Pelikan

Occasion: Our first Swedish dinner!
Location: Pelikan on Blekingegatan in the Södermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden - nearest T-bana stops are Medborgarplatsen and Skanstull (pelikan.se)
Edibles: salmon sampler to start, then we shared the Swedish meatballs and the pork knuckle - fläsklägg!! [It became my rallying cry for the rest of the trip.]

Musings: Bourdain had dinner here when he was in Stockholm, so we figured it was a safe bet. It's a pretty popular place and we had to wait about half an hour for a table. We sat outside with a beer and had some fun with a toy Papa Smurf that I'd gotten with my Happy Meal at JFK. You know, as you do.

By the way, I should note that it's extremely expensive to drink in Sweden. Our drafts were about $13. Each. [Postscript: At some point in our trip, I asked a local how Swedes can afford to get drunk. Apparently, it involves some serious pre-gaming.]

By the time we made it inside, we were pretty hungry. We started out with the salmon sampler, which featured three preparations - poached, smoked (almost like salmon jerky) and cured, with tartar sauce and pickled cucumbers. I liked the cured the best, but my only real complaint about the dish is that it wasn't bigger.

The mains were a split. Yining and I both found the Swedish meatballs pretty dry and flavorless, even with the gravy and lingonberry sauce.

The pork knuckle, on the other hand, was freaking fantastic. Really flavorful and cooked to a turn. It was served with some really pungent mustard and sauerkraut on the side. Really excellent. Fläsklägg!!