Pan Restaurant & Night club

After a long day in town we decided to not go to Magnus Ladulås (we tend to always end up there because of the reasonably priced and delicious food) and couldn't get a table at Kryp In (which was fortunate seeing their menu has jumped up a notch price wise). So we went a-wandering along the cobbled streets of Old Town/Gamla Stan to find a restaurant to feed four hungry adults and a one-year-old.

We stumbled upon this seemingly brand new place "Pan Restaurant & Nightclub" serving "South European food". It was very stylish, clean and open (the place triggered some very old memories of "Marble Bar" in Sydney, only not quite as grand). I worried we perhaps wouldn't be welcome in case it was exclusively for smartly dressed night-clubbers and bar-hangers but after a quick scouting tour inside we were made to feel very welcome by the expressive head waiter.

Nothing in our visit to this restaurant was disappointing. My fish soup was delicious. The 28 days tenderized beef served with french fries and fresh veg's was apparently to die for. :-) Service was excellent although the waitress in training forgot to bring us our drinks (something which the waiter could have noticed when bringing us our food) and the waiter charmed Tobias who flirted back rather happily. They heated Tobias food without protests and served it on a really nice plate with his own cutlery. The waitress even asked if we would like to wait with his food until ours was ready to serve and she suggested a straw for his water, a totally unexpected and much appreciated initiative!

The sound level was low even though the restaurant filled up (half full) while we were sitting there, the space was airy and attractive and the food was great. There's absolutely no reason not to go back there! :-)

There's unfortunately only a few traces of this restaurant on the web, old job ads on different websites (link) but I believe it's located on Stora Nygatan 40-42 (on the corner to Schönfeldts Gränd).

Worth noticing is that at the moment you get 20% off for orders placed before 6pm.

WARNING: Café Art

We desperately needed somewhere to break for afternoon snack, cup of warming coffee and restroom needs today and ended up in a previously untested café in Stockholm Old Town.

Holy schmoly it is by far the worst café I have ever visited! I so rarely go in to town nowadays and I so cherish my coffee and "fikabröd" that the quiality of Café Art really put me back. This horrid place should be put out of business and made into an art gallery or something totally different before it has a chance to ruin other people's café experiences!

Review at CINT (in Swedish).

Street Christmas markets

After nearly taking the longest detour ever possible we took a right turn and asked a couple coming from that direction if we were heading the right way (we were) we finally found it - Street Christmas markets.

It was a let-down.

It was small, far from cosy, far from unique and I don't see the point in returning. Except maybe for a thick Thai-silk woven winter shawl on sale for 150 SEK...

My brief visit a few years back, when walking around Södermalm a bright sunny Sunday morning together with J & J was totally different. But then again, this time it was incredibly chilly and my expectations were probably too high. It may also be that the "original" Street actually had to shut down and move to a new location, this was a "quick fix" replacement market if I understand it correctly.

Nhu's Thai

We had lunch at Nhu's Thai restaurant at Hornstull on Söder (Stockholm) today, I say WOW! We climbed off the subway after traveling for 45 minutes to get to town for the Christmas markets today and _needed food quickly_. This restaurant was one of two options close by, the place was nearly empty and we clambered in with stroller and baby no problem.
We ordered food, got Tobias food heated and by the time he was half way through his meal we got our food. And what food it was! :-D Glorious food!

We saw on the window outside that it had been nominated to the "Gulddraken" by one of the main newspapers in town. I can clearly understand why now. :-)

S ordered a fish dish which was beautiful in every aspect. It was crisp, it was colourful with a rich spicy taste and the serving was large. I ordered my classic (seeing my appetite is at rock bottom) Thom Ka Gai (chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, mushroom and coriander) and it was yummy. Perhaps not knocking any socks off, but I refuse to review food in this state of appetite! I read later that they serve Thai fish cakes and I SO regret not having some, they are just generally the most delishious Thai food I know! :-) The menu offered some not so regular Thai choices because of an offering of food from the northern regions of Thailand, I like that.

Only bad thing I can think of was that the restaurant was rather chilly as we were one of the few tables inhabited. It probably gets better as it fills up but I still wish they'd have some form of additional heating installed. :-)

More about Nhu's (in Swedish):
DN's Äta ute - beskrivning och hitta dit
DN's Äta ute - recension (besök)

Wall-E

Ohhh! I like this one so much I am going to have to buy all the merchandise there is! :-D

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/

It's a sweet sweet love story wrapped up in a pretty cool sci-fi story. The proportions are such that if you choose to you don't have to spend any time thinking about the background story (about a potential future for us humans) but can focus entirely on the story about love and hope. I like both aspects of it. And I love Pixar.

I have seen on the net that with this film Pixar released a new short film called "Burn-E" but I haven't been able to catch it anywhere yet. Might have to buy the DVD. :-)

Burn After Reading

We also watched "Burn After Reading" (imdb link) at the cinema in Norway and the only reason I mention it here is so that I can remember that I didn't like it. I have an urgent feeling this film is "hyped" and will be so forever just because it's directed and written by the infamous Coen brothers.

It's jampacked with famous big name actors (Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Malkovich, Pitt) but it's cheap cheap cheap.
The plot is simpleminded with a tendency to rely on slapstick-like acting and it's poorly tied together.

Sure it is funny, but it's painful to see everyone overacting in that slapstick/humor-like way. Clooney pulls off a reasonably good anal type of guy, but he's the only one. Pitt is just boring and John Malkovich is worringly realistic in his slow decay.
So no need to watch this one, if you have an alternative - pick that one instead! :-)

Through a Glass, Darkly

Original title: I et speil i en gåte
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170396/

We decided to watch a "native" movie when we went to Norway last and timed it to the premiere of this bittersweet painfully beautiful and odd film. It has stayed with me, which is one of the few really trustworthy quality meters I have. So I recommend it warmly.

My only comment would be that the main character, Cecilie played by Marie Haagenrud came across as older than she was supposed to be. But I also think that some of the nuances in her personality hadn't been available had they selected a younger actress.

It is based on a book with the same name by Jostein Gaarder (author of amongst other "Sophie's World").

Bad night for Warcraft

It's evenings like these that makes me loose the urge to play Warcraft. I've been trying to get a plug-in to work all evening, when I finally get it to work it doesn't quite cut it compared to the old version of itself. Blech.

Crazy crazy crazy

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=847872

I will never ever ever understand this! :-(

Why is it

...that in some countries it's quite OK to store egg in room temperature but in other countries egg are stored in the fridge?

...that jam and peanut butter can be stored in room temperature in some countries, but not in others?