Thörnströms Kök

This post is about the second 1-Michelin star restaurant Bobby and I visited in Göteborg. We had a 9 pm reservation at Thörnströms Kök. Even though we tend to eat on the late side (especially during the summer), 9 pm was a bit late for a really big meal. We therefore chose the 6 course dinner instead of the 8 course dinner (I know, I know, only 6 courses). Had we chosen the 8 course meal, I'm sure we would have been there until 3 am! As it was, we were there until nearly 1 am.
We started with a rich mushroom consumé, which I just loved! My apologies for the very yellow pictures: being so late, there was no natural light inside the restaurant  :(  Oh well, you'll still get an idea of what we ate!

The bread basket was a thing of beauty: crisp rye with fennel, brioche, rye sour dough, roasted onion bread, rye baguette, all served with fresh butter (two butters, in fact: virgin butter (meaning not handled too much, so it was still a bit sour since not all of the buttermilk was removed) and a more traditional salted butter).

The first course was salmon trout with pickled cucumber, soured potato crème, salmon roe, fennel flowers and bread crumbs. There were so many different textures and flavors! This was served with a 2012 Silvaner Kabinett Troken by Juliusspital (Germany).

The second course was our favorite of the evening, and perhaps the best course of the entire trip. This seared scallop just melted in our mouthes! It was perfectly paired with a mushroom purée, raw marinated turnips, and lovage vierge. It was absolutely brilliant. It was served with a 2011 Sequillo White by Eben Saide (South Africa).

This third course was so well prepared that I might have freaked out over my inability to cook fish this well. The breaded lemon sole was served with carrots, lemon froth (so light and tangy), and mustard marinated raw shrimp (unlike at Noma, this raw shrimp was no longer alive, thank goodness). This anxiety-inducing course was unfortunately served with what was our least favorite wine, a 1998 Champagne de Venouge (France). The champagne was served several minutes before the food was served for the purpose of letting it got a bit flat. For us, it just didn't work. The flat champagne was too metallic for this softly-nuanced fish course.

But all was forgiven when the 4th course was served. Variations of Rödkulla beef (tenderloin, sausage, and paté) were with mushrooms, onions, and a fantastic smoked vinegar jus. We were treated to a big Italian red, a 1999 Radici 'Riserva' by Mastroberardino from Taurasi. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

The 5th course was a very interestingly presented cheese dish. The hard Swedish cheese Almnäs Tegel was grated, which made it quite airy and light. Under the cheese was a plum compote, and roasted almonds and vegetable ash were sprinkled on top. Served with a nice and crisp 2011 Spätlese Risleing from Maxin Grünhäuser (Germany), we were pleasantly surprised with this dish.

And finally, the dessert. This dessert was a bit of spectacle: the server made the caramel table-side, then added the malt brioche to the caramel. A bit of cognac was added and them shwoosh, the whole thing was flambéed! Once the flames resided, the caramel and malt briche were added to a dish with lemon sorbet, honey crisp, cherry cream, and a Valrhona chocolate terrine. It was served with a Pedro Ximenez El Candado by Valdespino (Spain).

We finished the meal with some nice petit four and asked for a taxi home (all 6 glasses of wine were topped up numerous times!).

Between the two restaurants, Bobby and I both slightly prefer Kock och Vin, but only very slightly. Both restaurants were great and a good value for the cost.