Tastebud : Oolong Tea House

27 May 2024

My first experience with bubble tea in Stockholm. I am not a fan of bubble tea. I think it is a dangerous drink as I am afraid that one of the giant tapioca balls will get stuck in my throat. I do not understand the hype of bubble tea. It is also a very sweet drink. Those giant tapioca balls are boiled in caramalised syrup and the drink itself has sugar too.

I had Zang Zang Cha which has brown sugar. SEK59. No giant tapioca balls got stuck in my throat. So, I am happy. :) 

Tastebud : Cong

27 May 2024

SUPER YUMMY Vietnamese street food! The only downside is the loud background music which made it difficult to talk to my friend. It was very warm in the restaurant too. Although it is just May, it is very warm in Stockholm now. I don't understand why do restaurants set loud music. How are customers going to talk to each other? We were in the restaurant for an hour only and left the place so that we can talk. There were many tourists in the restaurant as this place is located in Gamla Stan (Old Town), a must-see place for most tourists. 

I love the food! The two of us shared five dishes. In total, the food costed 740kr. 

1) Spicy tofu stick 138kr. Good thing it was spicy because I dislike the bland taste of tofu. 

2) Summer rolls (chicken) 148kr. Typical Vietnamese spring rolls. This is more expensive than the summer rolls (with shrimps) I had at An Nam for 128kr. 

3) Grilled pork 198kr. This is when we realised that we needed a bowl of rice and we ordered one to share. Yummy with the fish sauce and pickled salad. I ate with some of the lettuce leaves. 

4) Chicken burger 218kr. I love the fried chicken! The menu states that the fried chicken weighs 280g. Well, the burger was not necessary but it was quite impressive to see a knife holding the bread and the fried chicken together. Put together with mayo, coriander and chilli. The fried chicken in the burger reminded me of the fried chicken on the doughnut served at Bird.

5) Bowl of rice. 38kr. I think this is expensive after going through my older posts. For example, a bowl of rice at Lilla Kina costs 15kr! But the price may have increased today as I visited Lilla Kina in 2022. I browsed through the menu again and the price of the dishes I tried have almost doubled!

Once again, I put my hand for size perspective. I do not mind coming here again to try other dishes. 

Tastebud : Itamae Sushi

10 May 2024

Out for lunch after a long hiatus. I always bring food from home as it is too expensive to eat outside for lunch. Or anytime, for that matter. This week, my food from home was sufficient till Wednesday. Thursday was a public holiday so I had to buy lunch on Friday. Today, I am having Japanese food at Itamae Sushi. I heard the staff speaking Japanese and I thought that this must be really good Japanese food. Well, I was satisfied with my food.

I had Shake Mushi (steamed salmon with ponzu mayonnaise and rice) for 155kr. I enjoyed the ponzu mayonnaise that was served on the salmon. It was a big plate but mostly vegetables. Green tea and miso soup are complimentary.

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!