One of the restaurants I really wanted to visit in Malmö was Bastard. Unfortunately you need to book a week in advance to even think about getting a table. It really wasn’t going to work for the eight or ten of us who wanted to go. Fortunately someone else knew another great place to dine, called Belle Epoque.
With so many of us, it was definitely easier for the kitchen that we all ordered from the tasting menu. I arrived slightly earlier, but had a nice Swedish beer and chatted to the Australian(!) bartender and his swedish customers at the small bar set up outside. The restaurant turns into a bit of a drinking venue that was definitely popular with the locals later.
To start, they served us with two types of bread. A nice, standard white baguette loaf and crispy bread. They served it with yogurt balls (more like curd) that disappeared very quickly. Apparently very popular.
Our second dish was stunning. It was a Swedish cheese turned into a croquette with a crispy crumb that set on a bed of creamed cauliflower, herbs and barley. The cheese was a strong flavoured cheese, that melted slightly but still did very well to hold its shape.
Our next dish was a fillet of pike served with dill, wild garlic and taramasalata. As you can see from the picture (a terrible iPhone photo I know), the presentation was impeccable and the flavours intense and extremely delicious. The wild garlic, slightly steamed, or wilted still packed quite a lot of punch, the fish perfectly crisped on the outside yet remaining nice and flaky on the other side and the dill covering tiny cucumber balls on the side.
Our meat course main was just as stunning as the others. Here we have chunks of lamb, oh so tender and perfectly cooked sitting a top a broad bean mash and a toasted rice cake browned in butter. I really liked the way the roasted rice brought out a very different dimension and helped contrast the strong flavours of lamb. Fresh mint strewn throughout the bean mash and atop helped brighten the entire dish.
Finally we had alternating desserts at the table. The winning dish that I had was a filo pastry tart filled with chopped nuts, French anglaise and strawberry although the photo didn’t really turn out. The alternative was a goat’s cheese sorbet, rhubarb and nuts with a caramel sauce. I didn’t have a taste of it, but those who compared the two said the tart was definitely the winner. Either way, it was a fantastic effort and brilliant execution throughout the evening.
This restaurant definitely proved popular with locals with tables filling up even as we departed from our meal so much on the heavier side. I guess it’s a good drinking spot too with a DJ coming out a bit later.
Name: Belle Epoque
Address: Södra skolgatan 43, Malmö
Website: http://belle-epoque.se/