Brewpub København (Copenhagen, DENMARK) ★★★☆☆

We wanted something a little different for dinner on our last night in Copenhagen and were lucky to find Brewpub København on our way back to our hotel.

Located on Vestergade near the main square (Rådhuspladsen), BrewPub København is a brewery company that also doubles as a bar and restaurant. The restaurant is situated inside a historic 17th century architecture providing an atmospheric setting for a relaxing dinner.

 

There are different brewery equipment put on display at the entrance. Feels like we are walking into a brewery museum!



During the summer months, the beer garden is open for drinks and dinner.



The menu consists of a wide selection of beer-themed dishes which prove to be quite a unique culinary experience for us.

I started the night off with a langoustine in a light curry and berry emulsion.



That was soon followed by a beer battered fish and chips.



Milk-fed veal cutlets with baby carrots and asparagus in a special beer sauce was next.



In case you are wondering whether they have any beer themed desserts in the menu. Yes, they do! Here's their beer cheesecake to wrap up a pretty innovative dinner.



After dinner, a visit to the famous Tivoli Garden before we pack our bags. Copenhagen, we will definitely miss you~




Food Rating: 4/10

Price: €€€

Address: Vestergade 29, 1456 København, Denmark
Tel: +4533320060 
Website: http://brewpub.dk/en/

Sanguine Brasserie (Oslo, NORWAY) ★★☆☆☆

Opened in April 2008, the Oslo Opera House quickly becomes one of the city's most stunning modern architecture. It is not only the home to The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet but also and the national opera theatre. 

From the outside, it certainly looks like a giant spaceship sitting on the edge of the harbour!



After checking out both the exterior and interior of the opera house, it was almost dinner time and we decided to pay the Sanguine Brasserie a quick visit. Housed in the lobby of Oslo’s new opera house, Sanguine Brasserie is a casual eatery serving a cuisine largely influenced by French, Italian and Spanish cooking. 



Our first dish was half a dozen fresh oysters.



That was followed by a simple Caesar salad with chicken fillet.



My one and only main course was a roasted pork loin with mashed potato and beetroot.

 

The food here was below average but more disappointing was the overall service which was cold and unwelcoming.


Food Rating: 3/10

Price: €€€

Address: Kirsten Flagstads plass 1 N - 0105 Oslo, Norway
Closest Metro Station: Jernbanetorget
Tel: +47 2142-2142
Website:www.brasseriesanguine.no/en/The-restaurant/

Theatercafeen (Oslo, NORWAY) ★★★★☆

I love to visit cafés with a lot of historic background. Angelina (Paris), The Wolseley (London) and Bewley's Oriental Café (Dublin) are just a few of the many famous cafés I had the pleasure of visiting over the years and now I can add Theatercafeen to the list.



Situated in the 5-star Hotel Continental in Oslo, Theatercafeen first opened its door back in 1900. Because of its location across the street from the National Theatre, it has quickly become a meeting spot for influential members of the Norwegian art and culture scene.



A true Viennese-style grand café with vaulted ceiling, marble pillars, black banquettes and art nouveau chandeliers. It doesn't get any more charming than this.....




A trip to Theatercaféen is not complete without trying their namesake fish soup. This is very creamy like an American style seafood chowder.



King crab salad with avocado, croutons and balsamic was another refreshing way to start the meal at this prestigious institution. 



The steamed blue mussels came highly recommended by our server so we got an order of it as well.



My main course was seafood medley with all kinds of fresh seafood including scampi, scallop, mussels, crayfish and cockles simmered in a white wine sauce that came with a hint of lime. See how generous the portion was!



Food Rating: 5/10
Price: €€€
Address: Stortingsgaten 24 - 26, 0117 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47 2282-4050
Website: www.theatercafeen.no

Café Cathedral (Oslo, NORWAY) ☆☆☆☆☆

Following the conclusion of our 7-hour drive from Stockholm, we finally made it to Oslo, the capital city of Norway. It was already 8PM when we dropped off our luggage at the hotel so we figured it's better to just have a quick dinner nearby.

After a quick visit to the cathedral, we spotted Café Cathedral on our way out and that's where we decided to have dinner tonight. Big mistake!

It took us a good 15-20 minutes because no one cared enough to take our orders (The waiters and waitresses all saw us waving at them). That was ridiculous. Apart from the poor service, I thought the food was pretty crappy. I can definitely cook a better pasta than that.



The salmon burger was slightly better but again, any home cook could do a better job than that.

It took 45 minutes for our dishes to arrive and 15 minutes for us to wash them down with coke and fanta. What a waste of time!

Food Rating: 2.5/10
Price: €€€
Address: Dronningens gate 27, 0154 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47 2233-0035
Website: www.cafecathedral.no

Njuta Café & Lounge (Örebro, SWEDEN) ★☆☆☆☆

After spending three amazing days in Stockholm, we're on the move again, this time to Oslo Norway. We decided to stop by Örebro for a quick lunch and check out this small town which was once famous for its shoemaking business.



At 3PM, there weren't a lot of places open for lunch anymore so we were quite relieved to find Njuta Café & Lounge still open at this hour.



Rice with chicken, carrot, tomato, peppers and some rocket leaves.



A baked white fish which I thought was cod along with some young potatoes served in a cream sauce.



Of course, we're not leaving Örebro without visiting their famous medieval castle. This is a really impressive architecture which has been around for over 700 years. 



There're a lot of beautiful buildings surrounding River Svartån but my personal favorite is this headquarter of a local newspaper called Nerikes Allehanda. I was told it used to be a government building a while ago.



Food Rating: 3/10
Price: €€
Address: Kungsgatan 4, 702 11 Örebro, Sweden
Tel: +46 019-10 1900

Café Opera (Stockholm, SWEDEN) ★★★★☆

Opened in 1980, Café Opera is a café and nightclub in central Stockholm near the Opera building. The café serves as a bistro, brasserie and tearoom during the day and one of Sweden's most popular nightclubs after 10pm.



Unfortunately on this afternoon, both the brasserie and tearoom were closed due to minor construction work so we had to dine at the terrace outside.



We started off with a traditional beef tartare with homemade fries. Wow, the portions are very generous here!



The classic Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes was next. Very yummy like grandma's homemade meatballs.



Stockholm has some of the best crayfish in the world and this dish has a ton of them.




Food Rating: 5/10

Price: €€€

Address: Karl XII:s torg, 111 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Closest Metro Station: Kungsträdgården T-bana
Tel: +46 8-676 5807
Website: www.cafeopera.se

Mathias Dahlgren (Stockholm, SWEDEN) ★★★★★

Housed in the 19th century Grand Hotel Stockholm, Mathias Dahlgren is one of the top restaurants in Stockholm if not the best in the city. Chef-owner Mathias Dahlgren, the winner of the culinary championship Bocuse d'Or in 1997, prides himself on using the finest ingredients to create a seasonal menu that is natural and modern.

There are two restaurants under the same roof here at Mathias Dahlgren - a more elegant fine dining room at Matsalen (Dining room, 2-star) and its casual sister Matbaren (Food Bar, 1-star). Unfortunately, Matsalen was closed for holidays during our stay so we had to settle for Matbaren instead.



I love the extensive use of wood in the dining area, evoking a great sense of comfort. Some of the seats have the perfect view of the open kitchen in which chefs could be seen working hard behind the scene.



Designer furniture can be seen anywhere in the city. So why would we be surprised to see a few here at the corner of a cozy restaurant?



Our server told us a typical meal here consisted of 3-4 dishes and if we were still not full, perhaps a dessert.

What a great way to start our meal with this lovely fried Italian sepia. Slices of sepia, or squid was slightly fried before serving with garlic, parsley and lemon. I love the texture there!



Just when I thought no other starter could top the previous dish, the talented kitchen managed to prove me wrong. Meet my cocotte of Bohuslän ling with 63 degree egg, horseradish hollandaise and dill.

We were told that ling fish is the distant cousin of cod fish and it has such a unique flavor. That was again an excellent dish.



For main course, I had the Beef Dahlgren which came highly recommended by our server.
I thought the fillets of beef were incredibly tender and flavorful with the egg 63 degree and truffle gravy providing a great finishing touch.



Perhaps the least impressive dish of the night belonged to this fried canette from Bretagne that was served with a cold soba noodles, ginger, soy sauce and scallions. A little too chewy for our liking.

 

Food Rating: 7/10

Price: €€€€

Address: Södra Blasieholmshamnen 6, 111 48 Stockholm, Sweden
Closest Metro Station: Kungsträdgården T-bana
Tel: +46 8 679-3584
Website: mdghs.com
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 25th (2010)

Ristorante da Peppe (Stockholm, SWEDEN) ★★★☆☆

We did a lot of damage to our feet today walking around the streets of Stockholm. Finally, we got ourselves some much needed rest at Ristorante da Peppe, a casual Italian restaurant near the Old Town.



Since we already got dinner plans tonight, it's just going to be dessert and coffee all the way. Love the tiramisu here. Very light and airy.



I'm just going to enjoy this moment here, chilling out and looking forward to tonight's dinner at Michelin starred Mathias Dahlgren.



Price: €€€
Address: Storkyrkobrinken 16, 111 28 Stockholm, Sweden
Closest Metro Station: Gamla Stan
Tel: +46 8 810-3100
Website: www.dapeppe.se

Stockholm Fisk Restaurant (Stockholm, SWEDEN) ★★★☆☆

As the name of the restaurant hinted, Stockholm Fisk (Fish in Swedish) Restaurant specializes in seafood especially fish courses. Situated on the ground floor of Radisson SAS Royal Viking Hotel in the heart of downtown Stockholm, the restaurant is known for its Swedish cuisine and relaxing ambiance.



Our dinner kicked off with a "variation of herrings" that included herring roes, pickled herrings etc.



But I liked our main courses so much better. Mine was a steamed fillet of salmon with a shellfish sauce. The shellfish sauce was flavorful yet not too heavy. That's excellent.



Our second main course, smoked salmon was presented beautifully like a rose and then served with baked potatoes.



We only had room for one dessert - chocolate mousse with mixed berries.

The main courses were noticeably better here.


Food Rating: 5/10

Price: €€€

Address: G/F Radisson Blu Royal Viking Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden
Closest Metro Station: T-Centralen T-bana
Tel: +46 8 580-01730
Website: www.stockholmfisk.se/Engelska-ny.html