Foodle

You always want your last meal on a trip to leave you loving the city you’re visiting. I feel fortunate, then, to say farewell to Nashville at Iggy’s, where a host sat me at the chef’s counter, with a view of the action; a server advised me to get two pastas instead of an app and an entree; and one of the cooks told me he used to work back in D.C. (well, the vey good Three Blacksmiths in Sperryville, Va.) I devoured the agnolotti stuffed with corn and showered with truffles followed by a masterful risotto decked out with sweet shrimp and stippled with herbed oil. Goodbye, Nashville! I can’t wait to come back. Less

Last year, when I visited in Aomori, Chef Hanada strongly recommended this restaurant, saying, "Have you been there? It's amazing!" I felt like his enthusiasm was even greater than his presentation of his own dishes, but putting that aside, I finally found the opportunity to visit . Looking at the Goemi-yo, I noticed that the chef had trained at and honed his skills at after studying in France, which gives him a unique background. Upon arrival, I was shown the drink list, which was surprisingly longer for wines than for Japanese sake. While it wasn't a pairing, I ordered three recommended glasses of wine and waited for the dishes to arrive.1. Sardine paste served on a Tsu-garu-style cracker with mushrooms.2. Salted sea urchin and sesame tofu with peas.3. i. Steamed Ezo abalone with shark puree, green beans, and butterbur; ii. Aoyori squid ears with bamboo shoots and wasabi.4. Sashimi: Nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), tsubugai (whelk), aoyori squid, and sea urchin with soy sauce, sudachi salt, and egg yolk sauce.5. Soft roe from sesame fugu, kinki fish, bracken, and a clear soup.6. Grilled sweetfish with crispy skin, turnip, bakkemiso, and stick shiso.7. i. Yamauchi and clam; ii. Grated daikon and thistle, torikuri crab, and bracken; iii. Grilled root bamboo with bear miso.8. Ankimo (monkfish liver) wrapped in nori with koshi-abura.9. Junsai (water shield), mizu (water plant), yamauchi, and hoya (sea pineapple).10. Grilled silver duck served with miso made from perilla leaves.11. Rice dish.12. Almond tofu with strawberries and milk ice cream (no photo).13. Warabi mochi (bracken starch dumpling).Wines: 1. Champagne, Michel Genet, MG BB VINTAGE 2016, Grand Cru. 2. Austria, Bergland, Georgium, Blanc de Noirs, N.V. 3. Bourgogne, Domaine David Duband, Hautes Cotes de Nuits, "Louis Auguste" 2020.All the dishes were delicious, but the chef has a meticulous approach, presenting each dish with great care. While you can truly savor the richness of Tsu-garu ingredients, the complexity and abundance of information in each dish can make their individual impressions feel somewhat diluted when reflecting on the meal as a whole. Among them, dishes like 5, 6, and 10 stood out as highlights, featuring special ingredients like fugu and kinki fish, which may reflect the chef's intentions. The dish with wild vegetables (7) might also be a highlight for this season.It feels like the essence of Tsu-garu is captured and expressed through the progression of the course. If the highlights depend on the diner's preferences, the chef might want diners to experience the entire journey, which could explain why the impressions of each dish fade as you eat.Ambient music plays in the background, which might be tough for those who dislike this genre. Personally, I was a bit concerned about the wine selection. With ten dishes leading up to the rice, three glasses were not enough (laughs). While I believe this restaurant is classified as Japanese cuisine, it has an unusually extensive wine list, yet it felt underutilized. The overall pacing was unclear, and since I could see the duck being slowly roasted over the counter, I found myself wondering when it would be served, wishing to pair it with red wine. Next time I visit, I’ll know to ask for more wine, but I would appreciate a bit more guidance. Just having a simple sheet listing the order of dishes and ingredients would change the impression significantly.By the way, the price was a reasonable JPY 30,000 with change. If I hadn’t visited that place in Akita the previous week, I might have praised it even more. I heard that eel and sweetfish will be available after June, so while I might not make it this month, that’s what I’ll aim for next time. Less

Delicious food at @theshaston.arms - cannot believe it is not busier. Same owners as @thewatermans.arms where the food is also very good. Ex dairy fore rib steak was one of the best steaks I’ve had in London

Outstanding chips 🍟 🤤

Mussel, smoked cod’s roe and shallot fritter. Worked brilliantly

Rare beef, friggitelli pepper on an onion ring worked well

Squid and Merguez bun - so delicious. Squid had the perfect texture

Rib cap skewer and prawn sauce. Skippable

Bigoli al limone but more like a cacio e pepper with a bit of lemon 🍋 🤌🏽👌🏽

Peach, asiago cheese and basil

Ice creams were house made but disappointing. Skip these and go to the new @icecreamunion immediately next door and get the pistachio, matcha, coconut choc chip, banana split, dulce de leche and hojicha flavours 💁‍♀️

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Some brilliant desserts at @gardenmuseumcafe by @gabbergrams. The rest of the food is mostly good but the dessert menu (which changes every day) is the reason to come here, along with the lovely garden setting. Truly incredible 10/10 blackberry meringue roulade. Swipe to see the rest

Loganberry fool and shortbread. Unreal 🫠 🥰

Apricot, almond and chocolate tart 🙌🏽🤌🏽🙌🏽🤌🏽

Strawberry mousse

Delicious fatty lamb with potatoes, green beans and salsa verde

Gazpacho

Flat peach, tomato, ricotta, pine nuts and basil. Lovely but too small

Octopus was excellent but not enough of it 😢

Very good lemon sole with spinach, girolles and an aioli which was overpowering

Rabbit cooked in rose, cucumber, saffron and basil

Orecchiette, peas and bacon

Carne salata, watercress and anchovy dressing

Focaccia

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Deep fried mars bar with vanilla soft serve @rias_london. Have to respect any place serving a deep fried mars bar #mars #marsbar #deepfriedmarsbar #foodinlondon

Deep fried mars bar with soft serve

Left over pizza bread for their bread and butter pudding. Too heavy and a bit too dry

Pizza was pretty heavy and filling :/ 🍕

Dense pizza

Haggis pops with wild garlic mayo

Baby gem salad

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The best way to spend a Friday afternoon: being captivated by the tasting menu at Quince. The atmosphere is airy and the menu dials in the best of summer. It includes three small bites, two preparations of spot prawns, corn cappellacci poussin cooked in the hearth and many other preparations that illustrate why Michael Tusk earned three Michelin stars. Less

This is Copenhagen’s ugliest restaurant🇩🇰🥬

At @restaurantgrim , 28-year-old Chef @casper.nielsen.97 rejects what some call the Michelin dogma. Instead: casual, seasonal, regional produce, almost exclusively from his parents’ farm in Northern Denmark 🇩🇰

Vegetables picked in the morning, delivered by afternoon, served that evening. Farm-to-table done right. Danish peas. Danish potatoes with elderflower beurre blanc (a tribute to his dad, who picks 4 tons by hand annually). Technique that’s close to 1-star level at half the price 🥕🥔

Menus at 70€ or 120€. No stuffy atmosphere. No breaking the bank and better than some starred restaurants in the city. Just good food with good ingredients and not part of the restaurant mafia groups.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite independent Copenhagen restaurant is, and send this to a friend you’d like to go with.
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#CopenhagenCasuals #TheFoodFetishist #restaurantgrim #copenhagen #review Less