Sushi Sho

I usually don't visit a newly opened restaurant straight away. It takes time for chefs, waiters and restaurateurs to find their unique expression and routines. Abroad it's very common for restaurants to have soft openings where guests and restaurant staff have time to "practice" on each other, normally with a reduced menu price or sometimes even for free. In Sweden, where labor is so costly this rarely happens.

Sushi Sho on Upplandsgatan, close to Odenplan, had only been opened for three weeks when I decided to go for an early Saturday dinner.

Even though the place was completely new I had tried chef Carl Ishizaki's food before at the shoebox-sized Akki Sushi at Medborgarplatsen. I still eat at Akki from time to time but it's not as good as it used to be when Carl was running the show.

Sushi Sho is not much bigger; 8 seats around the counter and four squeezed seats by the window. Carl, and his single chef colleague, do everything themselves (at least on my visit), taking orders, "cooking" the food, serving, pouring tea, and taking payments. The place is simple in its design but still pleasing to the eye and I like the counter, free from the standard glass display where you can usually view the "fish of the day".

They don't only serve sushi here so if you don't eat raw fish you can go for a donburi.

I chose to go for the omakase (chef's selection menu) which basically is nigiri-zushi served bite by bite including a few other offerings. The nigiri is drizzled with the perfect amount of soy by the chef and made with fresh wasabi and a rice base with unusually low sugar content. This, plus the fact that they use brown sugar for their sushi-zu, gave the rice a more rustic, almost grainy taste. I liked it and you could notice that they put love in everything they do like their home-made gari.

A few of the nigiri weren't perfect though, like the frozen Uni (sea urchin) used twice within the menu. This is normally a favorite item of mine with its sweet, creamy sea flavor but frozen it was rather bitter. Amongst my favorites was the insanely good cod liver, the yummy salmon eggs with egg yolk and yuzu, the pickled mackerel and the nice combo of sweet miso and walnuts to finish with. I must say that, in my opinion, the omakase menu is far too cheap and if they increased the price they would have the option to source even better produce. 

This place definitely competes for a place as Stockholm's number one sushi shop and I will definitely be returning many times in the future.

Chef Carl in action.

Burnt squid with yuzu and soy

Cod liver with lime and soy

Skrei salted and washed in rice vinegar

Scallop with shiso

Squid with sea urchin

Octopus topped with nitsume

Burnt fatty salmon

Tsubugai (whelk)

Argentinian red shrimp with head butter

Northern propeller clam (no picture)


Yellowfin tuna

Squid and sea urchin gunkan with shiso

Salmon roe with quail egg yolk and yuzu

Pickled mackerel

Walnut miso on endive

Mackerel temaki

 

http://www.sushisho.se/

Tomo

Located at the top of the pyramid-shaped Raffles Hotel in WAFI, Dubai, Tomo has, since it first opened its doors, been a popular restaurant, particularly to the Japanese population in the city. Chef Chitoshi Takahashi used to run the restaurant Kisaku before he opened the more "fancy" Tomo.



Me and my company went for lunch and we had a pretty wide selection of dishes all shared in the middle of the table.

After a bowl of rather bland tasting edamame beans we had a platter of sashimi. All tasty, fresh and of very high quality, especially the o-toro that just melted in the mouth.

 

Saba, pickled mackerel, is another favorite of mine. Strong and rather fishy but not far away from the pickled herring we swedes often eat.

Chu-toro gunkan with spring onions.

Oyster with ponzu and daikon. Perhaps my favorite serving.

Ankimo, monkfish liver, also called foie gras of the sea.
This one was very mild tasting in comparison with previous experiences.

Pork and cabbage gyoza.
I prefer when the filling is more coarsely chopped so that you feel what you are eating. I definitely have had better.

Vegetable tempura, classic, simple and well executed.

Chicken wings skewers. Not the best quality.

Two types of maki rolls; softshell crab and negitoro. Both decent.

Octopus sashimi.

Chicken teriyaki was ok but nothing extraordinary.

When it comes to the simplicity of Japanese food, the quality of the product is more important than ever and in Tomo they are not exactly there.
I would sum it up as a decent lunch but I'm not too sure if I would return.
http://www.tomo.ae/

Dinner at Home 27.02.14

Who said you can only have a festive dinner at home on a Saturday or Sunday? For me, having a night off with my wife, a couple of good wines in the cellar and some lovely food in my fridge, ready to be cooked, is an excuse good enough for a night of pleasure.

We started off with a bottle of 2002 La Grande Année from Bollinger. This rich, food driven champagne showed a beautiful, generous nose of sweetest honey and red apple skin. Intense and creamy in the mouth with the same flavors of apple and honey with a touch of milk chocolate in the end that rang out in a long, everlasting finish. Enjoyed in feather light sommelier glasses from Riedel didn't harm either.

With the champagne, and as a first starter, I made a salmon tataki with salmon roe, dill mayonnaise and seaweed salad. The salmon was brushed with soy and mirin before I burnt it off with a torch. A nice little start.

Next I served cold smoked tartar of wagyu beef served with a variation of onions. Miniature onion rings, pickled onions, chives, ash from leek and a puree made of white onion that I lightly sweat in the pan for almost two hours until the onion melted into a toffee sweet "marmalade" before I blitzed it up to a silky smooth texture and seasoned it with brown butter ...voilà. A fantastic dish I must say and I wouldn't be surprised if I decide to serve it in a near future.

Second wine wasn't bad either. Vérité from Sonoma in USA makes three red wines all inspired of different areas of Bordeaux. La Muse is a Merlot inspired by the wines from Pomerol, Le Désir has the great reds from Saint-Émilion as a model and is obviously made from Cabernet Franc and finally they make a Cabernet Sauvignon called La Joie after the clarets from Pauillac. The later was also the wine that we had the pleasure to drink this evening. 2004 La Joie was very closed when I first opened it up before we started the dinner. But when poured, two hours later, in big glasses made specifically for the grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon a rich aroma of cherry liqueur, newly roasted coffee, vanilla and currents exploded in the nose. Still this is a very elegant californian red and far from over-extracted, very bordeaux like with a super silky mouth feel. Do I need to say it matched perfectly with the slow braised lamb I served with artichokes?

  

For the third time this evening I introduced the new blowtorch I purchased a few days earlier. This time I used it to caramelize the surface of classic vanilla crème brûlée that I served with blackberry and lime compote. A classic dessert that never dies.

The evening ended with a movie, Lagavulin 16 years and a bag of chips. Yum!!!

One day in Kuala Lumpur

Two days off and a trip to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur was quickly planned. Me and my wife decided to feast on some street food. Despite me getting food poisoned from street food in Bangkok two week earlier I still felt that the urge for some genuine asian flavors was too big to resist.

Century egg.

This is an old, classic Chinese dish where eggs (duck, chicken or quail) is preserved in clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls. The clay hardens around the egg, curing it rather than spoiling it and after a few weeks or up to months, you got your century egg.

The egg white looks like a clear gelatine of soy sauce and the yolk is creamy with a green, gray color. The flavor is strong with a mild saltiness and was, in this case, topped with Japanese pickled ginger (gari) which nicely cut through the richness of the egg.

Three types of dim sum followed; cha siu bao (barbecued pork buns), xiao long bao (dumpling filled with pork broth) and super tasty pork and shrimp dumplings. I never get tired of dim sum and could easily eat it almost daily.

The street we went to was full of small eateries, all opened 24/7 and extremely busy, a good sign. The smell of durian (highly praised south east asian fruit with a smell that some compares to sweaty feet) was strong and Chinese lanterns hung between the buildings creating a nice atmosphere.

We had steamed cockles with chilli followed by steamed crab with Thai basil and also a plate with egg fried rice. The beers costed almost as little as in the supermarket and were easily finished in the humid night.

Everything super tasty and very, very cheap.

Home Alone 3

Here we go again.

Home alone and the urge to spoil myself was massive.

Simple cooking and something classy in the glass, that's my melody for a fantastic evening.

A beautiful 350g ribeye with a classic Gratin Dauphinoise. Can't be easier and this sort of food is the best if you want something tasty that doesn't interfere with the wine but enhances it.

In the glass; 2006 Château Léoville Barton from Saint-Julien, Bordeaux. A noble, medium to full-bodied beauty with an elegant, all ready fairly opened nose of cassis, cedar, plums and iron.

Very complex, with a long finish and smooth tannins. Do I need to say it was perfect with the steak?

Esperanto Revised

Jocke Berg, lead singer in the Swedish band Kent once said "my goal is to be even more pretentious. To be pretentious is to really mean what you are saying"

After I had this, maybe 10th, dinner in Esperanto I must say that this is a pretty pretentious restaurant. In a completely good way.

Let's take the 7!!! amuse bouche we were served with our glass of champagne. All so elaborated and stunning that only these alone are worth a visit.


Amuse 1
Already placed on the table before we sat down; potato and seaweed chips with a sour cream and bonito dip.
A great, light start with a discrete smokiness from the katsuobushi (dried, smoked bonito tuna).

Amuse 2

Oyster yogurt ice cream with crispy celeriac. This yogurt with its salty, mineral flavors from the oyster is somewhat of a classic here in Esperanto. I remembered that this was one of Ferran Adrià's favorites when he was dining here a few years ago. 

 

Amuse 3
Aged quail egg yolk with pumpkin and vendace roe.
So good with the texture off the yolk, sweetness from the pumpkin and saltiness from the roe.

Amuse 4

Arctic char with fresh wasabi

The fish was topped with a mayonnaise made from the fish and fresh wasabi and then sandwiched between two crispy skins from the char. Genius!

Amuse 5

Blood crêpe with beetroot pancakes made from pigs blood and topped with beetroot to enhance the earthy flavor of the blood.

The presentation of this appetizer is just fantastic.

Amuse 6

A tiny steak tartare of Swedish Wagyu beef filled in a mushroom cracker shell.

This was very mild in flavor and got a bit lost after all the previous servings. Maybe it should have been served earlier?

Amuse 7

Small, charcoal grilled vendace with seaweed remoulade sauce.

A small bite that just screamed Scandinavian flavors at its best.

Me and my wife decided to skip the wine-pairings and go for two bottles instead.

We started off with 2010 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières from Domaine Leflaive.

Insane balance and purity with a refreshing acidity and tone of roasted oak in the background.

After all these amounts of appetizers it was time for the first "proper" serving;

Tsarskaya oysters, lightly smoked in straw and served with pickled onions, onion broth and buttermilk cheese. Great meaty oysters and a dish made in heaven for the white burgundy that just started to open up in the glass.

Next serving was perhaps the dish of the evening.

Pullet egg served with broccoli and bone marrow. No words can describe how fantastic this dish was. Unreal!

Time for bread.

Once again I was stunned with the love and energy that was put into all details. Does the chefs in Esperanto ever sleep?

Whipped butter blended with burnt butter was served from a bowl and instead of a side plate for the bread we got a piece of paper in front of us stamped with the Chinese symbol for love.

Four breads was served; Crisp bread seasoned with beer, steamed chicken bun, sourdough loaf and lastly bread filled with vendace roe. All great in taste in made with a brilliant technique.

Dried monkfish with a Scandinavian version of the Japanese dashi served with lumpfish roe and horseradish oil. This dish really stood out with its distinct flavors off caraway and anise in the dashi. It smelled like when you open an old cupboard in grandma's summer house. Might not sound so good but it was fantastic. We were instructed to drink the stock straight from the plate.

The slight Japanese theme continued in a freshly pressed tofu served with a variation of cauliflower and winter truffle.

Once more a great dish but if I have to be picky the cauliflower chips could have been crispier. Dehydrator normally fix these issues.

It was served with a Pu Er tea from 2009. This unique style of tea comes from Yunnan in China and is a matured tea with a distinct, earthy aroma that reminds me of wheat soil. This is what the Chinese call black tea while the classic oxidized tea we in Europe calls black tea is in China called red tea (which makes more sense in terms of color). It was a perfect combination with the tofu and both components enhanced each other in a brilliant way. 

Pike-perch from Hjälmaren was served on dried kombu with a sauce made from 60 month soy sauce.

The most simplistic dish of the evening but nonetheless good. The fish and the sauce smelled like pork. My guess is that they have used some katsuobushi in the sauce as well and together with the soy it gave the dish an almost bacon-like aroma. The skin of the fish was served on the side for texture. So yummy.

Now it was time to start sipping on our bottle of red.

2005 Vecina from Bond in Napa Valley, California. An intense Cabernet that still felt so young despite that the waiters had decanted the wine more then an hour earlier and served it in big Riedel glasses.

New oak, black current syrup, coffee and licorice root was the aromas dominating in the wine. As I have drunk Bond and Harlan Estate's wines several times with various aging it would be great to try this Vecina ten years from now. Of course this wine style is too rich for this kind of sophisticated fine-dining cuisine but who cares when the wine is so good? Not me.

Next serving was grilled Swedish squid with salsify and mushrooms. A dish that would have been better served with an elegant red Burgundy than my massive Oakville wine. Still a very good dish.

The fact that we dined here on a Wednesday was only to our benefit since I know the restaurant gets delivery of live langoustines that day.

The crustacean got brushed with tallow from wagyu beef and then burnt on the table. It was served with apple paper and an apple cream with notes of burnt butter. So, so good and the quality of the firm, meaty langoustine was just mind-blowing. Didn't get the purpose of the daikon roll that was served on the side though. Palate cleanser?

Last savory dish of the evening;

Lamb with grilled lamb heart and Jerusalem artichoke.

Rich, winter flavors that balanced well with the wine from Bond.

Just look at the presentation of the first sweet course.
An five centimeters, crispy, paper thin, perfectly round roll made from beetroot filled with various items of the same root vegetable and licorice.
The dish is like a piece of art both for the eye and mouth. Licorice and beetroot is so damn good together.

Next dessert was as beautifully executed.

Fennel root and pear was the main ingridients in this elaborated serving and when you cracked the round ball on the plate a blood-red juice of lingonberries was poured out. Wow!

Ice cream was served on the side. Far from a perfect made quenelles, the ice cream was more "carelessly" scooped in a small bowl to visually contrast the details on the main plate. 

Coffee and five sweets was served in the lounge by the master himself.
Apple pie with miso fudge
Buttermilk cream cheese with lemon verbena and milk skin
Burned white chocolate with whisky jelly
Chervil and cilantro sorbet with match tea cookie
Toast with cloudberries and sea buckthorn

Esperanto has never been better. The all female staff on the floor makes you feel welcomed and provides you with the slickest service on the planet.

The fact that Sayan Isaksson's food palace only has one Michelin star is a complete joke. Comparing this restaurant with many one michelin stars I've tried in Europe, Esperanto should be awarded the highest 3 star level.

Sayan's beautiful, interesting and delicious food could only be described as the one of the best.
http://www.esperantorestaurant.se/