Belle Epoque

Patrick Bar, Malmo, Restaurants

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/

Johan P

Patrick Malmo, Restaurants

My friend, Alistair, who visits Malmo often work recommended Johan P as a restaurant for us to meet. It’s a little bit more pricey that your standard restaurant in Malmo mainly because it does some really clean consistent flavours centered around fresh seafood. In fact, when our waitress presented the menu to us, most of the seafood dishes had some sort of substitution because the catch of the day was very different.

We started with some nice crusty bread that actually had a pretty moist crumb. The butter was soft, slightly salted and very easy to spread on the bread.

We both started by splitting a bowl of lobster bisque. It came with a generous claw, lots of lobster chunks and a few mussels. The broth is exactly how I would have imagined it – strong in seafood flavour, deep but not too rich and thick.

I can’t remember what sort of fish this had, but it came served with a small number of calamari, a mashed potato stack, and a very rich tomato sauce and fresh beans. The fish was perfectly cooked – soft and flaky without being overcooked. The balance in the dish was also great. I thought the intenseness of the tomato sauce might overpower the fish, but because the fish had a very meaty flavour, it definitely stood up to the strength of the sauce. The calamari was soft, and probably not needed. A slight bit of decadence not necessary but definitely appreciated.

This restaurant still has a nice dining area, and is slightly off from the bustling square at Lilla Torg. It’s a bit quieter, so probably more suitable for catching up with people, or a business meal, but you definitely pay a lot more for it. We skipped desserts and headed to Rosen for a dessert drink instead.

Name: Johan P
Found: Landbygatan 5, Malmö (just off Lilla Torg Square)
Website: http://www.johanp.nu/

Rebell

Patrick Malmo, Restaurants

A good Swedish friend also into his food recommended this restaurant, Rebell and what a great little restaurant it was. They don’t advertise heavily and you won’t really find it listed on tripadvisor or any of the other big sites, so I’m guessing it’s quite new.

They served bread in a bag, a few pieces of nice crusty bread that went well with the soft butter.

We sat outside, enjoying the long hours of sunlight where we had a good Swedish beer while we perused the menu. They had an English translated menu but the bound book was only in Swedish. I guess it’s a popular place that has been around because they seem to already published a book.

I started with a bag of smoked prawns served with a homemade aioli. The prawns were quite small but super tasty, the smoking effect turning the tiny flesh into wonderfully flavoured hunks of meat. Even though they were small prawns, it was a very generous serving for a starter.

I asked the hotel to book for us, but as you can see on a Tuesday evening in Malmö, it probably wasn’t too hard to get a table.

The recommended dish to have are their pork ribs, served with some freshly sliced apple and home made coleslaw. The ribs were perfectly tender and although I don’t think they equate to the “best ribs ever”, they were pretty good for a stewed variation. They definitely could have done with some more smokiness, but very very nice.

Dessert was just as stunning. Small flowers of white chocolate mousse piped into flowers on a plate, decorated with strips of beetroot and an arugla (rocket!) sorbet that was actually a really perfect combination. I thought the arugula sorbet potentially overpowered the subtle mousse flavourings but it was perfectly light and refreshing.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this restaurant and would highly recommend it. I’ll definitely be returning if I ever go back to Malmo.

Name: Rebell
Website: http://gastrogate.com/restaurang/rebell
Found at : Friisgatan 8, Centrum, Malmö