Bergen, Norway

Geez, it's been such a long time since we went to Norway, that I'm probably going to struggle to recall what we did.... Matt'll probably tell me that I've gotten the order of things all over the place... but I'll fix it up as we go along.

Oh! I do remember one thing... the buffet breakfasts our hotel did.... cured meats galore... and then all sorts of cured herring, in a tomato-ey sauce, in a sweet mustard sauce, another unidentifiable sauce.. all sorts of crackers, dark bread, even 'kaviar' which you squeeze out of a tube! Breakkie was so heavy that even I struggled to rustle up an appetite when lunch time came... but I always managed to, in the end!

The first thing I thought when getting into Bergen, was "What a pretty city". Bergen is Norway's second largest city, over on the West Coast, and is surrounded both by the water (cool, deep and green), as well as the mountains- we'd arrived the tail end of summer (for three days)and while the evergreen trees were untouched by snow, there was a definite bite in the air.

What did we do... checked out a couple of the museums... we also caught the fishmarket... right in the centre of town. Fish upon fish, upon crabs, mussels...

We bought some smoked salmon on bagel rolls to snack on. Then the heavens opened on us. Bergen's apparently one of the rainiest cities.. with almost 300 days a year where it rains. It's also one of the few places where you can go have your umbrellas repaired, instead of buying a new one! It was also here, that we saw the biggest ever seagull, that Matt and I have ever laid eyes on. (It doesn't look like much, but there was no way I was getting within pecking distance of some bird that was larger than the size of my head!)

After the market, we went for a walk into the old town- the northern bit of the city, made up of closely built wooden houses. These had been rebuilt after a fire, in the early 16th Century... and it was pretty cool, walking on wooden corridors, with these double storied houses, looming on either side.

We had a lovely dinner in one of the restaurants in the old town. We'd read in the guidebooks that restaurants didn't stay open too late, in Bergen... but that suited us, as it was really quite nippy, and we were happy to head back afterwards, to the warmth of the hotel bar!

I think I had started out with some yummy chowder, while Matt had some reindeer sausage (fyi- I didn't like it, as it was really gamey) and then we both had fish for our mains and with them, some akvavit (water of life). Wikipedia tells me that they're flavoured with caraway seeds and the better brands mature the liquor by putting them into sherry casks and sending them by ship down south, past the equator and then back up. By the time the ship's back in Norway, the casks of akvavit are perfectly matured. These brands of akvavit would then have the word "linea" somewhere in their name... alluding to the method of maturation.

Whatever.... it was strong, and brought tears to my eyes, when I shot my share!

What else did we do- we took a "Norway in a nutshell" tour that included travel by bus, train and ferry. We first went by ferry from Bergen to Voss. We went up a couple of fjords.... absolutely beautiful... the dark greens of the trees lining these steep gorges... the green water, the blue sky... if only I'd brought warmer clothes! But it was worth it.

We then stopped off at a port and took a moment to stretch our legs, and have a bite to eat. Think we had fish and chips(!) and some meatballs in a cafe.

We then caught a steam train to Mrydal, that took us up the mountain, past some beautiful waterfalls, and scenery (we were jostling for the best spots by the window with a huge group of Chinese tourists- sigh). We stopped off at a little town where we then too a bus to the main railway station where a train took us back to Bergen. Time for a feed!

Think that was a Sunday night, and most of the restaurants weren't open. We went into this touristy restaurant and Matt ordered a starter of whale. I had a taste of that.... was a lot better than the reindeer we had, the day before. We then had normal food, I think... nothing sticks out in my mind...

The last day that we went up by funicular/cable car up the highest of the 7 mountains, surrounding Bergen. Pretty steep ride... it took us up past 600m, and when we got to the top, we decided to have a quick walk along the forest track. Lovely day, too.... and we tried taking a couple of photos of the city from where we were. We also found a Norwegian Mountain Troll. However, this troll was in the midst of being tormented by the many visiting kids...

Anyway, we head back down, went for another stroll around the University area... and then had to take the train back to the airport, relaxed and refreshed. It had been one of those holidays that the doctor ordered- fresh air, relaxed pace, and lovely scenery.

Monkey and Frank

Hi there.

STILL working on the posts for when Matt and I were in Norway, New York, Rome and me in Siena and Amsterdam.... Another little bloggie amuse-bouche to keep you occupied in the meantime...Meet Monkey and Frank. I don't think I need to tell you which is whom.... Frank was a present from Elisa, before I left for London. No, I've not abused her trust and let Frank get to the condition you see him at... He actually came that way. Yes, I think he is very cool.

Monkey, I saw in a little shop near the Smithfields Market. Adam and I had gone to Pho (sorry Smithy!) for lunch, and on the way back, decided to pop into this cool little shop. Bad mistake- as 20 minutes later, I walk out with pressies for people, and Monkey for me!

Frank and Monkey have good relationships with Giraffe. G and Monkey will occasionally gang up on Matt. But it's always a futile effort on their part.

am back!

Apologies for the time away. Am now reunited with the laptop and have MONTHS of photos and entries to catch up with.

Introducing.....

Just a little something....

Switched over to a new version of blogger, and it's stuffing me around as I can't always load my damn photos on here!

But let me introduce you to the first of my newest two friends- There's Giraffe. He bites.

Saw him at Spitalfields Market around the time between Christmas and New Year. Giraffe spent a couple of weeks working with me at the bank. He annoyed a lot of people. Made a few credit decisions ("Giraffe says NO"). But he's home, now. Annoying Matt.

Matt's birthday dinner at L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon

Coming up to Matt's birthday and I ask him what he'd like for his present. The tv that we had in our living room had developed the sulks- for no apparent reason, the screen would go blank. Usually when Matt's watching cricket or soccer... I USED to giggle, whenever it happened, as mild-mannered, quietish Matt would chuck a very loud tantrum at the tv. However, it started happening one too many times, and finding a replacement tv ended up being a birthday request.

A couple of generous friends (Dave and Nicky, you know who you are) decided that we could have their 32 inch tv in exchange for a couple of bottles of wine and a chicken parmagiana dinner(at Matt's and my insistence- will blog about this when it happens). So, what else could I have given to a person who had everything?

Ta-dah! Decided that Matt's birthday would be a perfect occasion to use the voucher that I'd won, in the Menu for Hope fund raising raffle. Johanna, from The Passsionate Cook provided the prize and kindly asked what I thought, of my dining experience there.

Here goes...

A quick trot from the tube station leads us to this quiet street off Covent Garden/ Leceister Square. It's all shiny black marble and impeccably dressed hostesses who enquired whether we'd like to sit at the counter, or at our own table. Having read in reviews that watching the chefs in the open plan kitchen is part of the fun, I don't hesitate in picking counter seating.

We're lead to the down lit counter, and it's a bit of a struggle for me, hopping onto the bar stools. But the wait-staff are friendly and we order some drinks as we peruse the menu. Lots of mini taster dishes, some asterisked to show that they are recommended as starter dishes.. A lot of interesting dishes, but we opt to both have the menu decouverte. An amuse bouche, 6 mini dishes and 2 desserts.

I picked the wine. Can't remember what it was- but it was a lovely, light red, from France.

Our amuse bouche- a platter with a deep fried, crumbed roll of foie gras (yum), a shot-glass of fennel cream garnished with a dab of sea urchin roe (which I loved... intense, sweet, and a taste of the sea), and a little toastie with some tuna tartare. All very different tastes and textures - Our tastebuds perked, we were looking forward to the next plate.



Crabmeat in a citrus jelly, and avocado. This came in a pot that looked like a ceramic egg. We were told to "dig deep" into the container to ensure we got a bit of everything. The crab sat on top of some tomato-ey puree, some red-flecked citrusy/ zingy jelly and some crushed avocado on the bottom. A more healthy version of your plate of nachos?


Next, a platter of pieces of potato pieces, drizzled with truffled oil, some salad leaves and shavings of truffle ("truffle chips"). I made Matt sniff the dish, before he tried a bite. Think this is the first time he's had fresh truffle... The potatoes were just cooked, and went well with the truffle. Flavour explosion!






The next course was to be a serve of frogs' legs, but we were told that it had to be replaced with a langoustine fritter- more the sweet flesh of the langoustine wrapped in a springroll-y wrapper and deep fried. Lovely fresh seafood, but I wasn't that fussed about it.




We then had the next course served in a martini glass- Eggs cocotte served with a wild mushroom foam. Searching on the internet, eggs cocotte are eggs which are baked in a water bath in the oven. This as beautiful- one of my favourite dishes of the night. The egg was still liquid and the yolk went so well with the flavoursome mushroom foam... and the random pieces of morels that we found in the glass were unexpected, but oh so yummy.

Another lovely dish. A Saint-Jacques scallop perfectly grilled, on a bed of pureed watercress. Simple, but effective.

With the last of our savoury courses (thank goodness, I was getting a little full by then).We had a choice of calf's sweetbread with a sprig of laurel or foie gras stuffed grilled quail served with truffled potato. So we got one of each. I had the quail first. Nice, but I was really too full to do it justice. I did prefer it to the sweetbread (slighly bland, compared to everything else we had tonight).

AND THEN, we had two desserts to get through.. and full sized ones, too! Some chocolatey mouse with white chocolate foam, and with crispy chocolate biccie bits throughout, as well as a citrus and liqour-y souffle which the waiters ceremoniously opened up and put a bullet of pistachio icecream. Nice. Bit bitter, warm souffle and cold icecream.










We sat next to this older American couple and had a bit of a conversation with them. Mainly about whether the older French gentlemen and his much younger dining companion was his daughter or his "Ma Petite Ami"!

Matt reckons that it's best dining experience he's had. I think I have to agree. Not saying that the food was the absolute best we've ever had, but the fact that everything worked together that night. The constantly changing plates and tastes, watching the chefs, dressed all in black, working together, weaving in and around each other kept us entertained. I reckon there was a tad TOO much food (never thought that I'd say that, either) in the taster menu!

I'd love to go back another time. Though, I'd only pick a couple of dishes and make sure that I leave enough room for dessert!!!!! I would definitely recommend that you head there, if you get the chance.


L'Atelier du Joel Robuchon, 13-15 West Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9HQ

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

Weirdo weather, these past few days. It's been unseasonably warm all through December and January... there was a day, early Jan, where I was running around town just in my shirt-sleeves and trousers! I had to take my suit jacket off, and had already been carrying my coat!

AND THEN, it snows! It snows in London!!!!! It was so strange, yet strangely exciting to wake up and see the road, cars and parks covered in an inch or two of snow! It was especially cool to see our neighbourhood parks covered in white. Matt and I walked to work (Matt worried about falling on his arse, as his work shoes weren't the grippiest) and walked into the middle of a snowball fight! No casualties, thank goodness.

Anyway, without any further ado, here are the photos!

I am wearing my infamous ewok hat. Laugh all you want, my ears are toasty warm!

St Johns. Again.

Rav and Rob have never eaten at St Johns. We thought that we'd organise a lunch over at the Smithfields restaurant one day.

Rocking up on a Friday, we're sat at our table. Fergus Henderson isn't in the kitchen today, though, I don't think he does lunches.... Had a look on the net for their on-line menu and I had been looking forward to ordering the ox heart and chips. However, we get there and they'd changed their menu.

I ended up ordering both entree and main from the specials of the day.
Duck hearts and mashed parsnips (?) Found the dish boring. Think it was more me than the dish - I like my taste strong and punchy... The duck hearts were chewy in texture but there wasn't all that much taste- the sherry reduction wasn't enough to lift the dish. Mashed, unidentifiable veggies... blah.... Rav had the roast marrowbone and parsley salad. I didn't take a photo, as I'd had the dish before. Rob didn't have a starter, but he did try some of Rav's and liked it.

Mains- Rob ordered the tripe and chips!!!!! As he said himself, this, coming from a person who'd normally go for a steak and veggie dish- this was a far outside his comfort zone as it ever could be... What you can see- breaded and fried tripe pieces, some chips and in the bowl are shallots pickled in some vinegar.

Rav had a pair of slip soles. We thought they were some sort of footwear... Nothing of the sort. Just a pair of really fresh fish, pan fried in butter.

I had another option off the specials of the day. Roasted woodcock. (I can already imagine the jokes). Kinda like a pigeon. It had been roasted whole, then the liver, sweetbreads... etc had been taken out, deglazed with sherry, then squashed and spread onto a slice of toast. The head was then split so that I could get at the brain with a little silver spoon.

Kinda okay. They roasted the bird till it was rare, so it made it hard to get at the meat. However, it was rather tasty. Just a bother to hack at. The brain... tasted like brain... FYI, it's almost three times the size of a chicken's brain. Shows how dumb chickens are, in comparison...

We skipped dessert and went back to work. Waaaaay too much rich food in one go, that's for sure.

New Year Piccies

We spent New Year's at a friend of a friend of a friend's houseparty. With Hilly and Trist.

It was pretty good. They were mostly Ernst & Young people.... most of them from Melbourne, and all in black.... very nice people, and it was almost like being back at home!

However, after we welcomed in the New Year.. I had the most awful chills and aches, so we had to go, and I was tucked up in bed by 2am, 1 Jan 2007! Oh well, at least 2007 can only get better, right?

Christmas in Munich, part 2

I am so crap at this.... Started out with the best intentions of creating a blog and then updating it once a week... It's now mid-Jan and I've only just posted the latter half of Matt's and my trip to Munich!

So, without further ado-

... Before we left for Munich, we'd been warned by people that the Bavarians celebrated on Christmas Eve, instead of on Christmas Day. As festivities consisted mainly of getting together as a family at home, we would have to prepare for a city-wide shutdown, in terms of restaurants and shops.

As a result- on of the first things that we did when we got to our hotel, was to check with our concierge as to which restaurants were open over Christmas Eve and Christmas. We were assured that most restaurants and beer halls would be open on Christmas Day, but that Christmas Eve would be limited, in terms of choice.

We woke up to a frosty but clear day on Christmas Eve. Decided to waste some time in the bed room, watching the silly MTV cartoons, before tumbling out into the cold. We hopped onto the U-Bahn, heading into Marienplatz. We'd seen it the night before, when checking out the Christmas Markets. The morning after was a different scene- the plaza was empty, except for a few people taking down the last of their stalls.

We walked round and took a few photos of the glockenspiel, which was on our way to lunch at Haxnbauer, a wellknown German beerhall. The place was mostly empty, when we got there. We got ushered to a table and both had a large serving of the Weisbeer. It was easy deciding what we were going to have- Haxnbauer's known for its pork knuckles, roasted in a beech charcoal rotisserie (the suckling pig was only available during dinner). The rotisserie's located almost against the front window, very tempting...

Matt had the pork knuckle with sauerkraut and mash whilst I ordered the veal knuckle with Kartoffelkloesse; German potato dumplings.


Matt's (on the left, apologies for poor photo quality) was the better of our meals. Crunchy crackling, yummy herb-infused juicy pork, and sauerkraut to cut through the meat. We avoided the mash as it felt like wallpaper paste, in the mouth.

My veal was almost boring, by comparison. I mean, the meat was fine, but I think that some sauerkraut would have been a welcome addition in cutting through the sheer amount of meat on my plate. The dumplings were quite gross. Cricket ball like- in terms of texture and taste. Not to say that all dumplings are that way- just the ones on my plate. Yuck.

We heaved our full bellies out, after lunch. We'd booked a table for dinner at the hotel restaurant but that was a few hours way. Matt suggested we head to the concentration camp over in Dachau (a few suburbs away) and we hopped onto a train. It took about 45 mins, but when we got out at Dachau and looked to board the bus to take us to the camp, we got told by the bus driver that it wasn't open today. It WOULD be open the day after, though, on Christmas Day, if we decided to come back then.

Back to the train station we went. And it was such a cold wait! Got back, headed back to the hotel and had a nap, before heading down for dinner.

The restaurant was nearly full. Lovely Christmas tree in the middle, along with some guy with a bouffy mullet, an earring in his left ear, singing George Michael's "Last Christmas". Veeerry eighties.

Food was good- French-style cuisine and it had vegetables! Had salt preserved duck and raw fennel salad for a starter, then we both chose the grilled venison steak sauced with jus for mains- tender, yummy meat. Then, there were deserts, coffee and we went off to the bar for more cocktails. Not a bad way to celebrate.

Christmas Day and still no snow. We grabbed a quick bite from one of the shops in the main train station, and headed straight to Dachau. This time, we were lucky and caught the bus to the concentration camp, along with a couple of other tourists.

We got to the camp, got some audioguides, but really, it was so cold that we prefered to NOT use the audioguides, just so we could keep our hands in our coat pockets! We went into the museum and managed to catch the last documentary of the day in English. It covered the rise of the Nazi political party, the start of the concentration camps and the parties of people that were sent there. It was horrific, made up of actual Nazi film footage- people being herded like cattle off the trains and into the camps. Emanciated frames, the utter lack of hope in people's faces... cartloads and rooms filled with bodies.

It was a relief to get back outside. It had started to snow, and the sun had fully disappeared. We wandered around the camp... went into the remaining bunkhouses... and spent some more time in the museum. I have to admit, Christmas or not, I would not normally choose to go into a concentration camp. After Dachau, I'd prefer never to visit another concentration camp again, and I definitely came away thankful for all my blessings.

We got back from dark and dreary Dachau, and stepped into the brightness, warmth and noise that was the Hoffbrauhaus (HBH). One of the oldest brewhouses in Munich, it's a huge hall, filled with heavy wood tables and benches, packed to the brim with tourists from all over the world. The oompah band were taking a break, and we plonked ourselves on nearest table and ordered a 'mas' of beer each.

Well, I thought that I'd start slow and order a half beer and half lemonade. Well... I didn't realise till later that it was a half LIGHT beer and half lemonade. Way too sweet. Matt had to help finish that off for me. I then ordered another mas of normal beer. Much better, and I finished that all by myself.

We ordered some snacks... I had a liver dumpling in clear beef broth. Tasty, but I think I like my liver flash fried and with bacon... Matt got a plate full of cream cheese mixed through with finely chopped radish and spring onion, to spread on bread.

The band started up again. Loud and uplifting. Most of the people in the HBH were swaying to the music, some were singing, and there was even the drunk man dancing in front of the band, doffing his hat at women, on their way to and from the bathroom. Thankfully, he had left, by the time I needed to go to the ladies!

We had a couple of mas of beer, then decided to have dinner elsewhere. After wandering through Munich's little backstreets, we found a little bistro/beerhall which the guidebooks had recommended for the great food. Walked in and it was nearly empty, but they were still serving food so we sat down and perused the menu.

It was so weird, the menu was split into English and German, but they didn't seem to be straight translations of each other. The English part had your basic sausages and sauerkraut, pork knuckle, and the German part... well, we couldn't quite tell what it was.. so I pointed to a German word and the waitress said that was suckling pig... and that was met with very enthusiastic nodding by me. Matt ordered a serve of sausages and kraut.. Oh. So very, very yummy! I didn't take photos, but take my word for it. Melt-in-the-mouth, indeed! Matt's sausages were good, too.

Anyway... we left Munich the next morning, had a great, quick, flight home and made sure that dinner that night consisted mainly of greens! Ah... veggies. Anyway, vegetal cravings aside, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip- the city was beautiful, the beer taps flowed, we had some nice meals and saw some interesting things. I would definitely like to go back... though when the weather turns warmer!