Fika Swedish Cafe @ Millenia Walk

 

Fika Swedish Cafe has been on my radar for quite some time as I wanted to try Swedish cuisine in places other than Ikea. Traditional dishes like the Inlagd Sill, pickled herring platter ($12.90) , usually served in Christmas, Easter with vodka can be spotted on the menu. 

 

However, that platter was not sharing-friendly because the work of splitting the tough hard rye bread can be messy. The marinated fish was as savoury as smoked salmon, but did not bind well with other ingredients (eggs, sour cream,onions and chives). Would it be better if they were served in canapés style?



Swedish Meatballs (Kid's meal size)

Since we wanted the Fika Swedish Meatballs and a dessert, the kids meal that came with a drink with the above at $15.90 sounded more economical. Portion might be smaller but sufficient. Similar to Ikea, in place of tomato gravy was creamy brown mushroom sauce that was not overly rich. The sweet lingonberry compote took the dish up a notch by balancing the meaty flavours. The meatballs have a slightly charred crust that trapped moisture within.

 
Replace the meatballs with two huge beef patties, sautéed onions and you"ll get this Beef Pannbiff $18.90. They were less greasy than Blu Kouzina's version but the substantial amount of meat became overwhelming. Best recommended for sharing. Taste is rather similar to the meatballs so it's perhaps better to order either one instead of both.

 
The Skagen Crepe $16.50 is a cold crepe that is filled with smoked salmon, shrimp and fish roe. More fillings might be good to hold up what seemed like a deflated roll. It did not have a notable taste and the mayonaise was slightly diluted.
 

The Grilled Chicken surprised us with a smoky, well-perfected boneless chicken thigh in a subtle black pepper sauce. Only quibble was the undercooked parsley potatoes which were bulky and bland.

 
The dessert, part of the kids meal is truly one of its kind. The Swedish Raspberry Cream in cold milk is a semi-molten huge dollop of raspberry jam jelly submerged in unsweetened cold milk. Instinctively, I mixed everything up like how I always played with the 80-cent cup ice cream from mama shops and transformed it into an odd but delicious pool of gooey liquid.

 
The Chokladballs, or Swedish Chocolate Balls ($5.50 for 3) are refrigerator cakes aka no-baked cakes. Made of oatmeal, sugar, coffee, cocoa, butter then rolled in coconut flakes, this has a grainy, rustic texture similar to a compact wholemeal ball.

 
All except the Skagen crepe (from Denmark) and the grilled chicken are marked as traditional swedish dish with a logo of a deer on the menu. Though not everyone will be used to Swedish food, it is fun and exciting to explore such unfamiliar cuisines as we may never know how it taste from the menu. However, the service was quite offending and harsh, a sharp contrary to the bright, inviting atmosphere.

Fika Swedish Cafe and Bistro

Millenia Walk Branch

9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-20

Menu: http://www.fikacafe.com/

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fika-Swedish-Cafe-Bistro/130309391656