Flavor

For those of you who know me in real life and for a while, most of you are surprised by how far I’ve come in my eating habits. Just a few short years ago, I hated all sorts of foods – mushrooms, fish, cheese, tomatoes, anything with skin on it, anything that still had its head attached and seemed like it was looking at me…on and on. But then my husband eventually wore me down by cooking all sorts of fabulous meals using the very ingredients I hated, and now I love all sorts of food and am 15 pounds heavier.

Flavor is a testament to how differently I feel about food now. This is the sort of meal I would have hated a few years ago. Fish – yuck! Raw fish – double yuck! Mushrooms – grotesque beyond belief.

My meal tonight included all the foods that I previously disliked, but if only I had eaten meals this majestic growing up. Then I wouldn’t have been so picky. And I would be taller today. (Milk was also much hated.)

(By the way, before I go into the full review, I would like to apologize for the poor quality of these pictures. I don’t know, I’m not as bad as I used to be, when I would get up and go to the bathroom so as not to be associated with my husband if he so much as took out the camera, but I still feel sort of silly about it even now. It’s not so bad when you’re in a crowded, well-lit restaurant that doesn’t require the flash, but Flavor is a small, cozy and dark restaurant, and every time I took a picture the room would light up. So I took these pictures very hastily and as a result none of them really do the food justice. Alas, and apologies.)

The food at Flavor is authentic Swedish cuisine, as the owners – a husband and wife couple – both lived and studied cooking there. The husband, who happens to be the head chef, is an actual bona fide Swede.

When we went tonight they were offering a special set menu, since they had just come back from a vacation in Sweden and bought back all sorts of goodies with them. Our first course was a cream of potato soup with truffle oil. It came with homemade bread seasoned with cumin, and it was quite tasty. I asked my husband just now how he would describe the soup and the bread, and he replied, “Delicious.” Well, that’s a good a description as I could have come up with, so I’ll just leave it at that.

Our next course was an appetizer of smoked salmon and toast. The smoked salmon was prepared two different ways – on the left is the smoked salmon with a mustard sauce, and on the right the smoked salmon is with honey, sour cream and dill. Yum.


Afterwards came the four entrees: cod with horseradish, chicken seasoned with thyme and wrapped in bacon, pork with a game sauce and, of course, the house specialty: Swedish meatballs. The thing I like about Flavor is that each dish feels like it’s been prepared just for you. Maybe it’s because when we go we’re usually the only patrons – though this time we weren’t – but the way everything looks so nice and perfect makes me think that the chef made it that way just for me. I don’t know, maybe that’s my megalomania speaking. But everything was cooked to perfection – the meats were all the right tenderness, the sauces complemented everything just right, and with the chicken came a little whimsical potato box. The pictures below are of the chicken wrapped in bacon and the Swedish meatballs.




Ok, now on to the best part of the meal: dessert. I wish I had the words to describe how much I love this dessert. This apple pie dessert is the best apple pie I have ever eaten in my whole entire life. Ever. It is the perfect apple pie. When I accidentally dropped a morsel off my fork, my husband and I both gasped in horror. Thankfully, it just fell onto the table, and yes, I still ate it. It’s so good I would have still eaten it if it fell onto the floor. The textures and tastes just work together so well. The crust is the exact right crispiness and the apples are soft, but not mushy, and everything is drenched in this delicious foamy cream. I know I keep saying this, but it is truly perfection. Sadly, this picture is a really horrible one and does it no justice whatsoever. Just go and try it yourself.


Flavor
http://www.flavors.com.tw/
SanMin Road, Lane 107, No. 8-3
(02) 2769-1971