During the last month of the year every company, school, sports club or group of friends attends Christmas party (Julebord). Usually they book a table in one of the restaurants and eat, drink, chat, hold long speeches while some may go out clubbing after. Anything is possible.
Both Debeli and I had company Christmas party but we also had our own Julebord. At the newly opened Polish restaurant that serves homemade food in a homemade atmosphere.
I booked a table online but something went wrong because the booking never came through. Nevertheless, after a short wait, we were seated by the kind waitress. It was Sunday evening, late lunch, so the restaurant was quite busy. There’s around 50 sitting places and there were three waitresses. Although the kitchen has an opening you can not see entire kitchen staff.
Since the restaurant has an online menu I already knew what we were going to eat. The only thing was, they run out my first option for the first meal; beetroot soup, so Debeli went with thick mushroom soup with lazanki and I ordered chopped beef tartare with sardines.
The soup was good; thick, creamy, full of flavor, and served with piece of bread and crunchy lazanki. Lazanki is a type of pasta made of stiff wheat, rye or buckwheat dough, rolled thin and cut into triangles or rectangles. These are, then, boiled, drained, and eaten with melted pork fat, vegetable oil or sour cream.
My beef tartare was pure perfection. Although I didn’t taste the sardines, and Debeli was craving salt, I thought it was very good. Finely chopped meat in combination with soft boiled egg and toasted bread was a pleasant surprise. Oh, yes, and I also got a couple of pieces of lazanki.
A small intermezzo between the appetizers and the main dish were dumplings (pierogi) filled with combination of potatoes and white cheese. Pierogis are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling, cooked in boiling water. Nothing special and spectacular, but very very good.
The main dishes, chicken de volaille and baked pork loin, were a trip down the memory lane called home. Really, it was like my mum has just cooked for us. Fantastic!
Chicken de volaille are basicaly filled fried chicken breast that were served with mash potatoes, carrot and peas. Simple yet delicious.
I went for baked pork loin with smoked plum, dark sauce, gnocchi and beetroot puree.
Small digression; ever since moving here we stopped eating so much pork meat so I was really looking forward to this meal specially because it reminded me of dalmatian pasticada that I adore. The meat was very soft and the sweet and sour combination of meat, plums and beetroot with well cooked gnocchi was fantastic.
We had Monile Valpolicella Ropasso (Debeli) and Mastia Soave wine (me) with the main course. The red/white selection of wines is what we usually go for, since I prefer lighter drinkable tastes while Debeli always goes for full bodied dark wines.
After the main course there was enough room left for a dessert. Apple pie with vanilla ice cream was simple, just like my mum baked it for Sunday lunch. Crumble but juicy apple pie sprinkled with powdered sugar and a scoop of ice cream was a ”cherry on top” of our Julebord.
U’mamy definitely justified his target: home atmosphere (restaurant has some 50 sitting places), home service (the waitresses and cooks are all of Polish origin) and home made food both in its appearance and taste. There is only fifteen meals on the menu and if the crew continues with this modest, simple concept together with seasonal change in the menu we predict them a long future. Still, the Polish community is one of the most numerous in Oslo.
https://www.umamyoslo.com/
BOŽIĆNI DOMJENAK
Uredske božićne zabave (Julebord) u Norveškoj nešto su drugačije nego u Hrvatskoj, ali rezultat je isti. Uglavnom, umjesto zakuske u 12h na Badnjak, ovdje ekipa s kolegama s posla, mamama iz vrtića i/ili prijateljima s treninga, ode na večeru u neki od brojnih restorana u gradu. Iako se gosti ne ograničavaju što se tiče vrste kuhinje/jela, dio njih prakticira tipičnu norvešku hranu, poput lutefiska koji se servira s kuhanim krumpirima, pireom od graška, senf umakom i prženom slaninom.
Lutefisk se dopiva potapanjem sušenog bakalara u lužnatu otopinu. Riblji proteini, pri ovoj kemijskoj reakciji, reagiraju i rezultat je želatinasta struktura ribe koja, meni osobno, nije najfinija stvar na svijetu. Probala sam, ali da ću se dogodine trgati da opet jedem, ne hvala.
Ali zato bih se mogla potrgati da ponovo posjetimo poljski restoran u kojem smo nas dvoje imali svoj Julebord.
U’Mamy se tek nedavno otvorio, a na svojoj internet stranici tvrde da su jedini istočno europski restoran u Oslu u kojem možete kušati poljsku hranu i domaću atmosferu. Uostalom samo ime restorana u prijevodu znači ‘’u majci’’.
U restoran smo se namjerili jedne lijene nedjelje predvečer, a bez obzira što je došlo do nekog nesporazuma s našim rezervacijama, ljubazno osoblje nas je uspjelo smjestiti za jedan stol.
Obzirom da sam ja kontrol frik, unaprijed sam pronjuškala po meniju i odlučila što ćemo jesti. Desilo se jedino da taj dan nisu imali juhu od cikle, pa je Debeli dobio krem juhu od gljiva sa lazanki tjesteninom, a ja sam uzela goveđi tatarski sa sardinama.
Juha od gljiva bila je fina, gusta i punog okusa, dok su lazanki bili nekakvo zanimljivo otkriće. Naime, radi se o vrsti tjestenine koja se priprema od pšeničnog, raženog ili heljdinog brašna. Smjesa se tanko razvalja i reže na trokute, kuha i cijedi/suši da bi se potom jelo začinilo otopljenom svinjskom masti, biljnim uljem ili kiselim vrhnjem. Komadići lazankija u juhi bili su tanki sušeni rezanci koji su dali hrskavu notu cijelom jelu.
Iako sardine u tatarskom bifteku nisu došle do izražaja, a Debelom je falilo i soli, ja sam bila prezadovoljna. Sitno sjeckano meso, u kombinaciji s tostiranim kruhom i mekano kuhanim žumanjkom koje se razlijevalo po tanjuru bilo je božanstveno.
Mali intermezzo između predjela i glavnog jela bile su kuhane okruglice s krumpirom i svježim sirom, tzv. pierogi. Radi se o običnom kuhanom punjenom tjestenina, nešto kao tortelini. Ništa posebno i spektakularno, ali jako fino.
Ali zato su glavna jela bila, kao doma. Al’ stvarno. Debeli je jeo piletinu de volaille, što je fensi naziv za punjene pohane pileće cicke, s pire krumpirom, kuhanom mrkvicom, graškom i koprom koji se pokazao kao lajt motiv te večeri. Jeli smo ga i na okruglicama 🙂
Ja sam se odlučila za svinjetinu punjenu suhim šljivama, njokima, tamnim umakom od pečenja i pireom od cikle. Mala digresija; od kako smo doselili u Oslo, ne jedemo toliko svinjetine (kako Turci drže halal mesnice onda uglavnom tamanimo govedinu i piletinu) i priznat ću da sam se baš zaželjela gicetine, a ova kombinacija koja podsjeća na našu dalmatinsku pašticadu je bila fantastična. Meso mekano, šljive koje obožavam, cikla koja je zdrava, aman-taman skuhani njoki…odlično!
Uz glavno jelo pili smo Monile Valpolicella Ropasso (Debeli) i Mastia Soave (ja) koja su bila jedina vina na čaše. Inače, najčešće se odlučimo za obje vrste vina, s tim da ja naginjem redovito bijelom jer mi je lakše i pitkije dok Debeli voli srknut crna vina punijeg okusa.
Nakon polizanih tanjura, mjesta je ostalo taman za podijeliti pitu od jabuka sa sladoledom od vanilije koja je zaokružila cijeli naš Julebord, ali ne samo izgledom i okusom već onim što predstavlja; jednostavni, domaći kolač. Takav je i bio. Kao da ga je mama jutros ispekla za nedjeljni ručak; prhki kolač sa sočnim jabukama, posut šećerom u prahu i apgrejdan sladoledom. Domaćije (nova hrvatska riječ 🙂 od toga ne ide).
A takav je u konačnosti i cilj samog restorana; pružiti domaću atmosferu (restoran ima nekih 50ak sjedećih mjesta), domaću poslugu (konobarice i kuhari su uglavnom Poljaci), domaću hranu u izgledu i izvedbi. Na meniju je sve skupa petnaest jela i ako ekipa nastavi s ovakvim nepretencioznim i jednostavnim konceptom, uz sezonsku promjenu menija, predviđam im dugu budućnost. Ipak je poljska zajednica u Oslu jedna od najbrojnijih.
https://www.umamyoslo.com/
