What is it ?  –  A superstar of the restaurant scene and the go to destination choice of most Chefs. 3 Michelin stars and currently number 21 on the Worlds best restaurant list 2019.

What`s Cooking ?  A Nordic influenced seasonal menu with an Asian twist. Complex and very beautiful small plates of food using luxury ingredients on a multiple course menu.

Who`s Cooking ? –  Chef Bjorn Frantzen

What should I expect ?  A guided and well rehearsed tour/show ……..with food included.

Must Order dish –  There is only the one choice and that`s the Tasting menu (approximately 15 or so seasonal courses)

What will it cost me ? –  Ohhhh dear, the BIG question….Brace yourselves for this. The Menu is 3500 kr (£279 or $367) The Wine package is 2250 kr ( £180 or $236) The Non Alcoholic drinks pairing is 1050 kr (£84 or $110)… try and justify that. All in all I would advise to prepare for a £1000+ ($1316) bill for 2 people for dinner with Wine.

My thoughts ? – There`s no doubt about it , an experience at Frantzen is definitely a memorable one. The food was really good and probably well worthy of its 3 star status however there was still areas to address with the food (in my humble opinion). Not all of the combinations worked together for example the Chawanmushi course had too many contrasting and powerful flavours which just served to totally confuse my palate. The Lamb course was beautiful and so much time and effort had been taken to source , prepare and cook the Lamb to absolute perfection. This was then accompanied by a fiery Chilli Nduja paste which resulted in all the lovely aromas and flavours of the Lamb being completely masked by the heat and dominance of the Chilli. …it just didn`t belong on the Menu. Chef added a sweet Lavender Honey to the Butter which was then served with the Lamb which served no purpose , I just couldn`t understand the connection.

What`s the Atmosphere like ? – Really interesting. The business takes up 3 floors and the dining experience covers all of those throughout the duration of the meal. Our dinner took 6 hours so be prepared for the long haul. Background music played quite loudly throughout the meal and at times was quite distracting. Music ranged from Bon Jovi (sweet child of mine) to Punk Rock to “The Egyptian Reggae” by The Modern Lovers.

What`s good ?  – The Service is perfection and extremely friendly

Any Negatives ? –  Apart from the ridiculous prices and a few menu hiccups , nothing. It`s a big building spread over multiple levels , the décor is no expense spared. The restaurant only seats 25 diners so there seems to be a lot more staff than customers. The ingredients are sourced from all over the World and are the best of the best. The Tax system in Sweden can go up to 60% and along with the high staff and food overheads I can understand the high cost to the customer to experience a meal at Frantzen.

Would I return ? –  I really enjoyed it but I won`t return as it`s simply too expensive.

Restaurant Address –  Klara Norra kyrkogata 26, 111 22 Stockholm, Sweden  Phone – +46 8 20 85 80  Website – restaurantfrantzen.com

Check out – Prawns as big as an Arm.

En- route from the Lounge to the Restaurant the guests are shown the box of delights that will make up their dinner during their visit.

The first course arrives whilst looking over the menu – Spiced Swedish Cheese Cracker

Cheese crustade , Crustacean , Dill and Aspic.

Black Tea Macaron , Whipped Foie Gras , Pumpkin and Sudachi condiment.

“Raraka”

Enoki Tartlet, Shiro Kombu and Myoga.

Up into the restaurant and dinner begins with Crudo – Aged Hiramasa , Fermented Plum , Shiso , Green Almonds and Coriander Blossom.

Norwegian Langoustine , Crispy Rice (Koshihikari) and emulsion of Galangal & Matsutake.

Our  view  of  the  action

Chawanmushi , Cauliflower , grilled Eel , aged Pork Broth and Ginger oil.

Cod , Frantzen “prestige” Caviar , Sake , Whey , Razor Clams and Sprouted Walnuts. This was one of the highlights of the meal , perfection.

King Crab , Uni (sea urchin) “X.O.” , finger Lime , Pine and Chrysanthemum. Once again , something as delicately flavoured as the King Crab was overpowered by the robust and dominant flavours of the powerful X.O sauce.

French Toast “grand tradition 2008” , Black Truffle , 20 year old aged Balsamic Vinegar aged on Juniper wood and a Grana Padano Parmesan Cream. I had looked forward to this course for weeks and it didn`t fail to disappoint.

Onion , Liquorice and Almond – 3 ingredients and an absolute star dish….WOW.

Autumn Lamb , Roasted Pine Nut “peaso” , fermented Kampot Pepper and Strawberry Vierge.

To accompany the Lamb dish we were served the Bread & Butter with Lavender honey and a rather unusual Njuda Chilli spreadable meat paste. On its own this fiery accompaniment would have been perfect but served with a delicate and so passionately cooked piece of Lamb it totally dominated the amazing flavour of the Milk fed meat. All I could taste was the heat of Chilli.

Oxidized Pear Sorbet , Scotch Ale sabayon , Sweet Potato and Pumpkin seeds.

We now go back up to the Lounge for a few sweet treats to ease the pain when the bill arrives.

“Mont Blanc” – Chestnut , Rum & Raisin Jam with toasted Yeast , Foie Gras Semifreddo , shaved Alba White Truffle and Gold leaf. Another course I really looked forward to during the weeks leading up to the meal. A very innovative and exciting recipe , however it would have been much better being served as a “crossover” course straight after the savoury main course due to the dominant flavours of Foie gras and Alba White Truffle. It was still an absolute star course and I was so happy eating it at any time during the meal…..Stunning , brave and I want more of this beauty.

Sweet treats…and lots of them.

Macarons – Miso, Apricot and Pistachio – Coconut, Espresso and Caramel  – Violet, Beetroot and Blackcurrant.

Chocolate – 64% with `Blood` and Lingonberry. – 45% with Caramelized Walnut and Cep – 32% with Chestnut Honey and Black Tea

Confection – Fermented Garlic and Fudge – Cloudberry, Mango and Espelette Sugar – Brown Cheese Cookie, Arctic Raspberry and Toasted Meringue.

From the Oven – Apple Cobbler and Tonka Bean – Madeline Cookies with Cardamom and Beurre Noisette.

To view more photos on Flickr – PLEASE CLICK HERE

What you`re looking at here is the live feed from Frantzens sister Restaurtant “Zen” in Singapore. It`s a 2 way thing  during dinner service at Zen , the Chefs are actually watching lunch service at Frantzen.

A little look at just a few of the amazing dry ingredients in the Frantzen prep kitchen.

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