SKAL

Ahh.....

There's something very clean about Scandinavian food -- well the little of it that i've tried i mean.

It reminds me very much of Japanese food -- and I'm not the only one who thinks so!

Recently featured in the New York Times Magazine, Ethiopian-born Swedish chef MARCUS SAMUELSSON will be opening a Japanese restaurant in NYC soon.

Here's what he said to this question: "Is there anything the slightest bit similar about Japanese and Swedish cuisines?"

Aesthetically, for sure. You have clean lines, minimalist. Also, the way we eat fish. Swedish people eat several different pickled herrings. Japanese several different sushis. And we compare them -- how's this pickled versus that pickled?


I guess it is true. Both cuisines involve a lot of fish. Although consumed in very different ways.

Anyway, I am getting to my point and that is the new-ish Scandinavian restaurant at Wheelock Place called SKAL. I have no idea what that means so don't ask.

It opened.... a couple of months ago, is my guess. Taking the place of that organic cafe opposite Olio Dome.

They don't have a very extensive menu and there are the usual Scandinavian suspects like Swedish meatballs and gravlax.

Their set lunch and dinner are pretty good value for money. For $12.90 (lunch) you get a two course meal with coffee/tea. Not sure how much the dinner costs but I believe you get a dessert (but some of the main courses are the same for both)

Here's what I had: A herring cocktail to start and panfried salmon for the main.

And I must say, it was the best salmon (not counting sashimi of course) i've had for a while. It was nicely done, still, well, juicy. Juicy's not exactly the right word cos it sounds like í had steak but the salmon wasn't dry so juicy is the opposite of dry... sort of.

Anyway, the salmon rested on a bed of cabbage and sliced apples. And some new potatoes, just boiled, were scattered around. Not a colouful sight, as you can imagine but I did like the combination of apples and cabbages. It was quite tasty, the apples adding a nice sweet touch.

Going back to the starter, the herring was quite nice, but then again I do love smoked fish. It was more like a herring potato salad thing with some sort of a mayonaise-ish dressing. Placed in a martini glass.

My dining companion started off with the gravlax, which an article on FoodTV Canada explains as Gravlax is a special kind of preparation that uses a salt/sugar cure and aromatics to both preserve and flavour fresh uncooked salmon. The cure penetrates and removes a great deal of moisture from the fish, and introduces just enough salt to effectively "cook" it.

The result is "cure-cooked" fish with a firm texture and a delicate and delicious flavour. It is quite a bit milder than smoked salmon.

But a quick taste of the gravlax told me that it was a little too salty for me.

I had to say the same for the steak (also part of the set lunch menu). It came with some root vegetables (ie carrots and potatoes) and a brown gravy. not terribly inspiring and I'm not a fan of a flat piece of steak.

(my idea of a good steak, in case you are interested, is a juicy thick piece of ribeye -- medium please. And the best ribeye steak I ever had was at Morton's. But that's a place I'll probably never go to again -- because of the price. sigh...)

All in all, it was a good lunch. And a nice alternative to the mad crowd at Ikea for sure. I'd like to go back again. Maybe try their meatballs or that interesting platter of open-faced sandwiches. Smoked fish and bread? Mmmm I'm there!

On another note, I visited the newest branch of the Baker's Inn chain at Paragon.
It was the usual, service wasn't very good, cakes were good. But I definitely hated the location. Itwas one of those in the middle of the shopping corridor types, if you know what I mean. Half of the seating was inside, with some fascinating Philippe Starck-like plastic chairs and fuschia! (fuschia!). The other half was outside (but not outdoors I hasten to add!) and people wandering the shops of Paragon would walk past us. Making for interesting fodder for people-watching, although everyone who ventured past seemed mostly to be boring families with bratty kids.

I think I prefer the Plaza Sing branch but haven't dared to head that way ever since Carrefour, Best and all those other big boys opened up there.