When asked where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner, Mirinda didn’t hesitate. Mathias Dahlgren’s Matbaren at the Grand Hotel, she said. And, so, I booked it, made sure we’d be sitting on red chairs and, this evening, we set off on bus and ferry.
We had a rather rushed dinner at Matbaren back on January 28, the night we went to see Sweeney Todd. Which was why we were rushed. We were determined that things would be different tonight. And they were.
We arrived at the Grand Hotel with enough time for a lovely chat with the woman who looks after people’s coats and hats, Leena. I was talking to her while Mirinda was in the loo. Turns out, she thought I was Swedish. She was convinced that I was speaking Swedish to her when we were both speaking English. Mirinda, when she joined us, informed her that she was 4% Swedish. So that cleared something up.
Leena was a self professed busy body and wanted to know everything about us so we told her our story. She was intrigued. When we said we’d love to live in Trosa, she almost swooned with joy. Her opinion of Trosa appears to be the same as ours.
This is our second encounter with staff at the Grand hotel and I have to say, both encounters been extremely pleasant.
We’ve heard lots of people say that the Swedish are aloof and standoffish but, generally, our experience has been altogether different. Like Leena, almost all the Swedes we’ve talked to, for any length of time, have been pleasant, helpful and genuinely delightful.
And so it was with all the staff at Matbaren. I guess they need to be as it’s probably part of the job description but, even so, they do take teasing very well.
All of this meant we had a fantastic Mirinda birthday dinner as plate after plate arrived and was devoured. And, given we weren’t driving anywhere, Mirinda was able to celebrate properly with a few gallons of wine and a Moscow mule. Not at the same time, I hasten to add.
Everything was wonderful though I was a bit surprised at the low price for a bottle of Chablis. I eventually worked out it was a per glass price. I was then surprised at the high price for a glass of Chablis. Strange how these things happen.
The food at Matbaren is incredibly inventive. Obviously, I had to try the mozzarella sorbet which, I thought, was spoiled by the addition of sweetened raspberries. I’m afraid, my taste buds didn’t agree that they were sweetened. It was the Frensham lemon tart experience all over again. Still, the mozzarella sorbet was interesting.
The trip back to the house was long and involved a number of buses. I did make a tactical error, getting off a 176 a stop early, which meant an unnecessary 16 minute wait but, otherwise, the trip was okay.
So, all in all, a lovely birthday dinner.
Mirinda reckons there are lots of photographs of her raising a glass in some restaurant or other on this blog. I think she’s probably right. And, so what, I say.
