I quite enjoy eating out once in a while - be it due to a special occasion or just to avoid creating a mess in my own kitchen. I've been living in Växjö for some months now which means I've dropped by a couple of restaurants already. In general I've been VERY disappointed with the food I've been served; once I even got food that was more resemblant to prison food than restaurant food. To me that's not a very good thing. Especially not since I have to pay top dollars (or Swedish kronor in this case) for that piece of shit they dare call food. I've been more disappointed with the food at most places than I've been pleased with it. There are, however, a few exceptions. Only one is mentioned in this note, however.
*OXGRILLEN
Oxgrillen is a basic burger joint next to the cinema downtown. I had read good things about it, so naturally I was hopeful when I stepped into the place and saw their menu: their selection isn't very big, but the photos looked promising. After a mere 10 minutes it became clear to me that photos lie. At least at Oxgrillen. Yes, it is a burger joint, but they had something called "Countrysteak" on the menu, so I decided to go for it since I love steaks. I should have been skeptical due to the low price (about 65 SEK), but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. So much for hope. The steak looked more like a poor man's version of a hamburger than a steak, and tasted very fake (the little taste I could actually taste) as well. Bummer. I got a tiny, tiny bit of salat with it, but nothing fancy. In fact, I can't recall the last time I've seen such a small amount of salad served with a meal. Naturally fries were included, but for some reason the staff at Oxgrillen thinks putting a fuckload of mayonnaise on top of the fries makes it a great meal. WRONG! What the hell were they thinking? My arteries are already fighting the burger and fries, but to put up a stand against mayonnaise at the same time? No arteries are up for that task. The fries were definitely the best part of the meal, but the mayonnaise sadly screwed it up quite a bit.
Mayonnaise would have been fine it the amount was reduced severely.
3/10. MAYONNAISE HELL!
*ROYAL THAI
One of the compulsory Asian restaurants in town, situated opposite of the railway station. I know I shouldn't have done it, but their "buffet" managed to fool me. Damnit! Who would turn down a buffet with a wide variety of Asian food? If my memory serves me correctly, I had to shell out around 80 SEK for the buffet (meaning I could eat as much as I wanted). The price was acceptable, but the food was treacherous! Don't be fooled, my friends. The food was dry, tasteless and didn't make me want to come back. I enjoyed the first spoonfuls, but I guess my taste buds woke up quite fast! At a buffet you want to eat as much as possible due to the simple fact that it's free, but it proved a hard task at Royal Thai due to a horrendous selection of tasteless junk. I started feeling slightly nauseous after finishing my first plate which naturally resulted in me not eating much more. In fact, I haven't been to a buffet ever since and now I'm very skeptical about any Asian buffets. I've been disappointed before.
2/10. DON'T DO IT!
*LA GONDOLA
This "restaurant" is situated next to Oxgrillen downtown. When it comes to apperance, it doesn't look like much. In fact, it looks like the kind of restaurant you would find in the old Soviet 20 years ago, but my friends and I decided to give it a shot. This time I was actually hopeful due to the fact that a normal meal costed around 120 SEK (sort of expensive). I thought that high price equals good quality. Appearently not. A high price at La Gondola means nothing else than that they're ripping you off. I ordered a schnitzel and potatoes. Doesn't sound like much, and it didn't look like much either! When it comes to esthetics, this meal was definitely the ugliest looking piece of shit I've seen in a while. Burned potatoes and a burned schnitzel for 120 (?) SEK. Are you fucking kidding me? I was very disappointed in the meal - it was barely edible, but I forced it down my throat anyway (as best as I could). At this point I felt I had to voice my opinion about the food. I had actually hoped for feedback sheets where you rate the food and service by using different smileyfaces where ":)" means good and ":(" means utter crap. Unfortunately La Gondola didn't have these, so I had to give oral feedback to our waitress. I told her straight that the food was quite bad and asked if I could get a discount. She didn't really reply, but I'm pretty sure I could see a small frown on her face. I didn't get a discount either. In retrospect I feel kind of bad about complaining to her and not the chef, but at the same time I was honest and didn't just keep shut and accept that piece of rubbish they call food.
1/10. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
*MAIDO
Maido is a cosy sushi restaurant (they do sell a few other dishes as well) in downtown Växjö. It's close to Åhlens, but not necessarily that easy to find. If you like sushi, you should use a map to find the place if you have to. It's a hidden gem. I'm not a big sushi fan, but I've eaten it a few times during my life and I enjoy it now and then. Thanks to Maido I'm now a bigger sushi fan than I was before; the sushi tasted great, service was good and the place looks charming too. They definitely use fresh ingredients! I could taste it. A sushi meal costs around 80-140 SEK (depending on what you want, of course), and it's well worth the money. I've been there twice with my friends and girlfriend and I have yet to hear a complaint about the food there. Just writing about it makes me want to go back there.
10/10. TRY IT!
That's all for now as I'm getting slightly tired. Maybe I'll post some more reviews later. ;)
