Good World Bar (LES Swedish)

[lambretta76]

First time in a long while I've been to Good World Bar, which is on Orchard Street just south of Canal. Have had some realy tasty brunches in the past - the pytt i panna, which is a hash made with chunks of steak, potatoes, and deer sausage with egg and beets, is particularly tasty - but haven't been for dinner in a long while.

To start - bread was served with a sour cream "dippin' sauce" with dill, garlic, and perhaps some kind of cheese mixed in. Addictive stuff - the bread is just run of the mill NYC baguettes. (Not that that's a bad thing.)

Started with two of the small dishes, the smoked salmon roll ($3) and the lavender flower-cured lamb loin ($4). The lamb loin, eaten by itself, was dry, a bit salty, and overpowering due to a healthy dose of the lavender essence. However, when paired with the accompanying rhubarb chutney the dish took on a completely different flavor, with the sweetness/bitterness of the rhubarb complimenting the saltiness and "perfume" of the lamb loin. All in all it has been one of the more interesting appetizers I've had in a long while and I thought it was really tasty. The smoked salmon roll was a healthy roll of smoked salmon with a layer of horseradish-tinged cream inside. Simply served with a wedge of lemon, it was good in a way that good lox and cream cheese can be. Compared to the lamb loin it was fairly boring, but on its own it was quite nice. Served with a sprinkling of wild rice on top.

As an entree I had the potato pancake with bacon and lingonberries ($10). The potato pancake was a bit thin and crunchy, but the bacon was very flavorful - and abundant with probably over 10 pieces - and the lingonberries went well with both. It was quite good, but I don't think I'd order it as a main again.

My dining companions had the swedish meatballs ($14) and the Good World burger ($11). I only was able to sample the burger, which was tasty enough, but not on par with the best in the city. The house-pickled beets mixed in with the ground beef add an interesting flavor to the patty.

Definitely worth returning to - they pickle their own herring in house it seems, so I'd like to try some of those. And the lamb loin will definitely be making an encore.

Good World Bar

[alacarte]

Thanks for the review -- the place sounds interesting.

I was at Ulrika's just a couple of nights ago, and had their wonderful herring sampler dish. Would love to try GWB's herring.

Did you try the drinks at Good World Bar? Do they serve aquavit and things like that?

[lambretta76]

They do have a couple kinds of Aquavit, and I think one homemade kind made with a Swedish licorice candy (Turkish Pepper maybe) - but I don't believe they had the large number of flavoured ones like Aquavit (the restaurant) has.

The only drinks had by our group were a pinot grigio (good - not great) and an Absolut Citron/cranberry juice/lime juice cocktail ("nice").

An interesting option is the herring party - for $125 you get a jar of herring with all the fixins and a bottle of Aquavit. It's meant for parties of 5 or larger.

[CSASphinx]

It's been nearly 30 years since my farmor died yet I can still taste some of the things she would cook up in her country kitchen here in Maine.

pytt i panna is wonderful and as soon as someone said they had a burger I wondered if it was the kind with pickled beets, egg and breadcrumbs mixed in. The key is to get the outside of the burger crispy and keep the inside moist.

Breakfasts could feature plattar, thin eggy pancakes crispy around the edges (a stack of 10 MIGHT be 2 inches tall) served with wild strawberry preserves.

Meatballs? That goes without saying, though I have to admit that my mom (not a Swede) worked for years to replicate the taste and has now got it down cold.

Things I haven't had in years that I would die for are pickled flounder and (if there are any Swedes here I apologize for any spelling gaffes) koldolmar.

Pickled flounder are truly wonderful. When I was a kid it was still possbile to take a boat out for a day, anchor it in a "good spot" and with three or four people, pull up a tub full of three pound flounder. Little ones, only a little bigger than my hand we called "picklers" because we'd give them to farmor and she'd pickle them head off. Slightly sweet, slightly dill and more than slightly delicious.

Koldolmar was always my favorite and that horrified my grandparents who considered it "peasant food." (not that they were well-to-do by any stretch). A combo of ground beef and pork stuffed cabbage, little packages about the size of a business card, served with a creamy gravy. Yum.

Tack sa mycket, farmor.

Enough, I'm going insane with desire. And thanks for the post. I'm keeping this for my next trip to NY.

[jeunefilleparis]

I have always loved GWB and Grill. I had my 24th birthday there the year before last and it was great. I have never had anything bad there. 2 years ago I ate there in the winter and they had this heavenly wild mushroom soup, must have been cream or something in their to achieve the richness it was awesome

I also recall another evening when i was a freshman in college that involved throwing up lingonberry soup after drinking too much! not fun.

[lambretta76]

The soup of the day yesterday evening was a cold, saffron cantaloupe soup - though I imagine mushroom soup would be a bit heavy at this time of year. And I can't imagine the pain of lingonberry soup in reverse.

CSASphinx - thanks for the interesting post. The burger is made with beets, though I'm afraid it is not made with egg or bread crumbs. Though I believe the chef/owner is Swedish and, since they seem to be quite inviting, could make it in the style you desire. (Raw egg yolks feature heavily across the menu.) It appears they have plattar on the brunch menu - sounds like something definitely worth trying, though they seem to feature it as a dessert.

I really wish someone would open up a Scandinavian restaurant in Bay Ridge/Sunset Park area, or that the churches around there that support the aging population of Nordic expats would have a Sunday dinner every once in a while... there is still a Danish Sports Club that apparently still has a restaurant attached to it - has anyone been there?

[Nathan]

for homestyle Scandinavian (I spent a couple years in Norway)....the Norwegian Seaman's Church in midtown has a Wednesday lunch buffet from the fall through the spring...it's worth checking out.

[alacarte]

An interesting option is the herring party - for $125 you get a jar of herring with all the fixins and a bottle of Aquavit. It's meant for parties of 5 or larger.

I have this image of the waiter slapping down on the table a big ol' jar of herring and a bottle of Aquavit!

[CSASphinx]

I have this image of the waiter slapping down on the table a big ol' jar of herring and a bottle of Aquavit!

And what's wrong with that?