Check out this stand-up cooking comedy with Swedish comedian Mårten Andersson and chef Nizar Achmad. A drunken chef forcing a stand-up comedian to eat oysters and dissect lobsters … and more.
View the video on www.coolstockholm.se
Archive for July, 2009
Too drunk to cook?
Thursday, July 16th, 2009Walking dinners in Gothenburg
Monday, July 13th, 2009If you’re in Gothenburg, check out the walking dinners at three different restaurants in town, organized by Inspirationsbyran (the Bureau of Inspiration). For SEK 790 per person (min 10 people per group), you’ll get a 1.5 hour guided tour, starter, main course and cheese tasting with a beer/wine.
This Fall the company hopes to start offering the walking dinner concept in Stockholm.
Visit www.inspirationsbyran.se or www.walkingdinner.se for more info!
A great “fika” spot
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009One of my very favorite cafes in Stockholm right now is Chokladkoppen on the Stortorget square in Gamla Stan, a stone’s throw from the Royal Palace. Officially, it is a gay spot but it is frequented by just about everyone – from tourists to locals addicted to its large cups of white hot chocolate, homemade soups, great pies and especially good chocolate cheesecake.
It’s a good spot to take a “fika”, have a lunch or just to sit solo with a magazine and watch the world pass by. Chokladkoppen is a tiny place inside but luckily during the summer the seating capacity expands by almost 100% thanks to an outdoor terrace facing on to the square. There’s also blankets if the weather turns nippy.
If Chokladkoppen is full, check out next-door neighbour, Kaffekoppen which has the same owner and basically the same menu.
Just bring cash with you because neither place takes cards.
Eating out in Ireland … during the recession
Monday, July 6th, 2009The effects of the recession in Ireland are starting to hit home – and even though this means pubs, restaurants and cafes are closing down, bars are less crowded, menus are less extensive and opening hours less social than before, it also means better value for locals and tourists alike.
Well, I’ve disappeared for a while … due to a combination of a long weekend trip to Ireland, and a severe lack of sleep in Stockholm thanks to these sharp, bright summer mornings which make me feel like I’m suffering from an overdose of endless jet lag!
Ireland … well, it’s been six months since I’ve been there and the effects of the recession are really starting to hit home. Pubs that would have been overflowing with people three years ago, are now maybe 60-70% full and one of my “regular” bars, The Orchard in Rathfarnham, Dublin, is now offering Friday evening barbeques (a full selection of meats, baked potato, side salad and a free beer) for EUR 10 – this would easily have set you back around EUR 50 three years ago!
Johnnie Fox's, Dublin's "highest" pub, offers traditional music and a great bar menu including seafood.
Also in Dublin, the outdoor restaurants in one of the city’s most popular shopping centers … very quiet on a Sunday evening.
Outside the capital, in the south-eastern town of Wexford, trying to find something to eat on a Saturday night at 20.00 in a city with almost as many bars and fast food chains as shops, proved impossible. Three bars with signs hanging outside “food served all day” were not serving food after 19.00 … strange, bearing in mind that it’s a Saturday night and what better way to start a pub night than with some “pub grub”. The local “potato restaurant” stopped serving food at 20.30 and elsewhere, pubs were closed with “to let” or “for sale” signs hanging outside. After scouring the town for an hour we were left with two choices – Chinese food (there is still a strong supply of Chinese restaurants in most Irish towns where you can even order French fries instead of rice with your sweet and sour chicken, if you wish!!:-)) or a burger from a fast-food joint.
Browsing through local supermarkets both in Dublin and outside, I discovered that food prices seem to have dropped since I lived there almost two years ago. Special offers like “2 for 1” and discounts dominate the shop shelves. A small punnet of blueberries which, two years ago, would have been priced EUR 5.99 now sells for around EUR 3.99.
So, if the Celtic Tiger prices of the last few years scared you off booking a trip to Ireland, now is probably the right time to visit. The recession has lowered prices considerably and hotels, guesthouses (B&Bs), bars and restaurants are much better value for money than three years ago. Restaurants, while maybe not as flexible on opening hours as in the past, are not as crowded as before and many offer special promotions for set menus etc.
And, just a tip, if you are thinking of going to Ireland. Trying to find a great restaurant can be like looking for a needle in a haystack if you don’t have a local recommendation or if you stick to the tourist brochures. Instead, find a pub you like the look of which is not empty and serves food.
The pubs often offer surprisingly good – homecooked and unfancy but tasty – main courses (anything from a beef and stout pie to roast beef with mashed potatoes or a chowder seafood soup with homemade soda brown bread) which you can enjoy with a fresh pint of Guinness or a great Irish coffee to finish up with. And all for around EUR 20 per person.
Enjoying a fresh pint of Guinness at the Guinness brewery in Dublin. All visitors receive a complementary glass in the glass rooftop bar which offers panoramic views over the city.
