Qype: Blå Dörren in Stockholm

Stockholm - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Swedish


The setting is excellent. Old world vaulted ceilings that give the decor a real traditional feel. After being seated, I highly recommend kicking things off with:
Pickled Herring Starter Plater (the wait staff will even provide step-by-step instructions on how to consume this array of cracker-bread, fish, onions, chives, sour-cream, cheese and potato. Trust me on this one... its is so good you will want to slap your mamma with a fish. Also they make their own "moonshine liquor" called "snaps"... good digestive to help the... well... digestion.

The food is very seasonal. We had late-winter fare including a lobster soup (get the small one... trust me on this) and veal meat-balls in savory gravy, with whipped potatoes, cranberries and a nice cucumber salad. Over all I would say wonderful food... and a lot of it (we had to roll out of our chairs) -- all at a very reasonable price for Stockholm.

Staff was very friendly, atmosphere cozy yet traditional and the food was exactly what we had hoped for. Only negative is they seemed to have a very crazy unisex bathroom system--but that could have just been one used for over-stuffed land whales that can no longer walk down stairs.

In summery: if you are in the mood for some right-proper Swedish fair a stones throw from the Slussen station: this is the place!

Check out my review of Blå Dörren - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Uebel und Gefährlich in Hamburg

Hamburg - Nightlife - Clubs - Nightlife - Music Venues


Just to preface this review: After TWO HOURS of fighting the undulating human mass at the front door--I called it quits. So this is more a review of the insane entry process.

It is bad. Very, very bad. You know those video images of the subways of china where the trains are so packed they hire official Shovers to shoehorn more people in? Yeah, that bad.

The reason I did not spend the last 15 minutes continuing to fight my way past the asinine entry process, pay my 12 Euros and join 7-9 other suckers in the cargo elevator ride to the top is simply this: If an establishment cant get there crap together enough to manage a crowd of happy drunks that just want to get in and dance--how well are they going to handle an emergency exit? What an f'in joke.

But if you do want to brave the moronic method of entry, here is a tip: The "Lines" are left and right. Right is for "Guest List" but once beyond the crashing waves of people... everyone just jumped over to "Abend Kasse". So GO LEFT!

P.S. To the bouncer dude on the right that keep shining your mini mag light in everyones eyes and yelling and everyone to MOVE BACK or no one gets in. You should really think about cutting back on the heavy drugs. It is affecting your mental abilities.

Check out my review of Uebel und Gefährlich - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Petit Saigon in Zürich

Zuerich - Eating & Drinking - Fastfood & Takeaway


After seriously jonesing for Phô the great part of the day, I did some research and came across Petit Saigon. I spent the hour getting into Zürich missing trains and walking around aimlessly until I found the place--but it was totally worth it.

For 23 CHF I got a nice bowl of Phô and Feldschlösschen Beer. Rather expensive, but normal for Zürich. And with the desperate need to feed my Phô monkey, I would have paid black market kidney prices without complaint.

The service was friendly, highly styled and... well, was surprised not to find a surprise karaoke bar tucked away in the rear.

The actual joint is quite small and cozy. Asian um-um-umbrellas and beautiful Non Quai Thao and Non La hats hang from the rafters. There must be an interior decorator on staff.

So, you are in Zürich and are looking for Phô? This is the place.

Check out my review of Petit Saigon - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Widder Bar in Zürich

Zuerich - Eating & Drinking - Pubs & Bars - Bars


This cocktail bar came highly recommend by one of the best professional bartenders I have every ordered a drink from. My name is Baden, I am a professional drinker, here is my review.

No one "stumbles into" a place like this. It is sequestered under Hotel Widder, and has a very back-room speak-easy feel. My drinking companion and I where directed to a corner table... the perfect hidden lookout position for clandestine plans of taking over the world. The point here is that this place has a very private-yet approachable vibe going on.

The bar is extremely well supplied, and the wait staff simply top drawer. One goes here to drink with class and style--so plan on ordering and paying for premium cocktails.

At this writing, Widder Bar, could be considered the ultimate destination for cocktail consumption in Zürich. Highly recommended.

Check out my review of Widder Bar - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Nakombi in São Paulo

Sao Paulo


I was amazed at both the quality and price of Brazilian Sushi in general. Nakombi is no exception on quality, but here you pay for the atmosphere.

The decor is lounge deluxe, the center piece being the sushi bar itself: a converted 1960's WV window Bus (Kombi). The rest of the restaurant features a in-house stream, wooden bridges, lush greenery and an upstairs balcony.

In Brazil it goes with out saying that attention is given to music and wait staff attractiveness. Hell, even the menus postcards have a noticeable "hotness" factor.

Food: You like Sushi? Eat here.
Price: Dude, it's Brazil... but still, higher priced relative to other sushi options in SP.

Check out my review of Nakombi - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: West 36 in Wetzikon ZH

Wetzikon ZH


Wetzikon, Ah... Wetzikon. Not exactly a culinary center. But today I was more than pleasantly surprised by a small restaurant that occupies what looks to once have been a train depot.

West 36 offers not more than 5 dishes each day. The food leans heavily in the direction of Italian, but with a zesty Swiss Twist. If you are scouting out a great lunch spot in Wetzikon (and, honestly what are the chances of that?) I highly recommend you check out West 36.

The service was attractive, friendly and attentive. Prices where reasonable (22.50 CHF for a salad, pasta dish (wow, was it good) and beverage. Parking looked to be tight, so try and arrive a bit early to beat the rush. Also, I recommend reserving a table, as it was packed when we left.

Check out my review of West 36 - I am baden - on Qype

Helsinkiklub in Zürich, Switzerland

Visited Helsinkiklub last night and was very, very impressed. First, it is a real bar. None of that over expensive, übershiek crap here—so sir, this is a drinkers bar.

When I visited they had a great life free-style hip-hop, show put on by two guys from Berlin. The show was top-notch, the sound great, and the crowd was well mixed and hopping. Strange to watching live hip-hop and even have one brother representing the black man, but whatever.

Since there was a live show, there was a 14 SFr. cover which I though was worth every cent. Drink prices where also quite reasonable, costing 6ish Sfr. for mixed drinks and wine.

The people working there where very laid back and friendly. Worth noting here is when you order vodka, they will not understand you unless you pronounce it vood-ka, but maybe they where just giving the foreigner some shit. :)

The location is stumbling distance from the Hardbrüke station, nice to know when it is pissing rain. Over all I highly recommend Helsinki as a drinking and live music venue.

Bruetten

Good place for American grub with a nice roadhouse feel. All you can eat Sunday Brunch from 10:30am until 2:00pm that more than covers the basic brunch items. While eating you may notice the non-stop country music. Not sure how the burgers are, but I will return to find out.
Check out my review of Stars & Stripes - I am baden - on Qype

Hamburg - Eating & Drinking - Cafes & Coffee Shops - Ice Cream Parlours

Super-duper ice cream scooper. This little corner ice cream parlor has a small but very tasty selection of top notch ice cream. One of the best in Hamburg that I have tasted.
Check out my review of Cherie's Eisladen - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Café de Barron in Arnhem

Arnhem

Excellent bar for live music, tasty beer and cocktails. Beautiful, friendly people a-plenty, and you you can munch on peanuts, throwing the shells on the floor. I have never been disappointed with a night out in Arnhem that included a visit to de Barron.
Check out my review of Café de Barron - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Luba Luft in Hamburg

Hamburg - Pubs & Bars - Bars - Cocktail Bars

Hard to add what has not already been said... right down to the 'aLii-told-me-so' part... but I'll throw in my two cents.

HOW CAN I HAVE LIVED IN ST. PAULI 1 YEAR AND ONLY NOW VISIT LUBA LUFT?!

I mean really. You walk into the joint, and BAM... it's like a drinkers version of the Moon Lounge from 2001. All 70's orange and rounded corners and sphere-things in plentiful abundance. Behind the bar... some bottles even a drinker's drinker may not recognize.

Seating falls into three basic categories: Old and obviously comfortable, modern and surprising comfortable and über-cool retro egg-glass chair-like things that are more for decor than a body.

Before ordering, came a (get this) White Russian _shot_. Maybe it's just my inner Dude here, but I just love it when a German bar not only has Kahlúa... but knows how to mix it with vodka and a dairy product.

My recommendation for this kind of place is to put your drink order in the hands of the professionals that take it. I had the distinct feeling that there is a good reason the drink menus look like they are meant to be ignored.
Check out my review of Luba Luft - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: A Secret Bar in Hamburg

Hamburg - Virtual Places

After the afore mentioned cocktail, in this place that I shall simply call 'heaven'... came what can only be described as a near religious experience.

The Dude is dead.
Long live the Gentledude.
Check out my review of A Secret Bar - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Lunchroom in Hamburg

Hamburg

Basically it's like this. Take a typical old-school st. pauli knipe, strip it, wash it, sand it down, then bring it back to all it's 1953 glory.

The Lunchroom serves the early morning crowd amazingly good coffee and breakfast-on-a-Brötchen. Lunchtime is a daily special and the usual items. Even pizzas are available until late (2 a.m!).

The place has that squeaky new tennis shoe feel--but that won't last long. Stop in for the coffee and you will not be disappointed.
Check out my review of Lunchroom - I am baden - on Qype

Coffee in St. Pauli

Stumbling home the other night I passed a newly opened cafè. Even in St. Pauli with it's 24 hour party people, you can not find a good cup of coffee until 8 at the earliest. So I stepped in. The owner had just arrived and was warming some kind steam powered coffee machine from Germany's war years.

I asked for a good cup of coffee and was told that If I could wait a few minutes he will make me the best cup of coffee you can drink in St. Pauli. This was a sobering statement, as good coffee can be found in St. Pauli--so I pressed him and he replied:

"...if you can find a better cup of coffee than what you are about to drink, I will give you 100 free cups."

Game on. Over then next 2 weeks I will hunt down the best cup of coffee in St. Pauli. Since ordering coffee in many places has it's own vernacular, this test will be limited to what ever the fruity hipster Barista delivers when ordering "you best cup of coffee, please".

Qype: Pho Vietnam in Hamburg

Hamburg

Located where Hanoi was, this newly opened Phở House is the real-deal. Perfect Phở and they even had traditional drip-coffee with condensed milk that you can pour over ice.

What I really appreciated most about Phở Vietnam is that they did not also offer 'Thai', 'Chinese' or (heaven forbid) 'Italian'. It is what it is... and after my first trip, I say it's damn good at that.
Check out my review of Pho Vietnam - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Salam City in Hamburg

Hamburg - Restaurants - Take Away - Falafel

Wonderful place for a lunch-time flaffle wrapped in a flat pita. For 3€ you get a super tasty mid-eastern alternative to the typical Turkish Pizza, and everything you see is being made fresh in front of your face. And if you choose to hang out a bit, expect a 'shot' of tee as is the tradition.

This is very much a quick-bite-to-eat place, but even so, the decor has been put together with a kind of thoughtful care that exudes simple, tasteful pride. Lunch time crowd is quite diverse: from stuffed business suits to mid-day shoppers that strayed a bit off the Mönckebergstraße strip.

Try this place once, and it won't be the first time for long!

Check out my review of Salam City - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: hollywood canteen in Hamburg

Hamburg - Restaurants - Fast Food & American

Ugh. I am writing this with not one but two belly bombers anchoring me down. Four visits is enough, never again. This last time was a remarkably horrid experience.

This week there was a huge sign out front 'buy one get one free'. The deal seemed pretty clear, so despite my other three mediocre visits, The Mexican and I opted for yet another Hollywood Hamburg adventure.

Gripe #1: Buy one get one free comes with more strings than 80's pop music. The free burger was for me and only me. I could not share my free burger with The Mexican. Also, I could not bring said 'free' burger home with me. Ok, ok... this was just some gimmick to get me in the door (a ploy that this burger joint seems to rely on heavily), but I really felt as if I had been tricked.

Gripe #2: The battle ax behind the counter was... unfriendly to put it mildly. But to be fair, on other nights the service has been friendly, cute university chicks... no complaints there.

Gripe #3: 1950's Oldie Rock playing nonstop. I believe they have one CD on infinity loop. I realize that they don't make any more 1950's "I'm just a lonely teenager now that my poodle skirt girl died on dead mans curve while drag racing my hotrod" - and there are good reasons. After 3 songs it's a true BEATING.

Gripe #4: Bland, soggy hamburgers. Bland, soggy chicken burgers. Bland, soggy hot-dogs. Stale, day-old buns that, when removed, beg the classic question: where's the beef?!

Gripe #5: Stupid, embarrassing names for the menu items. Yes, they got away with this in Pulp Fiction's Jack Rabbit Slims... but they also had slot cars, a midget page and a memorable dance scene. I mean come on! Ducky Don Carlos my <euphemism>donkey</euphemism>.

So to sum up: we where tricked, beat about the head and shoulders by Nurse Ratchet, subjected to torturous bad flash-back music and lost any remaining dignity by having to order 'pun'ny named sup-par burgers.

But hey, you know, that's just, like, my opinion, dude...

Check out my review of hollywood canteen - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Eiscafé Veneziana in Hamburg

Hamburg - Cafes & Coffee Shops - Ice Cream Parlours

Very much Italian ran... and very, very good.

Although you sit inside, most of summertime business happens just off the sidewalk. I have even watched a dude ride up to the counter on his bike, order, pay and leave--all without bothering to dismount.

Overall, if you happen to be in the area--and are jonesing with the 'you scream I screams'--by all means stop, walk or roll in for a cone! But, if are on a quest for the 'Best in Hamburg', Eiscafé Veneziana will at least make the short list.

Check out my review of Eiscafé Veneziana - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Cafe Absurd in Hamburg

Hamburg - Cafes & Coffee Shops - Cafes

I often choose Café Absurd when I need a central, neutral place to meet for coffee. Outside of coffee and it's many derivatives, Absurd also offers beer, wine and a pretty decent sandwich menu.

When the weather is nice, you can sit outside on the pick-a-nick tables--and when it's not, you have cushy chairs and sofas inside. Also WLAN and a smokers area for you that do.

The wait staff are true St. Pauli... nice and cool. They always bring a side-shot of water with your coffee, and they always offer a chocolatey-marshmellowly-pillow-on-a-wafer thing. A nice touch that I have only experienced here.

The music is as eclectic as the staff. I have heard a wide range of chill standards, funky soul and german indie rock.

Check out my review of Cafe Absurd - I am baden - on Qype

Qype: Große Freiheit 36 in Hamburg

Hamburg - Nightlife - Clubs - Nightlife - Music Venues

Große Freiheit 36 is actually a pretty sweet place to see a gig. It's roomy, but still small enough to hint at being intimate. There is a very large balcony that sweeps around three sides of the venue so if are a wee person, or happen to be bringing a wee one as your date, you've got options.

The acoustics are surprisingly quite good. I saw a rock/acoustic performance and my ears left happy.

The drinks where as expected: very weak and very expensive. I paid €9 for two waters and a shot of Pernod. The 'shot' came in a laughably small thimble. I mean, seriously... it looked it should have been served on the table of the 'tequila shooting frogs'. Solution: get lit out front before the show... it's Große Freiheit after all, no lack of things to see, wink-wink, nudge-nudge...

Check out my review of Große Freiheit 36 - I am baden - on Qype