Thursday, November 29, 2012

It's Winter Wonderland out here in Stockholm

Remember the snow and rain yesterday?  Well..  I woke up this morning to this!

Looking out from our window this morning..  Gentle snowflakes were falling down from the sky... and our yard is all white..
The bikes must have been parked outside all night and are now covered in snow.. So pretty!
The park/church down the street from us were all white.. 
 *sigh*  This is like a taster of what winter will be.  This is just so pretty, so right!  Let's not worry about too much snow = slippery, slush!  Let's just enjoy the first snowflakes of the season!!

Xx




Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Cute little Cafe - Cafe Tjärlek

After eating such a huge lunch, and sitting around in the restaurant chatting and watching people coming and going, it was a miracle we were still able to run off for an afternoon tea straight after but I'm so glad we did!

Stepping into the cafe, I was quite excited as it is.  The place is cozy and the interior is so cute.  They have a variety of cakes in the cake display and a room at the back which is just... purrrrfect for a small party! =)

The lady who owns the cafe, Dinah Gärtner is Fillipino and is so friendly and warm.  They have brunch on Sunday for just 155KR - It's mostly Swedish food and dumplings, but I heard the homemade dumplings are delicious!  I think twice a week, they have some sort of band playing.  Sounds like quite a happening place to be! =)  Needless to say, Miss A is ecstatic!

Cafe Tjärlek

Tjärhovsgatan 19 , 11628 Stockholm
Tel: 08-46004045
Cake display and counter..
Apologies for the blurriness!  But you get the idea.. I thought the wallpaper is kinda cute!  The exterior room is great dining area
From here, there's another room at the back, which is quite cozy and very homey feeling!
There's a piano at the back and tables and chairs for people to enjoy their cuppa
We had a variety of cakes to splurge on.  There's cheesecake on the top left, and some yummy nutty cake on the right (which Miss A said is very Fillipino and the bottom is chocolate cake)
The lovely ladies.. and my red hat!!
We got some complimentary toasted sandwiches from Dinah.  Isn't she lovely??!!!
 Seriously can't wait to return!!

Yay!!

Xx



Taste of Vietnam - Yummy Vietnamese food in Stockholm

In all honesty, it has been a miserable past few days with the weather and all, but..  it hasn't stopped me from going out and meeting new and old friends and enjoying a few eats.

Yesterday, I tried out Korean.. and today, it was so good to meet up with a few girlfriends whom I first met at Meetups a few months ago.  We opted for Vietnamese, as two of us have tried this some weeks ago, and couldn't wait to go back.  Some noodle soup would be great for warming up our bellies in this cold and wet weather.

This is actually quite a good place for lunch.  The food is fast and the serving is quite generous and most importantly, they are very tasty!  Again, it is best to go at around 11.30 - 11.45am to get a table during the weekdays as by 12.00pm - 12.30pm, the place is quite crowded.  By 2pm, it's all quiten down again and we were the only people left in there!

I am quite happy with today as after this, we decided to venture out in the rain (and snow) to a nearby cafe, which happened to be.... THE CUTEST LITTLE CAFE... and seriously, seriously, I think I have found the perfect spot for that fine day in December!!  But more about that later!

Anyhow, here's some snippets from our lunch.  Btw, they do lunch specials, where different specials are to be had every day.  The last time I was here, I had the Bun Bo Hue (spicy noodle soup) for 79KR.  The specials are usually up on the TV screen at the bar/cash register.

A Taste of Vietnam
Södermannagatan 8
116 23 Stockholm

These are complimentary.  Fresh plain salad or pickled salad with crushed peanuts.  There's some vinegary sauce as well. Bread, butter and prawn crackers are also provided!.  On top of all these, water, tea and coffee are also included
Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Beef Vermicelli Noodle soup) - So tasty and colourful..  
Today we had the flat noodle soup with chicken (79KR).  Quite tasty!
Bun Cha Gio (79KR on special) - Vietnamese Spring Rolls with noodles.  Really yummy!  Deep Fried spring rolls on top of a bowl of noodles with fresh salad (lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber).. eaten drenched with fish sauce dipping sauce
Seriously quite filling!  Can't believe after this meal, we wandered off for... cakes and tea/coffee! tee hehe..

Xx

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Another Korean eatery in Stockholm - Korea House

Bad rainy weather today, but I managed to brave the wet and cold and attended a foodie meetup with a couple of people at this Korean place.  I know some people refuse to eat Korean food in Stockholm as they are usually expensive and not very authentic.. but for me, as long as it's spicy and on special, I'm happy ;)

It's pretty empty at 11.30am, but come 12pm, the whole place is so crowded, you wouldn't be able to find a place to sit, but 15 minutes later, when I looked up, the place is half empty as most people came, ate within 15 minutes - 30 minutes and are gone.  We sat and talked after lunch and left at about 1pm, and the place is virtually empty.

So, my advise, come around 11.30am or after 1pm, you'll miss the lunch crowd and can pick wherever you want to sit =)

Dagens (special) for Tuesday is either the chicken or Chap Che (potato noodles and beef) for KR85 and a couple of us picked Chap Che while someone else picked the chicken.  I didn't take a picture of it as it looks kind of 'boring'

Chap Che is so so.. passable, but can't compare to the ones I used to eat back in Oz.. My brother's wife who is Korean, her mum made the best chap che.. as her noodle is so smooth and slightly chewy and she puts spinach in them.. So much tastier!  I guess you can't compare here!!

Korea House
Ynglingagatan 13;
113 47 Stockholm

'Bar' at Korea House

Tuesday Special 'Chap Che' and it came with rice as well, which we weren't expecting.... (the noodles came with beef slices and stir fry vegetables and chinese mushrooms)
Complimentary 'salad' which you could take as much as you like
The food was tasty but was missing something, so we asked for chilli sauce which made the food really delicious!  Comes with complimentary salad, coffee and Korean tea
Until next time, bon appetite!

xx

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Koy Shunka - Japanese food in Barcelona ;)

I know.. Shocking, Shocking!!  But we really couldn't resist...  We intended to eat as much fresh seafood as possible while there, and what better way to enjoy than sampling the Japanese menu there on top of all the tapas we were gobbling down.. *gobble* *gobble* ;)

We were there for a few days.. S was there for work, and I dropped in for the weekend..  Pity the weather was a lot colder than I expected.  Not sure what I was thinking when I started packing all my little summery dresses, and ended up all bundled up in jeans and long sleeved tops and scarves ;)

At Koy Shunka, we picked their €74/person menu set, which consist of about 10 different types of dishes, inclusive of dessert.  Drinks of course were on top of that price..  It's so cheap in Barcelona compared to in Stockholm ;(  Seriously, we had an enjoyable meal.. So fresh and so tasty.  Highly recommended!

Koy Shunka
c/ copons, 7
08002 barcelona
tel. (+34).934.127.939  (reservas / bookings)


This was part of the appetiser, miso soup, with a little glass on top of a saucer..

Deep fried crisps with miso sauce

Raw white fish with miso sauce.. was really delicious.  I love how all their plates compliment the dishes served..

Raw scallops with Swedish turnip.  The scallop were sliced thinly and was delicious..  I love the jelly like noodle which seemed to have been infused with miso.. yum yum!

Autumn 'Minori' - Fried herring with shiitaki mushrooms (i think they were marinated with teriyaki sauce).  I love the popcorn like wheat which I lightly scraped with my chopsticks and they drop down and picked up easily to be eaten! =)

Japanese noodles "Somen" in "Dashi" stock. - Love the stock!  So flavoursome!  and I didn't mind sucking on the prawn head, as there were loads of meat in there!... I'm hungry just looking at the pictures.. ;(

The sake shared by the boys!!

I guess I licked my bowl clean and left the head ;(  *blush*

Sashimi - There were salmon, tuna, squid and another type of fish, which I couldn't make out what they were... but they were so fresh, I couldn't get enough!  and the crispy seaweed was quite good as well...  Check out the plate!  

Beautiful colours and display

Grilled Flat Fish "Pinchos" 2 per person.  Reminded me of 'Satay' style ;)

I know I would have got told off by mum if she has seen this.. =P

Lightly roasted "Toro", brown rice with fresh wasabi flavour.  The rice had pieces of mushrooms and the dried seaweed makes it look all pretty...

I ate every morsel.. as they were so delicious!!...  How cool is the plate??  It's the Japan Flag!  I didn't noticed till I finished my food haha =)

 "Wagyu" served on their hot plate!
Yummy sushi..  We had to eat from right to left!  and boy!  The eel for last was definitely the tastiest sushi on the plate!    The prawn head was filled with meat as well!  So, yep!  more sucking and picking out the head for me ;)


and of course dessert...  It's some chocolate cake with fresh berries.. which I thought was so 'unjapanese' haha =)

Chefs in action






The display
 By the end of the night, the boys were drunk.. and I was sooo stuffed.. I had to waddle down the street!


Christmas Gift perhaps?



Saturday, November 24, 2012

Out of space? what?

Looks like I've just reached the limit of 1GB here on this blog site.  What?  I didn't know there's a limit.. and it's only 1GB?  I guess I have been a bit crazy posting all these pictures but I didn't realised there was a space limit and it's only 1GB..

What to do what to do..  Should I just stop blogging or just move to another blog... *sigh*  Is there an unlimited space for blogs out there?