 20 minutes later as I was not comfortable walking back in the dark.

I like this blurry photo!

Tastebud : Balders Bröd

19 April 2025

Coffee time (fika)! Finally, I get to try the pastry in Balders Bröd at Mall of Scandinavia. I always see lots of customers here. Today, my friend treated me to a pastry and coffee. We had Hallonfluff (Hallon is Raspberry) SEK59 and it has meringue and cream. That is lots of sugar. Luckily, the two of us shared the pastry. I could not taste any raspberry. I wonder if they even use any raspberry in the ingredients. It could be red colourings instead. My brewed coffee costs SEK39 and I could get a refill. A påtår, as it is called.  

Tastebud : Barobao

16 April 2025

Birthday treat for the boyfriend at Barobao because he loves pork belly bao. I chose this place solely for the pork belly bao and it was so delicious. The meat melts in the mouth. The rest of the dishes were so-so. We had pork ramen 135kr, fried chicken 138kr, mushroom bao 88kr (not worth it), pork belly bao 78kr, tuna taco 128kr, kimchi 38kr. Customers are recommended to get 3 or 4 dishes as the portions are small. 

First row - 2 pork belly bao, fried chicken
Second row - pork belly bao, pork ramen, tuna taco
Third row - kimchi

Pork belly bao - the star of the menu!

I had mushroom bao as I was not full yet. Don't have it. Not worth it.

Just fried chicken. Nothing special. 

Tastebud : Koreana

14 April 2025

Korean food for dinner. I decided to take a break from Chinese food and choose other East Asian food. Today at Koreana, a small restaurant managed by two persons. Could be husband and wife. One places order at the counter and pays immediately. We did not need to tip. I like that. For once, no tip.

The menu was hung on the wall. I had a beef bibimbap. It was filling with the right amount of rice, vegetables, meat and a fried egg for SEK160. Very affordable! We shared a sushi plate too - 5 pieces of salmon and 5 pieces of avocado for SEK130. The meal comes with a bowl of refillable miso soup and a cup of refillable hot tea.

Tastebud : Thelins

9 April 2025

After dinner at Her Name is Kim, my friend and I searched for a place that we could speak at ease as that restaurant has a small space and it got noisy as soon as the restaurant is filled up. We found Thelins cafe that closes at 8pm so we decided to have cake. We shared a princess cake that has yellow marzipan instead of the usual green SEK62 and juice with apple and ginger flavour SEK49. Ginger taste was yummy. Cakes are too expensive in cafes. 

Tastebud : Her Name is Kim

9 April 2025

Korean food! The restaurant is small and has no toilet. It was cramp inside and we could not speak much. It got noisy fast. We had a dinner set. There are 2 options to choose from. Either 3 or 5 side dishes with a choice of main dish. The 3 side dishes + 1 main dish cost SEK195 and 5 side dishes + 1 main dish SEK255. I chose Korean fried chicken with 3 side dishes. My friend took slow-cooked pork belly with 5 side dishes. Meals include rice. Refillable too without any extra cost! 

My dinner on the left. My friend's dinner on the right. My friend's extra 2 side dishes include silk tofu and black sesame cabbage salad. 

Korean fried chicken. Really good!

Slow-cooked pork belly. Also a delicious dish. 

My 3 side dishes - spring kimchi, seaweed and seafood salad, aubergine in mild spicy sesame in the below photo.

Me and my dinner set. 

Tastebud : Lilla Kina (2nd time)

8 April 2025

Second time in Lilla Kina today. Chinese food today which has spicy sichuan pepper. I am finding it difficult to enjoy Chinese food now when there is sichuan involved. I don't understand how the food is enjoyed when it is spicy and tongue-numbing. I don't think I will be visiting a Chinese restaurant for some time after this visit. 

During my first time in 2022, I found the food yummy as it was new to me and I had Chinese food rarely. Today, we had starters - Small portion of marinated beef and tripe (cow's stomach) in Sichuan chili oil SEK99, and two main dishes - Braised pork and bean sprouts in a strong Sichuan soup SEK188 and Wok with tofu and marinated egg yolk SEK188. A bowl of rice costs SEK20 each. In 2022, it costed SEK15. I had a glass of hot water and it costed me SEK15! I was shocked. I have never paid for a glass of water, cold or hot, before in any Chinese restaurant. So, I will not be coming back here again. 

The small portion of starters. It was a really small portion. I put my fingers to show how small the plate is. This dish has one chilli on the menu and it was not spicy. It is a cold dish.

Braised pork and bean sprouts in Sichuan soup. The menu showed two chillis and my boyfriend was adamant to have it. So, he sweated a lot eating it. I took a front view of the dish as I always find it deceiving that the bowl is wide at the top but narrowed down sharply. It does not look like the portion is a lot.

The tofu with egg yolk balanced out the spicyness of the spicy Sichuan soup.

Tastebud : Winner House

6 April 2025

Lunch at Winner House. We chose this place because my boyfriend was so hungry from the day before and I suggested a Chinese restaurant as we can share several dishes. I saw Winner House on the map and asked him what it served. Yay - Chinese food, he said! So, we walked there. We were in luck as many Chinese and other Chinese-looking customers started to roll in 30 minutes later. I took it as a good sign that the food here was good. We received menu in Chinese as I am the Chinese-looking customer while my boyfriend received a similar menu with English translation. Unfortunately, I cannot read Chinese so I relied on my boyfriend's menu. 

We received complimentary starters - 5 small fried vegetarian spring rolls, and a basket of prawn chips (finished it before I took a photo! Haha!). We ordered honey roasted pork SEK198, scallion chicken SEK168 and pork bao SEK68. It includes rice. 

The food was DELICIOUS! And the price is affordable too. I could taste the smokiness from the roasted pork and the pork was served on bean sprouts. The scallion in the scallion chicken dish was mixed with ginger and garlic paste. Yummy! The chicken reminded me of Hainanese chicken rice with its white flesh. The pork in the pork bao was nothing exceptional compared to the other dishes. I enjoyed thoroughly all the dishes. 

We received complimentary dessert too - chrysanthemum tea, a small bowl of red bean syrup, fried bread with custard sauce as dip. They are so generous. How lovely to get a nutritious cup of chrysanthemum tea. It was my first time having red bean syrup in Stockholm! 

When I got home, I researched on the restaurant and found out it was a Cantonese restaurant which explains why there was no sichuan dish in the menu.

Tastebud : Yoku Sushi Wok

4 April 2025

Today, I tried a newly-opened restaurant in the neighbourhood. Currently, there are two main dishes on the menu - tonkotsu (pork) and beef ramen. There is the usual sushi too. I took tonkotsu ramen SEK135. To me, the soup is flavourful but salty. There was a Chinese customer in the restaurant and she complimented the owner who is also the cook that the soup was very delicious.

Once again, the wide on top and super narrow at the bottom. Such bowls don't have a huge portion.