Today was a rainy, gray and uninspiring day at best. To cheer myself up and inject a dose on nonchalance to the day I went to have a lunch to 19glas in the Gamla Stan.
The place comes recommended, I've read some good stuff about it from a credible source. And indeed, good it is. The resonably priced lunch menu includes a martini for the very very reasonable sum of 29skr. There is a bright sliver, an elegant ray of pleasant light there is :)
The 'sage of baltimore', jounalist H.L. Mencken has, at least according to Wikipedia, called martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet". I am no man to dispute this authoritative remark. What better to please your soul and tease your appetite than a clear, sublime note of grace, delivered by the best cocktail, or at least best pre-dining cocktail, in the history. The martini could have had a bit less vermouth, but I did not let that bother me. In any case, 19glas is heading into the 'getting it right'-section of reasonably priced luncheon full and well.
Starter of the day for lunch is salmon with very nice mustard dressing. I am not fond of seafood in general, especially fish. However, salmon is something I can eat but I do that rarely. However, I cannot dispute that the fresh, nice-texture-salmon on my plate is beyond critique. Nevertheless, I do not finish the dish, but start to gear myself towards the game coming up.
The main course is a curious game of moose. Moose meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberryketchup(!). Lingonberry ketchup sounds awful, but it works quite well, in fact. The mashed potatoes could have been a bit more solid, however.
The service is good, staff friendly and food very well worth the money. A lot of extra points come in from the atmosphere, and the martini serving, which can be considered a humane, generous act. More IKEA-thinking to the restaurant business, and the world will become a wonderful place to live in.
