Review: Ostermalm Food Hall

Before heading to the Vast Museum to see the infamous Viking boat, we trekked off to see the world largest food hall - Salluhall. Stepping in, it reminded me a lot of Granville island in Vancouver. The food hall contained many shops from delis to meat shops to pastry shops. Being there on a weekday, we noticed that many business people around the area trickled in as lunch time came around. After having spent a long while deciding on which store to eat at, we opted for a traditional Swedish lunch. Being a seafood lover, I ordered the Open faced shrimp sandwich on Danish bread. This dish was sort of like a sandwich, however, the top piece of the toast was not there. Fried Herring with Mash Potatoes and Lingonberries was what M decided to have. Unlike at restaurants, at Salluhall, one orders from the vendor and self seats at one of the many cafeteria style tables. It felt quite cozy as you can hear others chatting away.

Outside the Food Hall

Inside the Food Hall

Cheese store inside the Hall

Open Faced Shrimp Sandwich on Danish Bread

Fried Herring with Mashed Potatoes and Lingonberries

Closeup of Lingonberries

Two Tarts from the Food Hall

Verdict:
Trekking out to the Ostermalm Food Hall was a great experience, all the vendors here carry top quality produce and the atmosphere is great! Unlike many of the other popular "tourist" locations in Sweden, the Food Hall remains a relatively popular place for locals to go and the food here is amazing. If you are out looking for a souvenir for a foodie friend back home or just looking for a quick bite to eat, the Food Hall is a great place to start looking.

Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$ (Around $35USD for both of us)

Seafood Chowder

We've been digging through our pictures and realized that we had a number of cooking attempts that we had forgotten about. The first of these was our attempt at making seafood chowder. After picking a relatively basic recipe, we set out to go to Carrefour (the local grocery store in Toulouse) to hunt down the ingredients. Using our basic knowledge of the French language we managed to scrape together most of the ingredients (crossing our fingers for some of the items that we had bought hoping they were the right ones).

Another note, we must apologize for the quality of the pictures the lighting was not the greatest and we had the bare minimum of equipment in the kitchen!!

Ingredients
A few strips of bacon cut up
1-2 Tablespoons of Butter
2 Large Onions
Seafood (shrimp, mussels, small scallops, unknown fish (make sure to pick a firm one))
2-3 Large Potatoes
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Teaspoon Thyme
4 Cups Half-Half
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Thyme

Steps
1. In a large pot fry the bacon
2. Mix in the butter and onions till soft
3. Add 2-3 cups of seafood stock
4. Mix in flour slowly
5. Add potatoes, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook till potatoes are soft
6. Add seafood and simmer for 10 minutes
7. Mix in the cream and heat (don't boil)
8. Enjoy!

This was based off a recipe we found on the internet but we were forced to make a few adjustments with the ingredients we could find.

Seafood Chowder

Verdict:
A simple recipe that turned out great! Not much more to say!!

London in a Nutshell

Before heading to Dublin for St. Patrick's day, a couple of friends and I stopped in London for a brief visit. Of course, visiting means tasting the food this culture had to offer. So, our first stop, even before we went shopping, was at a fish and chip place near Oxford St. I have to say, after that meal, my expectations for fish and chips have gone up. For high tea, we decided to stick with the recommendation the concierge had given us - St. Jame's Restaurant. Another phenomenal experience. There was so much offered that all three of us had a take home box after a two and a half hour eating session.


.

Delicious golden fish with chips and peas - Yum!

Indulging

Lovely plates and cup in the colour of a Tiffany's box

There's a saying that the Brits don't have good food. I beg to differ. I highly recommend the St. Jame's Restaurant if price is not a concern.

Address:
181 Piccadilly
London W1, United Kingdom
020 7734 8040