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. 

Archipelago - Finnhamn and Ingmarsö: Day 2 - Explore Ingmarsö - Row boat, bakery, bar

25 July 2025

Costs

1) Fika at Ingmarsö bakery - 2 buns SEK90, 2 iced latte SEK120

2) Drinks at Ingmarsö bar - Cocktail drink SEK145

3) Dinner at Finnhamn rooftop bar - Salami pizza SEK175, Mango and pineapple pizza SEK175, Cocktail mango SEK135, 400ml landsort beer SEK95

The Story

Today, we will row a boat to Ingmarsö and explore the island. One can take Waxholms boat too but the ticket is quite expensive despite it being one or two stops away, depending which boat route it is and which stop - south or north of Ingmarsö. The price ranges from SEK61 to SEK86. Also, check the timetable. 

First, we have breakfast that is included in our accommodation. Simple breakfast of yoghurt and granola, bread, buns with fillings, boiled egg, juice and coffee. 

Archipelago - Finnhamn and Ingmarsö: Day 1 - Explore Stora Jolpan and Idholmen

This summer, I took the opportunity to explore two islands on Stockholm archipelago. I read about the Stockholm Archipelago Trail (SAT) that was completed last October. Some islands were selected to set up hiking trails. The hiking trails can be easy or moderate. I chose Finnhamn and Ingmarsö, as these two islands seem to have it all - a bakery in Ingmarsö, restaurant and a hostel. Plus a relatively easy hiking trail. Finnhamn is an archipelago by itself being a group of islands, most notably Stora Jolpan, Idholmen, and Lilla Jolpan. 

The trip was planned at the end of June, which was less than a month from our travel date. Since this is a short 3-days trip, I was not worried about planning this last minute. There was no problem in booking accommodation in the hostel. We booked a 2 bed cottage which includes breakfast. The cottage is outside the main building, about less than a minute walk. 

24 July 2025

Costs

1) Boat ticket - SEK186 one-way

2) Accommodation - 3 days 2 nights for a 2-bed cottage including breakfast - SEK2340. Additional SEK200 for rented bedsheet, comforter cover, pillowcase, and towel. It costs SEK180 if booked online. SEK785 per person per night including beddings. 

3) 2 Coffee and bun on boat - SEK89. There is a Fika offer (1 bun and 1 coffee) for SEK60.

4) Cocktail drink at the Rooftop bar (Takbar) - SEK145

5) Dinner at restaurant (there is only restaurant on Stora Jolpan island) - Toast skagen SEK265, cocktail Paradiset (vanilla vodka, sour apple, lime and sprite) SEK145, passion fruit cheesecake SEK130, pot au chocolate SEK120

The Story

We started our trip from Strömkajen, the jetty located in Kungträdgården. We took the 8.30am boat by Waxholmsbolaget and we were scheduled to arrive 3 hours later at Finnhamn. This is the last stop for the boat route and it makes its way back to Stockholm. During the summer, Waxholmsbolaget has its own ticket price. After the summer season, one can use the SL-train card to travel to the archipelago which is cheaper at SEK43 but there are not much activities after summer. 

There is a cafe on the boat with options for lunch, pastries, ice-cream, coffee and tea. Toilets are clean too.

Tastebud : Shere Khan (2nd time)

15 July 2025

Here I am, back in Shere Khan for the second time. The first time I was here, I thought the food was nothing extraordinary. This time, I went with a different group and they thought the food was really good. For me, coming from Malaysia, it felt nothing special. The group that I went with were Swedes. 

I booked a table with TheFork where we got 30% discount for our main meals. Drinks, appetizer, and bread were not included. We shared 3 appetizers - 2 large pieces of papadam 45kr, fuchka 99kr and pakora 89kr. For the main meal, I had Dopiaza lamb 219kr, and paid 153,30 after 30% discount, and a plain naan bread for 30kr. 

Papadam has always been a favourite of mine. The papadam came with mango chutney which I enjoyed. 

Fuchka is a national  street food in Bangladesh - Hollow bread that is deep-fried and filled with yellow peas, potatoes, chaat masala, fresh coriander and eaten with tamarind sauce. That is the reason of the spoon in the sauce bowl. 

Pakora was the best here as the mint really lifts up the dish - Crispy spinach and cream cheese balls. Flavored with ginger, garlic and mint. 

The main meal was filling for me as I had both bread and rice. I did a little research and dopiaza means two onions in Persian and a dish found in Iran and South India. Dopiaza is a dish with more onions than meat. Yes, I did eat a lot of onions in the curry. 

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.