Eating Out: Madsen

Reviewing restaurants isn't normally my thing, but this time I thought I'd give it a go as I was pleased with my experience.

I had been intending to try out Madsen's for quite sometime and as I was enjoying a day out in London's South Kensington, visiting the Natural History Museum, what a perfect opportunity to do so.

Sitting on the Old Brompton Road, just around the corner from the tube station, it is ideally located to make a date for lunch after trekking around the museums.

Our heads were now full of dinosaurs and other natural wonders, but our stomachs were very empty and need of sustenance as well as enjoyment. Madsen's Danish menu didn't fail to fulfill both.

We hadn't booked, but that was no problem and a table for two in the window was given to us.

The interior is typically scandinavian – clean lines, wooden floors and white walls giving a feeling of airiness and space.

The lunch menu has a varied selection of 'smushi' – small open sandwiches with toppings including marinated herring, prawns, or roast beef and other Danish specialities such as “Fiskefrikadeller” – pan-fried haddock fishcakes.

We opted for the weekly special of Frikadeller (pork meatballs) with braised red cabbage and gravy. This was accompanied with new potatoes dressed in butter and thyme, which were delightfully presented, all wrapped up in a parchment bag tied with string.

The meatballs were light and nicely seasoned with a crispy outside and the cabbage was perfectly cooked, not too soft nor too crunchy with a delicate sweetness.

Madsen's food doesn't try to pretend to be high-end and 'restauranty' and that in my opinion is what makes it appealing to me. Good honest food prepared and presented well is something I feel comfortable with.

Speaking of comfort, the service was friendly and attentive without being intrusive and we left feeling refreshed and relaxed.

I shall be keeping an eye on their weekly changing specials as I would definitely return when I'm in the area again.

madsenrestaurant.com

Photo source: Madsen website

Cloudberry Vinegar

I'm always on the look out for some new ingredient to try, no matter how small a part it plays in a recipe. My latest find was some cloudberry vinegar which I discovered in IKEA's food section. When in flatpack furniture land, I make it my ritual to peruse the shelves for Scandinavian food, just before I leave the store.

The vinegar is genuine Swedish stuff and is made from cloudberry wine. Perhaps I should try to describe what cloudberries are as I'm not sure whether many people are familiar with them.

A relative of the blackberry bramble and the raspberry. It is a small herbaceous plant, with hairs rather than prickles on its stems and produces large white flowers that later develop into orange-coloured fruit when ripe. It's botanical name is Rubus chamaemorus and it grows primarily in the northern hemisphere.

I could go into lots of detail, but I think if you'd like to know more, then you should have a look on wikipedia.

Anyway, back to the vinegar. Unlike raspberry vinegar which is usually infused with the fruit after the vinegar has been made, this starts out as a wine made from cloudberries.

I tried a little spoonful to check on it's taste and acidity before using in a salad dressing. The vinegar has a definite wine flavour, is not too acidic and the scent of the cloudberries is evident.

The flavour isn't so overpowering as a raspberry vinegar so I can see that it would lend itself to a wider variety of uses.

I  don't think £3.75 for 200ml is too high a price to pay for something that is of high quality and so refined in flavour. A little goes a long way too.

One thing I've learnt, is to never buy cheap wine vinegar again.

To find out more about the vinegar's producers visit: grythyttanvin.se
Cloudberry image from wikipedia