★ Inua Restaurant Tokyo [Closed]

Made a booking to dine at Inua Restaurant once the reservation is opened which is about 2 months in advance. With an array of fine dining restaurants and a limited 2 night short stay in Tokyo, it meant that we had to be selective on the places that we plan to dine at. It was an easy decision to shortlist Inua Restaurant – a place started by Chef Thomas Frebel, who was previously appointed as Noma’s head of R&D. 

Noma famously conducted a series of pop-up around the World, including Tokyo in 2015 and Sydney in 2016. While we failed in our attempt to snag one of those coveted seats, we managed to dine at the Copenhagen home base in 2016 (post). It was truly an once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, with no certainty that I could ever revisit them since securing a seat there was akin to hitting a jackpot. 

Learning that Inua serves Nordic-influenced dishes with Japanese ingredients was the key motivating factor in my choice as I longed to be able to somewhat relive the wonderful memories of Noma.  

Unknown to me at the time of my booking, was that Inua gained much fanfare after Frebel served as a consultant for a Japanese TV series – La Grande Maison Tokyo (English title) starring Takuya Kimura. The TV series premiered via Starhub only on 17 Jan 2020. I managed to complete watching the series just before departing for my Japan trip and dine at Inua in Feb 2020. I soon realised that the dishes served in the fictitious competitor restaurant Gaku in the show were Inua-created. Interestingly Chef Shuzo Kishida of Quintessence (one of the first fine dining restaurants I visited in Tokyo way back in 2013) was the consultant for the design of the menu items served in the drama’s namesake restaurant. 

The dining hall exudes strong Nordic influences and style. The round table without table cloth, the greyish colour and style all resembled the Noma 1.0* we visited in Copenhagen. *Since the relocation, the restaurant has reinvented itself as Noma 2.0. 

For the meal we opted for one juice pairing (J) and one wine pairing to go with the 13-course menu.

Nordic style cuisine focus greatly on fresh ingredients from sustainable food sources: the sea, the forest and the earth. Japan possesses similar conditions and ticked all the right boxes. It would be interesting to see the type of dishes presented here at Inua.

The unmistakable jaw skeleton on the plate gave a clue as to where the ingredient came from – Monkfish. Instead of the flesh of the fish, here we have the Aerated monkfish liver terrine, natsuhaze (oldham blueberry) crisp. Some diners dislike eating organs for fear of the flavour and texture. No such problem when it gets transformed into a frozen parfait with absolutely zero resemblance to its original form here! 

Paired with the refreshing honey kombucha, sunset oolong and kihada for both (J) & pairing. Kihada is the Japanese word for the amur cork tree. Not sure if they used the Kizashi Kihada tonic water in this drink or they infused the yellow inner bark of the Kihada into this drink themselves. 

The next dish featured an ingredient harvested from earth: Seasonal citrus cured with kanzuri, roasted kelp oil.  The roasted kelp oil (in green hue) at the bottom is made from kelp from Hokkaido. While the Kanzuri is a traditional condiment, a paste that is made from chilli, yuzu and koji, made in only Niigata Japan.

Hailed as Japan‘s “national fungus”, koji is the pillar to many Japanese food production from miso, mirin to sake. I still remember touring the compound of Noma 1.0 with lots of koji fermentation experimental boxes/jars around, it was used widely in their dishes. It’s understandable that Chef Frebel would be pushing boundaries in exploring innumerable ways of using koji to elevate flavour profile of his cooking. 

While I didn’t quite catch the name of the citrus fruit (from Nagasaki), it looked and tasted like pomelo/buntan. This dish is an amalgamation of flavours: Sweet, sour, slight spiciness and rich in umami flavour. 

Paired with: (J) Melon and fresh sansho peppers (and kiwi juice) 2015 Hochrain Gruner Veltliner, Weingut Veyder-Malberg, Spitz, Wachau.

A familiar ingredient was showcased in the next dish – Maitake 舞茸. It is very popular and widely cultivated in Japan. Despite only spending 1 night stay in Kusatsu, we had 2 soba meals with maitake tempura there. The strong earthy flavoured fungus truly lives up to its name of “dancing mushroom” when people danced with happiness upon finding it in the wild. 

Being the signature dish of Inua, it is not surprising that no effort was spared in preparation of the hen-of-the-wood fungus before presenting it as Aged and smoked maitake, braised in a pine dashi with salted sakura. The maitake was aged for 5 days and then smoked. When the broth was poured tableside, guests get a whiff of the aroma. We were invited to take a bite of the mushroom first in its original taste, before using our hands to crush the salted dried sakura and sprinkle them over the dish for a different taste (perhaps for the cinematic effects too). 

Paired with: (J) Rose kombucha  Hobohobo Zenkoji Kimoto, Abe Shuzo, Kashiwazaki, Niigata.

This is a palate cleanser – Dried fallen fruits Pear and beet berry wrap. The filling was made with wild Japanese mountain berries and young pine shoots while the wrap outside was caramelized beetroot and pear. Topped with flower petals, long pepper, lavender and lemon thyme. 

Served in a claypot which was sizzling hot with a faint crackling sound was Warm stew of black truffle, grilled roses, lotus seeds and fermented pumpkin seeds.

It comprised of fresh pumpkin and lotus seeds, as well as fermented pumpkin seed tempeh. The tempeh water was then mixed with miso, added with grilled coriander, grilled rose petals and topped with a few freshly sliced fresh truffle. 

Before we dig in, we had to concoct the “magic potion” by first stirring the truffle paste into the soup, followed by infusing the soup with the bouquet of herbs for 10-15 secs. Final step was to squeeze a few drops of the citrus into the soup. 

Paired with: (J) Sorrel, passion fruit and lemongrass 2014 Interval 102, Slobodne Vinarstvo, Zemianske Sady, Trnava. A wine from Slovakia which is a Riesling that is dry with high acidity to cut the richness of this dish.

Next up, the visually stunning beauty is named Pillow of koji and caviar. My first impression of this dish was it reminded me of the quilted pattern of Chanel bag~ Of course the caviar add a touch of luxury to it as well. 

The white base was actually made from udon flour dough. It was flattened, inoculated with koji, fermented for 2 days and ~voila. The surface turned into a velvety texture as a result of yeast cells growing on the dough. Sitting on top were a spoonful of caviar with a dollop of blackcurrent wood fudge – made from danish butter mixed with an oil infused with blackcurrant wood.

To eat it, we would bring the two opposite sides of the dough together with our hands (like folding) to bring the two elements together, before bringing it to our mouth. The udon flour dough had a chewy and delicate elasticity texture – almost like mochi.  Love this!!!

Paired with: (J) Cold infused jasmine and oolong tea Niida Kaoruyama, Niida Honke, Koriyama, Fukushima. “Kaoruyama” is made with Shizenmai (non-fertilization / pesticide-free rice) shiro koji (white rice malt), natural water and natural yeast starter. Matured in an oak barrel used for storage of red wine. Delicate pale rose color. Light taste like rosé wine.  

Up until now we did not have any meat yet. So the next dish was a portion of duck which was presented to guests earlier. 

Wild duck cooked over charcoal, kayanomi nuts (Japanese nutmeg) sauce and grilled lemon thyme. Duck breast aged for two weeks and finished over charcoal grill, plated with pine leaves, pistachios and natsuhaze crisps around the side.

Paired with: (J) Matsubusa berry and spices (saffron and cardamom) 2017 Waiting for Tom, Rennersistas, Gols, Neusiedlersee. A wine from Austria. 55% Zweigelt, 30% St Laurent and 15% Blaufränkisch. 

While I was still immersed in the marvelous dinner, I heard the service staff said “This next dish would be your last savoury dish for tonight…”.

My OS: What?! It’s almost finished?!

Anyway my eyes quickly focus back to the pot on our table, and the staff introduced it as Nanatsuboshi rice, beechnuts and wild duck. There were two components to this dish. One was the freshly cooked rice topped with generous serving of beechnuts, sunflower seeds, fresh pine etc. Another was a bowl covered with a crisp, with a duck print, made with duck stock and chicken stock. Underneath the crisp were some of the trimmings from the duck we had previously. 

After giving the rice a good mix, the staff placed a portion of it on top of the crisp. I really liked the multitude of textures, the nutty aroma, even down to the fluffiness of the rice. For a moment, I forgot that I’m actually dining in a Nordic-style restaurant. This is so typical of a Japanese donabe rice dish! 

Paired with: (J) Kiwi, fermented rice and thyme 2016 Abeurador (2) Amfora, Mendall, Tarragona, Catalunya. The house-made non-alcoholic “Amazake” (Japanese fermented rice drink) using their own koji. For the wine, the grape variety is Macabeu (Viura). I found it familiar when I saw the unique bottle label. We had the wine from the same producer before, while dining at L’Effervescence a couple of years ago. 

Last bit of the trimmings from the wild duck was finger-licking good. 

You know its really gonna be the end when they serve you the dessert wine… 2016 Afruge Ma Cherie, Kidoizumi Shuzo, Isumi, Chiba. It is an aged taruzake (sake which has been stored or aged in a wooden barrel) like a sherry. 

Blackened barley koji ice cream and pine cones preserved in honey – they caramalized the koji very slowly for 12 days at different temperatures and make it into a paste and served it as a dessert mixed with ice cream. In the middle was oil infused with the wild cherry wood. It’s a savoury ice cream with hints of sweetness and nuttiness from the pine cones. 

Another unlikely ingredient made its appearance in the dessert section – Wakame. They created Caramelised seaweed mille-feuille with yuzu cream sandwiched inside. The baked “Hirome” seaweed was flaky and crisp, a good replacement for pastry sheets!

The last dessert was more conventional – Fresh atemoya and almond shell-infused oil. Atemoya (from Okinawa) is a fruit which is a hybrid of the sugar apple and the cherimoya. It was simply seasoned with almond shell oil. 

Round up our meal with Sarunashi kiwi and forest flavours. Although they had the name kiwi, these tiny kiwi berries (about the size of olives) had a totally different texture from their namesake cousins. They are also known as Kokuwa in Japan. It is definitely not commonly found in supermarkets. 

Kudos to the procurement team of Inua restaurant for sourcing a wide variety of ingredients from the Northernmost island of Hokkaido to the Southernmost islands in Okinawa.

Similar to Noma, guests at Inua were given a kitchen tour where we got to see what goes on behind-the-scenes and more interestingly the R&D kitchen where we found Chef Thomas Frebel hard at work. For ardent fans of Le Grand Maison Tokyo, you may even recognise that a part of Inua‘s back kitchen was used for one of the scenes in the show. Hint: where they shot the equipment used for fermentation.

Note: Inua closed permanently in Mar 2021 due to various compounding factors. 

Other Related Posts:

• ★ Florilège, Tokyo
• ★ Esquisse エスキス, Tokyo
• ★ Sublime スブリム, Tokyo
• ★ L’Effervescence, Tokyo
• ★ Tapas Molecular Bar, Tokyo
• Den 傳, Tokyo
• ★ Narisawa, Tokyo
• ★ Quintessence, Tokyo

Bare Vestland, Bergen

Before leaving Bergen to Oslo, we had lunch at Bare Vestland restaurant which is a stone’s throw away from our hotel. This place specialises in Norwegian tapas, which is exactly what we would like as we could taste a variety of dishes in appetizer-size portions.

Although the restaurant is located in the basement of the building, it has a row of windows allowing daylight to enter and casting a soft diffuse glow into the hall.

Lunch menu was a simple 1-page affair. We started our meal with appetizer of Veal Tongue cucumber, spring onion & “Nyr” (a soft, fresh cheese) The veal tongue texture reminds me of mock vegetarian kidney made of gluten, slightly chewy.

We picked this restaurant mainly to try their Plukkfisk pickled leeks & bacon. This is a classic Norwegian dish which consists of pieces of white fish (usually cod) and potatoes, cooked in a bechamel sauce. With the fillet mixed in with the mash potato, you can’t really pick out the fish so the dish may even be palatable to people who don’t like eating fish. For me this dish goes into the must-eat dishes alongside with fish soup and fried codtongues when in Norway! I must say Norway is a seafood paradise!

Last but not least, we had a main of Beer-and-Meat Stew which is a hearty casserole dish. The beef was tender, the stock was flavourful and packed with sweetness from the vegetables. This dish certainly warms us up for the wet winter weather in Bergen.

After finishing this meal, we were off to catch our 7-hour train ride to Oslo.

Earlier Photos Taken:

There are plenty construction development going on. We are surprised to see the hoardings becoming creative art spaces.

Other Related Posts:

• Enhjøringen (Unicorn Fish Restaurant), Bergen
• Sweet Rain Konditori, Bergen
• Trekroneren, Bergen
• Emmas Under, Tromsø
• The Flying Elk, Stockholm
• Meatballs for the People, Stockholm
• Valhallabageriet AB, Stockholm
• Nystekt Strömming, Stockholm
• Melanders Fisk, Stockholm
• Kajsas Fisk, Stockholm
• Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Meatballs for the People, Stockholm

While one of Sweden‘s most successful export is IKEA furniture store, the brand IKEA is probably synonymous with Meatballs. Tired of the same old beef meatballs, we wanted to make use of the opportunity in Stockholm to try a variety of meatballs. Meatballs for the People is the place for us as their meatballs are served in different kinds of (exotic) meat.

As the restaurant does not take reservations on Fri-Sun, we deliberately planned for a late lunch around 2pm hoping to avoid the peak hours. But we were wrong…there was a waitlist with a few names jotted on it when we arrived at the restaurant.  The staff told us that the waiting time would be around 30 mins, we reckoned since we were not in a rush we don’t mind the wait. More importantly, our minds were set on having a meatball lunch.

After the chilly morning sight-seeing walk, we were happy to warm our body with a Swedish beer flight: Piston Kustom Lager, Melleruds Pilsner, Sleepy Bulldog Pale Ale and Shogun Bulldog JIPA.

Now for the meatballs! These are the 5 meatballs available on the day of our visit: Boar, Beef, Moose, Veal and Beef & Pork. They have other varieties such as rooster, reindeer, salmon, lamb, venison etc. and even vegetarian option.

We ordered The Starter whereby we get to choose 4 types of meatballs served with a creamy gravy sauce, lingonberries, pickled cucumber & red onion. This platter will allow customers to have a taste of the variety before deciding on their favourite choice if they subsequently order the main course (yes, they eat meatballs as a main course).

While choosing the meatballs, we were updated that they have roe deer meatball that day as well, so we opted for Boar, Moose, Veal and Roe Deer for the platter and the meatballs were differentiated with their respective flags.

While the meatballs were generally bouncy and moist, I thought the Moose meat had a strong gamey flavour compared to the other meatballs. For sure, they are way better than IKEA ones. I never liked the meatballs at IKEA despite their popularity.

Next we had the Spaghetti Bowl with a choice of meatball (we chose to go with veal) served with grandmas tomato sauce & loads of grated parmesan.

Earlier Photos Taken:

Sensed a bit of Chinese New Year with these familiar festive plants – Silver Willow and Peach Blossom.

View of Riddarholmen in Gamla Stan. With the river covered in snow, it made the colours of the facade pop.

From the riverside we made our way to Katarinahissen, or the Katarina Lift that looked like a tower crane actually. Its viewing deck offers an unblocked view of Gamla Stan. Unfortunately this space is above a construction site now as the area is undergoing massive redevelopment with many construction equipment in the foreground.

On the other side is the Gröna Lund amusement park, it is only open from late spring (April/March) to September.

Other Related Posts:

• Valhallabageriet AB, Stockholm
• Nystekt Strömming, Stockholm
• Melanders Fisk, Stockholm
• Kajsas Fisk, Stockholm
• Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Nystekt Strömming, Stockholm

Nystekt Strömming (it’s Swedish for ‘freshly fried herring’) is a local food truck which used to be located around Slussen. However when we visited Stockholm, the Slussen area was already heavily cordoned up for redevelopment and the food truck has relocated to Gamla Stan area. So please check out their FB post for their latest location at the time of your visit.

While there were many variations on how to enjoy the fried herring, we chose to pair it with mashed potatoes, along with pickled cucumber, red onion and creme fraiche salad (it’s the standard combi as well); although you can build-your-own sides as well.

The fried herring had a nice crispy and crunchy crust and the pickled cucumbers work best to cut through the fried item. Onions help if you are afraid of briny taste of the herring, though I don’t find it overly strong after frying.

Comparatively I prefer eating the raw herring in Amsterdam to this fried version. But hey, herring is also one of the pillars of Swedish cuisine and therefore should give it a try when you visit Stockholm. It’s also one of the cheaper food options around if you are on a budget since everything in Scandinavia countries cost much higher than Europe.

Nystekt Strömming, Stockholm
Kornhamnstorg 1, 111 27 Stockholm, Sweden

Earlier Photos Taken:

Stockholm City Hall with golden spire is one of the most famous silhouette along the river (left).

Exploring the streets during blue hour in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm. This area has a wealth of historic churches and mostly with Gothic style architecture.

Other Related Posts:

• Melanders Fisk, Stockholm
• Kajsas Fisk, Stockholm
• Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Melanders Fisk, Stockholm

After finishing the Swedish Fish Soup at the neighbouring shop at the Hötorgshallen Saluhall, we were so full that we decided to buy takeaway Gravadlax (dill-flavored cured Salmon) from Melanders instead of dining at their counters.

Each portion of the cured salmon is served with boiled potatoes (packed separately, not pictured). If you are a smoked salmon fan, you are likely to fall in love with the cured version as well. In fact I liked the cured version more than the saltier smoked salmon. The cured salmon was so fresh that it remained moist and silky!

Although the cured and smoked salmon are also available at the breakfast buffet lines of the hotels throughout our Scandinavian trip, the version we bought at Melanders remained the best I had.

Melanders Fisk
Hötorgshallen, 111 57 Stockholm, Sweden
Open hours: 10 am – 7 pm on Monday to Saturday.

After the short downtown exploration, we had to head back to our hotel for a quick nap to combat the jet lag…

Other Related Posts:

• Kajsas Fisk, Stockholm
• Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Kajsas Fisk, Stockholm

After having some cakes we took a walk around the Central area hoping to work off some of the food and avoid the lunch crowd before heading to our next food stop.

Saw this interesting plaque by chance – a location with historical value as its the site where Swedish Football Association was founded in 1904.

Our next stop was Hötorgshallen Saluhall – a food hall housed in the basement of a modern complex. It means Haymarket in English.

There are two stalls that I shortlisted and they are located next to each other. Starting with Kajsas Fisk occupying unit #14 and Melanders (in next post) occupying unit #25.

Toast Skagen (prawns/shrimps on toast) is an absolute Swedish classic named after a fishing port in Denmark. It essentially is a piece of toast topped with shrimp mixed with mayonnaise, creme fraiche and topped with kalix löjrom roe.

While the toast had a nice crisp to it, the small shrimps were tough and rubbery. Not sure if that’s how it should be? Presumably the colder Nordic waters made their flesh tougher??? I tried other shrimp salads during my trip and they were all generally difficult to chew on…

The best-seller here is the Svenska fisksoppa (Fish Soup).

At first glance, the colour of the soup reminded me of Goulash Soup I had in Budapest. But unlike Goulash that is made with beef, Svenska fisksoppa is a delicate seafood soup made with fish stock, fresh salmon, cod, mussels and juicy prawns; topped with tangy sour cream. Do also note that the soup is generously portioned, sufficient to be a main on its own for me. This is the ultimate comfort soup perfect for the cold winter~

Although the seating area is limited, don’t be turned off by the queue. Service staff would assist to allocate seats once you placed your order at the counter. I would say this soup is a must-try when in Sweden.

Earlier photos taken:

The famed 3-Michelin starred restaurant in Stockholm – Frantzén. They opened an outpost – Zén in Singapore in late 2018, taking up the shophouse unit vacated by Restaurant Andre. Had to give this place a miss this time round…we could still try their outpost back in Singapore.

Other Related Post:

• Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Vete-Katten, Stockholm

Touched down at Stockholm Arlanda airport around 8am in the morning and by the time we arrived at our hotel in town it was still too early for check-in. We took the time to roam around the area and our first stop was to Vete-Katten, an iconic tradition-packed coffee shop, for Fika – to enjoy a cuppa along with traditional Swedish pastries.

A quick glance on what the guests were ordering at the cafe and it is apparent that one of the most popular bun is the Semla a small, wheat flour bun, flavoured with cardamom and filled with almond paste and whipped cream.

But the main highlight of our visit was to try another Swedish classic – Princess Cake. The layer cake consist of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, freshly-prepared custard and a layer of raspberry jam at the bottom, enveloped by a thick quilt of whipped cream and encased with lime-coloured marzipan, giving the cake a smooth rounded top.

We were also chose the Chocolate Budapest (Budapestrulle) – a roll cake made with chocolate hazelnut meringue, raspberries and cream. In comparison, the Classic Budapest is wrapped with mandarin oranges instead.

Both pastry were smooth, rich and velvety. The wonderful pastries certainly made up for my lackluster waffles onboard the flight earlier.

Photos taken earlier:

Flight from SIN with a short transit stopover at Moscow (DME) before arriving at ARN.

For appetizer, we had the Marinated Scallops with Yuzu Compote Pea sprout, cherry tomatoes and lemon basil vinaigrette. For main, I had the Peranakan Hokkien Mee Soup A rich pork-prawn broth with pork, prawns and vegetables on top of egg noodles and rice vermicelli – a Peranakan version of a popular Singaporean hawker dish. This was one of the dishes recommended by one of the air stewardess when I last flew with SQ. While the broth was pretty tasty, I didn’t like the texture of the prawns which was slightly rubbery.

About two hours before touch down at Moscow, we were served breakfast. One had the Selection of Dim Sum lotus leaf rice with chicken, steamed pork pot sticker, scallop dumpling and vegetarian beancurd roll while another had the Warm Belgian Waffles with strawberry coulis, fresh berries and mascarpone cheese. While the dim sum was pretty decent, the waffles were slightly hard and dry…

Transit at Moscow Domodedovo Airport at 6am, the lounge was really empty.

More food on the next leg between DME-ARN. Light refreshment served for this short 2 hour leg – Spinach and Caramelised Onion Frittata Pan-fried pork sausages, onion tomato jam, mushrooms and potatoes was definitely better than the waffles I had earlier.

After journeying for more than 14 hours, we finally arrived in Stockholm, Sweden!

★ Geranium, Copenhagen

Copenhagen is undeniably the epicentre of the nordic food movement in the recent years, we definitely need to visit the only 3 Michelin starred restaurant in town – Geranium. We were pretty lucky that our schedule allowed us to fit in a meal at Geranium as they were closed for summer break up till 9th Aug (iirc). The restaurant has no more than 10 tables for each session so we enjoyed the spacious dining hall with full height windows offering expansive view of the surrounding greenery.

Upon seated we were presented with an envelope with a letter inside with the Geranium Late Summer Universe menu that we would be enjoying for the afternoon. After the aperitif, we opted to pair our meal with juice pairing. We started our 17-course lunch with appetizer of Lobster, Milk & Juice from Fermented Carrots & Sea Buckthorn. A brightly coloured clear juice served in chinese style tea cups.

Although it was a summer menu, the Jerusalem Artichoke Leaves, Walnut oil & Rye Vinegar looked very much like an Autumn dish isn’t it? Loved the crisp leaves with the creamy dip. Beginning to sense the magic behind Chef’s creations using molecular gastronomy techniques.

Tomato water, Ham Fat & Aromatic Herbs may look light and clear but it was a perfect blend of floral notes with the flavourful ham-scent with the refreshing tomato water base.

After a few lighter dishes, we moved into richer appetizers starting with the smoky Charred Potato in Aroma from Bark & Sheep’s Butter.

“Dillstone” Horseradish & Frozen Juice from Pickled Dill was presented in 2 bowls. If you looked carefully, you’ll find the green “dillstone” sitting on top of the pebbles. Another bowl has creamy horseradish with granita-like frozen juice (not sure if its made with liquid nitrogen?). Ate them in 1 mouthful after mixing the elements together.

Last appetizer was “Razor Clam” with Minerals & Sour Cream. Wafer thin “shell’ filled with razor clam tartar was a beauty. I was impressed by the prints on the wafer to replicate the look of razor clam shells. Almost forgotten to mention the Red Currant juice that accompanied our appetizers.

Main dishes started with Celeriac, Scallop & Dried Trout paired with Sea buckthorn juice. I loved the bright orangey coloured sea buckthorn juice which was sweet and slightly viscous. While the dried trout tarts had great umami with the thin crisp crust, I didn’t quite understand how it relates to the celeriac part of the dish.

Onto the 2nd main dish and it was one of the most impressive course I had at Geranium – Salted Hake, Parsley Stems & Finnish Caviar in Buttermilk. I had to unveil the beautiful hake under the caviar to show you how fascinating the layer of hake looked! Having tried salted cod in Iceland with much pleasure, I was eager to try the Salted Hake. Lovely firm fish texture drizzled with luxurious finnish caviar, immersed in creamy foam and topped with crispy fried scales.

The bread course was pretty unique with Crispy Grains, Bread with Old Grains & Gluten Free Bread with Seeds.

Creamy Vegetables with Oyster, Peas & Pickled Elderflowers paired with Green apple juice. After my pleasant encounter with peas at Noma, I’ve changed my impression of them. In this dish, the chlorophyll pea taste was “neutralized” by the oyster flavour.

Wild Herbs, Leek, Smoked Pork Fat & Melted “Vesterhavs” Cheese Sumptuous leeks with dainty wild herbs and flowers was first presented followed by the addition of a foamy gravy which was poured into the dish (final presentation not pictured).

King Krab & Beach Crab, Cabbage Sprouts & Söl paired with Gooseberry, sunflower seeds and Terragon juice. Fresh crab meat was sweet and delicate.

Our final main course was Grilled and Salted Pork on the “Bone”, Pickled Pine & Blackcurrant Leaves . The almost melt-in-your-mouth pork was tender and succulent. Although filled with aromatic flavours from pork fat, the dish it was not at all greasy.

After the last main, they served the Cranberry juice along with “A Small Taste of Late Summer” Beetroot, Rhubarb, Yoghurt & Tagetes. A crispy ball to be eaten in 1 bite, with burst of flavours from the filling.

Ice cream from Beeswax, Pollen & Honey with Blackberries paired with Cloud Berry juice.

I was so blown away by the exquisiteness of the final dessert of Wood Sorrel & Woodruff that I missed out on recording the last juice…

Shifted over to the lounge for After Dinner Sweets along with hand-brewed coffee with beans from Coffee Collective. Sweet treats include Cookie dough with sea buckthorn, Sunflower seeds muffin,  Caramel and chocolate coated with pine powder.

View from the lounge

Awards on display – Chef Rasmus Kofoed is triple winner of the gold, silver, and bronze medals in Bocuse D’ore-competition.

Unlike at Noma, we didn’t get the chance to interact much with the staff and chef. The ambience here is equivalent to other fine-dining places, however the fully open-kitchen space was the highlight. Being seated in close proximity to the kitchen, we observed how the kitchen operates and it was like watching a play. The coordination amongst the chefs was flawless. Everything went seamlessly smooth and everyone was calm and collected. Food wise, every dish was well-executed to perfection. Each ingredient seems to co-exist in harmony with others.

Other Related Posts:

• ★ Noma, Copenhagen
• Kodbyens Fiskebar, Copenhagen

★ Noma, Copenhagen

Visit to Noma was not only the highlight of my trip, it was the primary factor in our decision on whether to take the 13 hours flight to Europe for our short 1-week holiday.

What spurred me to really make an attempt to get the booking at Noma was after our missed opportunity to snag the coveted seat at their Australia pop-up. All the bookings were Gone in 60 seconds (literally). This was verified as news of the sell-out booking was also widely reported in online news hours later.

More than 9 months ago, on 30th October 2015 (forgot what time, ard 6/7am Singapore time), we waited at our laptop for the reservation site to open. Once the time was due, we repeatedly tried to get into the website but by the time we got to the page we were stunned beyond words…All bookings were gone and we could only be put on wait list. Being placed on wait list is not something we wanted since we have to make travel arrangements to Australia, not as if we are staying there…*Btw, according to reports there were 27,000 on the waitlist…

When the Noma pop-up occurred between Jan to Apr 2016, we saw a number of people on IG sharing photos of their visit. Many of them were in fact regular customers at Noma (Copenhagen), while folks like me who were hoping for the rare chance to visit them (while they are more accessible to us in the Asia region) failed to get a seat.  I can’t help but wonder “How did they do it?”

One disgruntled diner shared that he had been trying to get a seat at Noma (Copenhagen) for 3 years and still counting…

So while we were planning where to head to for our next holiday in August (due to National Day holiday), the idea of visiting Denmark came to our mind. Let fate decide if we could go for a summer holiday in Europe (all my previous trips were in winter for skiing). So the big day was set on 25th Apr 2016 – the day where Noma opens their reservation for bookings in August (approx 3-4 mths in advance).  We will only book our flight if we could get a table in Noma.

Reservation on Noma‘s website was designed with a virtual random queue system in order to cope with the high-volume requests. We did some research and found some tricks that could increase our chances of securing that coveted booking. A few of the tips were:

(1) Utilise as many devices as possible e.g ipad, laptop, mobile phone
(2) Use as many different browsers as possible e.g IE, Firefox, Chrome, each will be given a different queue number
(3) Get to the website at least 5 minutes before reservation opens

Once you are at the website, there is no need to refresh. When reservation starts the counter on the queue page will automatically assign each browser page a random queue number. Hence its kinda like a lucky draw, a lot has to depend on luck or fate.

The smallest number we got was #216 and the highest number we got was #1700+. The screen will show the number of people ahead of you and when its your turn, you will be re-directed to Noma‘s booking site automatically.

It only took less than 15 mins before it’s my turn at #216 and by the time I got into the website, there were only 2 dates left. Thankfully one fell on the week that I was eyeing, quickly grabbed that date and voila~ I’ve got the reservations and I’m on my way to Copenhagen! Needless to say, like many others who managed to get a booking, I had a silly grin on my face for the rest of that day.

Fast-forward to 10th Aug 16, after doing some sightseeing around town in morning, we made our way to the restaurant. From afar we saw 2 staff at the entrance greeting us and when the doors opened, the whole group of kitchen crew and service staff were gathered inside giving us an absolutely heartwarming welcome. This was probably the first time I ever visited a restaurant and had almost all the crew saying hi to us. We certainly felt like VIPs as all of them were not cooking but waiting for guests to arrive! I could even see the enthusiasm and passion in their eyes when they greeted us.

We were the 2nd group of guests that arrived in the cosy restaurant. At one glance we could count the total number of covers available – less than 10 private tables and 1 large communal table. To be able to secure a seat here was as if we struck lottery. I certainly felt very blessed to have this opportunity, every moment spent at Noma felt so surreal…

We ordered a glass of Rose wine aperitif – 2014 Rose vom Opok, Sepp & Maria Muster, Leutschach – Steierland after settling down at our table. Thereafter we sit back and relax, waited for the show to unravel before our eyes. The menu at Noma is changed seasonally and is not presented to guests at the start of the meal. Hence we would be in for a total surprise, rest assured that dietary preference were checked when we confirm our reservation. We decided to pair our meal with 1 juice-pairing and 1 wine-pairing, to taste the best of both worlds. It was said the the wines served in Noma are organic and biodynamic natural wine, hence the wine varieties might be totally new to me – a good opportunity to taste new wines.

Our eyes lit up immediately when the first dish Rhubarb and seaweed was presented to us. What a lovely sight! Layers of thinly sliced ruby red Rhubarb petals rolled into a rose and surrounded by contrasting greens.

Following the garden theme, the next dish was a Vegetable platter: flatbread & ant paste, pickled quail egg and a black currant berry. Everything is edible except for the moss and the pebbles. Every single one of the elements plated were exquisite and unique. I was amazed by the “branch” that looked really real.

Moving on to the 3rd course we were presented with Radish pie paired with 2015 Les Jongleurs (Chenin Blanc), Toby & Julie Bainbridge, Chavagnes les Equx – Anjou and Elderflower/spearmint juice. The radish pie had a really thin crust filled with the delicately arranged radish slices. After three dishes, we were still constantly blown away by the visually impactful presentation and the delightfully fresh produce used.

Grilled baby cucumber, summer herbs and cream sounds kinda ordinary isn’t it? Wait till you see the star ingredient – ant paste. Other than the mental fear of having to eat ants, the grilled baby cucumber was really crunchy and tasty. Hmm…i’ve grown to like to eat ants…

We had devoured every dish presented so far and were in awe over how they transformed vegetables and made them taste so good! Prior to visiting Noma, the only other restaurant that impressed us with the vegetable dishes was Steirereck Restaurant.

Fresh milk curd, green strawberry and goose tongue leaves was next. A light and refreshing dish, I slurped up every drop of the sauce in that bowl.

First dish that has some conventional meat was Lobster, lavender and rose oil. It was aromatic as perfumed by the flora tones and accompanied with perfectly caramalised onions. Paired with 2013 “Le Sentier du Clou” 1er Cru (Chardonnay), Domaine Derain, Saint-Aubin – Bourgogne and Rose/redcurrant juice.

I was slightly disappointed when I saw the next dish Crisp of wild roses and Danish peas because I am not a Pea person. I would always pick out the annoying peas in the frozen mixed vegetables…But to my surprise, this plate of danish peas tasted totally different from my stereotypical opinion of peas! This has none of the chlorophyll taste and would definitely satisfy even the most picky eaters! We got to know the tricks behind the preparation of this dish when we toured the kitchen after our meal…every single pea skin was hand-peeled twice! The experience of eating fresh peeled peas changed my perception of peas as their delicate flavours can only be appreciated when I look under the covers. The peas were paired with green gooseberries/tarragon juice.

After the green gooseberries juice, the next juice served was red gooseberries/geranium juice. As for wine, it was paired with 2014 blan 5.7 (Viura and Parellada), Jordi Llorens, Blancafort – Catalonia. One of the staff came round to present the live king crab which will be prepared later.

8th dish was Butternut squash and fermented barley. Sweet and nutty pumpkin with lightly flavoured fermented barley. Many ingredients used in Noma had undergone some form of fermentation. Most of the fermentation here uses Koji, koji is widely used in many Asian food production such as like soya sauce, miso etc. However our general impression of fermented food usually possess strong (pungent) smell – think fermented bean curd, kimchi, natto, shrimp paste etc.

Next was the Steamed king crab and egg yolk sauce. Being seafood lovers, the menu at Noma in Winter was perfect for us!

The most fascinating dish for our meal was the Charred greens and scallop paste. paired with 2015 Lay Purus (Riesling), Rita & Rudolf Trossen, Kinheim-Kindel-Mosel and Cabbage/lovage juice.

Although all the greens were charred, each of them had different textures. Some are feathery, some are “meaty”, some are crisp. The scallop paste coated over the veg filled with umami and the taste actually reminded me of “Oyster sauce” used in Asian cooking. We had fun picking up the veg and licking the remnants of the tasty sauce off our fingers.

For the wine-pairing guest, the next dish was paired with 2013 Sicilia ‘1213’ (trebbiano), Guccione, Monreale – Sicily.

Turbot grilled on the bone with sweet shrimp  was served in 2 part. Firstly the foraged greens with turbot fillet and sweet shrimp wrapped in ramson leaves. Secondly the grilled turbot with bones.

The final juice served was Green pea husk and 2015 Crémation à l’oseille, Daniel Sage, Ardeche – France. “Cremation Sorrel” is actually the title of a painting by Jean Raine and the painting was reproduced and printed as the wine label. Hence the label was a colourful abstract painting that left a deep impression on us once the staff showed us the bottle.

The final wine pairing was 2011 Les Enfants Terribles (Chenin Blanc), Anthony Tortul, Beziers – Languedoc. Not sure if I’ve got this correct but Les Enfants Terribles means the terrible children in French?

Dessert started with A dessert of sheep’s milk and ant paste. This time round the ant paste was much more finer than the ones coated over the cucumber in the main dish. The texture and colour sort of resembles that of black sesame…at least I tried to brainwash myself that I’m eating black sesame…Absolutely enjoyed the sheep’s milk yogurt.

Next was a mysterious dish covered by a napkin, upon unveiling it was Grilled rose ice cream and elderflower.

The green moss plating made a reappearance for the dessert. This time round it was Moss cooked in chocolate, cep mushroom served with crème freche and seaweed oil. We gently lifted the chocolate coated moss and dipped them lightly with the creme freche. The light and feathery moss melts in the mouth just like cotton candy! It was also a first for us to eat mushroom coated with chocolate, but somehow it went very well together.

We ordered fresh hand brewed coffee to end our meal, the staff introduced that they uses ethiopia beans from The Coffee Collective. Coincidentally we had just visited Coffee Collective for our morning cuppa as they are deemed as the Danish king of coffee.

Final desserts were Egg liqueur and wild berries.

We were pretty sad that the time spent for a meal at Noma flew by so quickly! It was as though 17 course meal was not enough and we were hoping for more! Just when we thought our magical journey was about to end, we were offered a tour of the kitchen/test lab/fermentation lab. Knowing that we were from Singapore, they assigned a Chef from Malaysia to guide us through the various parts of the sprawling building. It was thoughtful of the staff to arrange a Malaysian Chef to brief us, as we managed to talk about common topics such as the recently unveiled Michelin Guide for Singapore.

It was during the walk-through and chatting that we got to know a lot more about the behind-the-scenes operation of Noma. After walking through the kitchen at the first floor, we were led to the back of the building where there were charcoal pits and josper ovens used to char-grill all the ingredients outdoor, giving them the smoky flavours.

On 2nd floor, there was a preparation kitchen where a dozen other chefs were busy prepping the various elements before they were pieced together to form the final dishes that we ate. From the slicing of the rhubarb to the individually hand-rolled radish petals, everything were labour-intensive. But while we were walking through this kitchen everyone of them were still energetic and friendly. They were in fact enjoying their work. The chef even explained that most of the chefs in the prep kitchen are working for free! I guess if I’m a junior chef I would also hoped to be able to gain the experience of working together with a master like Chef Rene.

At the back was the experiment lab/test lab, where we saw Chef Rene explaining some stuff to a group of visitors. Chefs in the test lab full-time job was to conduct experiment to find the perfect “formulae” for the dishes using whatever ingredients available in the season. Some of the ingredients we saw included live seafood, herbs foraged from the wild, grown herbs etc. Successful formulae would only be incorporated into Noma‘s menu next year when the same season returns.

Back to ground floor outside, there was a container used to keep all the ingredients under fermentation, including peaso (miso made from pea) infused with different flavours.

I treasured the opportunity to have a tour of the kitchen/lab etc. where we get to see and understand the sustainable cooking philosophy and what Chef Rene was working towards.

Just before leaving, the staff even shared with us a map of Copenhagen printed by Noma, highlighting a few other recommended eateries including a few that we already shortlisted/visited such as Kodbyens Fiskebar, Det Vide Hus.

We left Noma at around 4pm, 4 hours after we arrived but we enjoyed every minute at the restaurant. It certainly goes down my list of most memorable dining experience ever and was well-worth the effort to specially take a flight to visit.

Other Related Post:

• Kodbyens Fiskebar, Copenhagen

Kodbyens Fiskebar, Copenhagen

Arrived in Copenhagen in late afternoon and did some sightseeing before heading over for dinner at the packing district area. I was looking for a nice seafood place for dinner when I shortlisted Kodbyens Fiskebar. Turned out that they are one of the bib gourmand restaurants in Copenhagen, so it further supported my choice to go all the way to the slightly out of central area zone to visit them.

By now we are more used to having dinner in bright daylight although it was already 8.30pm. The sun sets at only around 9.30pm in Copenhagen during this time of the year. Due to cold weather front approaching the region, the temperature dropped from high end of 18 degrees range to low end of 10 degrees range.  We certainly felt the drastic drop in temperature even more after we finished our meal.

Started our meal with Oyster tasting from 4 region: Papillon – Ares, Le Gall – Bretagne, St. Vaast – Normandy, Gillardeau – Marennes. The papillon are smaller and less plump, while the le gall are really briny – my least favoured. The st vaast and gillardeau were both really good, plump and succulent.

Since we are in a seafood place, we didn’t forget the chance to pair our meal with the crisp Gruner Veltliner.  

We focused our attention on the seafood dishes and ordered the Brown Crab with smoked cheese, burnt herbs, watercress, fava beans and salted green plums and seared Hake served with fried baby gem, turnip, sheep yogurt, dill, radish, courgette and wild chervil, new potatoes and lovage.

Here are the seared Scallops with peas, morels and anchovy.

Completing our meal with the Raspberry with marzipan and goats cheese.

We are certainly fans of Nordic style cooking, the dishes showcased fresh seafood and more importantly cooked healthily yet flavoursome due to the use of spices and herbs such as chives, thyme, dills etc.

Can’t wait to taste our next meal – the meal that triggered this whole trip, NOMA.

Other photos taken earlier:

We were on our way to our hotel when we passed by Nyhavn and saw a burst of sunlight casting a warm glow on the colourful townhouses. Without any hesitation, we whipped out our cameras to capture this shot.

After checking into the hotel, we took a stroll to visit “The Little Mermaid” statue and passed by the Amalienborg Palace – winter residence of the Danish Royal Family.

On our way to the restaurant, we spotted the Hans Christian Andersen statue at the City Hall Square. Interestingly the statue was looking at the Tivoli entrance which is across the street.