A restaurant can either be defined by its food or by its atmosphere – although when things really fall into place, both are taken care of. Nosh and Chow, the Berns group’s new entertainment and hotel complex located in a townhouse on Norrlandsgatan, would at first glance fall into the atmosphere category. It has no less than three bars, one of which is in the same space as the restaurant, and since its opening in January, it has become a popular after work and Saturday hangaround for Stockholm’s young professionals in their 30s and 40s. Booking a table here is a good choice if you want to eat nicely and have a night out – as opposed to, say, having a quiet romantic dinner or a birthday celebration with mum and dad.
Both the decor and menu reflects the restaurant’s multicultural concept. Architect Lázaro Rosa-Violán, known for his cozy, rich interiors for restaurants Boca Grande and Big Fish in Barcelona, have gathered the restaurant’s different building blocks from construction sites, markets and vintage shops all around the world – the tiles in the main bar are original street tiles from Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona and the windows in the smaller entrance bar to the right are from an old pharmacy in Toulouse, for instance. The ambition has, as so often in todays hotels and restaurants, to create a space that resembles a home. The menu, presented across a large world map, is inspired by different regions (currently Peru and the Alps) and changes every few months.
Our party is seated in a corner table between the quieted dining room and the bar, which turns out to be a great location. We feel like a part of the action, but can still dine and converse without being disturbed. Following the waiter’s advice, we order a mixture of food from the two regions, kicking off with a tiradito of scallops and oysters with orange zest and salmon roe (159 kronor) and crab cakes (95 kronor). The tiradito, a dish somewhere in between sashimi and carpaccio, is fine but not the sensation its ingredients promise it to be. The crab cakes are small balls that come in a little basket and work fine as nibbles before the actual food, but are a bit dry.
We have better luck with our mains. The Peruvian steak tartar with onion, sesame seeds and coriander, served with French fries and chili dip (235 kronor) melts in the mouth and is perhaps the most memorable dish of the evening. My dinner companion goes for the grilled entrecôte with mustard and cumin flavoured butter, served with salad and French fries (315 kronor) – an interesting take on the classic entrecôte, as the meat is covered with slashes of the flavoured butter. It raises eyebrows and gets good points, although we can’t help wondering whether it might have been better with the butter served on the side.
Finishing with the Kaiserschmarrn – pancakes with raisins, grapes, egg liquer and vanilla ice cream (125 kronor) – turns out to be a good idea. The dessert, with the pancakes sliced to resemble tagliatelle, is a real treat, while our other choice, a date baklava (115 kronor), is very sweet but a little dry.
All in all, the kitchen at Nosh and Chow, at least on this evening, is a bit uneven in its performance. But upon leaving we feel uplifted, and all are agreed that there’s no need to go for another drink somewhere else. Nosh and Chow has it all.
Nosh and Chow is located on Norrlandsgatan 24. Tel: 503 389 60
