Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (15/15)

I've completed and passed this one without making any progress report...

Since last posting about this task I've had two different lunches with colleagues in restaurants I haven't been to before. I had turkey in the first one and pea soup with swedish pancakes for dessert in the second one.

So, this task is officially completed!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (14/15)

Thursday evening alst week, a group of colleagues went out to celebrate a birthday. We went to a restaurant I didn't even know existed. I had problems finding parking and ended up coming late. My pasta with clams was worth the parking hassle though...

On Friday I was taken out for a work lunch. Our usual lunch restaurant (the few times we go out for lunch) only served Christmas buffet on Friday and we didn't feel like having that. So, we got in the car and drove for another three minutes to get to a restaurant I had had recommended to me. I got salmon with potatoes and it was excellent.

Now, I only have one more new restaurant or café to visit before this task is done!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (12/15)

A couple of weeks ago I tried out a café I've been passing on foot and by bike for a couple of years. I've been curious to go in and have a look, but somehow, before this visit, I've always managed to come after opening hours.

Anyways, they have great sandwiches (for example one with gorgonzola cheese and tomato jam) and I've actually been there three times now in the last month and a half.


Last week, I saw my mum for a fika and we ended up trying another café I've only biked by. It was very cozy and we sat in a great sofa for ages not wanting to leave. I had a sandwich with feta cheese and my mum chose a soup. I'll return!

Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (10/15)

Time to add number 10 to this list.

I met up with a friend and colleague on Wednesday night to have dinner and sit and chat for a while. We went to an Italian restaurant downtown. She had been there before and suggested us going. I had fish and risotto and a pannacotta for dessert. Lovely!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (9/15)

Saturday, my boyfriend and I had planned to visit an Italian restaurant we had been recommended. We got there at 4.30pm and realized it didn't open until 6pm...

Luckily for us, there was another Italian restaurant just next to it. (My guess is that they were actually owned by the same person but had different focuses...) I had the most amazing pizza with Gorgonzola cheese, broccoli, fresh mushroom and walnuts.

Tasty!!!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (8/15)

Last week, boyfriend and I met up after work for a couple of hours downtown. We decided to get something to eat and went to a place we've been to before only to find out that it had a new name, a new owner and a new menu...

So, this ended up being a new restaurant to me as well as a new restaurant in town. :)

047. Go to a concert/musical/play, 038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (7/15)

Yesterday, boyfriend and I joined some of my relatives to celebrate a birthday.

We had dinner in a restaurant in the city's theater building. I had pike perch with potatoes, artichoke and a sauce made of red wine and truffels. Delicious! I also had a chocolate brownie with raspberry sorbet and raspberry "fluff" for dessert. I was the only one who had saved room for dessert but the others looked a bit jealous when they saw my plate. :)

After dinner we went to the city's concert hall to listen to, and watch, the city's orchestra performing three different pieces. This was my first time at a "serious orchestra venue" and I quite liked it. I was fascinated by the different tunes and melodies that the different instruments made up together. The three guys playing triangle, cymbals and xylophone fascinated me to no end. They were sitting down for most of the performance and just got up once in a while to do their thing in less than ten seconds before sitting down. And their input was essential to how the piece came out!

I'll definitly go to more of these. Classical music isn't that boring after all...

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (6/15)

Last week I spent a couple of days on training. Some of the antendants were from out of town and one night I joined them for dinner. We went to a tapas-and-burger restaurant in one of the new residential areas in the city.

My burger was great!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (5/15)

I've decided to change this task a bit. I'm going to just count the restaurants and cafés I go to in Sweden. The initial point of the task was to get a bit more adventurous when going out for meals. I wanted to challenge myself to find new favourites and not just go the convenient route of going somewhere familiar...

Being on vacation, I can add restaurants and cafés to the list and finish this task quickly, but that wouldn't challenge me...

So, I'm down to 5 new restaurants or cafés as opposed to 7.

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (5/15)

Being out of town on Friday night, boyfriend and I went to a restaurant none of us had been to before. I got fillet of beef, root vegetabels cooked in white wine, roasted potatoes and a chanterelle sauce. It was okey. Not the best meal ever and it was kind of pricey, but okey.

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (4/15)

Boyfriend and I ended up in one of the upscale restaurants on Saturday night. We were supposed to go into town to grab something quick but changed our mind while biking. We decided to go for somehting more fancy and spoil ourself.

I ended up with a salad that was just delicious (with fresh potatoes, asparagus, sunflower seeds, different lettuces and a dressing with honey in it), a piece of white fish with cauliflower purée, asparagus and gremolata, and for dessert I had melted rhubarb with crunch and custard.

All very delicious. And worth the money! Especially as we could sit outside in the sun and eat it.

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (3/15)

Being out of town got me eating in a restaurant I've never been to before. It was Italian and I had the most wonderful "Penne with fillet of beef and mushroom sauce" followed by a panna cotta with blueberries.

Next time in that town, I'll definitely go back there.

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (2/15)

Boyfriend and I decided to go looking for plants for the "hanging planting thingies" beneath our windows at the front of our house. We ended up in a "herb garden" that also has a small café.

I took a herb sandwich with cheese, ham and veggies. For dessert I had a raspberry and peach cake with sunflower seeds on top. Tasted great!

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (1/15)

Edit to add: I've decided not to count these two visits as they were in restaurants outside of Sweden...

April 24th and 28th, 2008

I spent a couple of days in Spain with my mother visiting my brother and his family. Our first evening there, my mother and I ended up in an English restaurant where we both had Fish 'n Chips. Very Spanish... Hmmm... It was alright. Not as good as the Fish 'n Chips I've had in Nova Scotia, Canada, though. Not even close.

Day before we flew back home, we all spent a couple of hours in the nearest big city. We had some great Italian food. I ordered a salad and was very happy with it. A lot of different lettuces, olives, tomatoes, pistacchio nuts, pine kernels and fried goat cheese.

038. Eat at fifteen restaurants/cafés that are new to me (1/15)

April 18th, 2008
Boyfriend and I decided to out and play pool after work and we had dinner at the "pool hall's restaurant". I wasn't expecting too much, considering the location, but the food was excellent!!! I had a superb burger with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, bacon and garlic sauce. It was served with some corn on the cob and thick French fries.

The dessert menu looked great too, but I didn't order anything. I knew I had the freezer stuffed with ice cream at home...