Tre Kronor

I recently had an urge to try something different.  Trying something different though, can be tougher than it sounds.  I have a very adventurous palate and have tried a wide variety of cuisines.  I wasn't really looking for anything exceptionally weird but I knew that Mexican, French, Italian, American, German, Chinese, Thai, or Sushi were pretty much out of the question.  So what could I do?  I have had African, Polish, Greek, Middle Eastern,and Indian foods but I wouldn't really consider myself exceptionally familiar with any of these so they were an option, but I decided to go with Swedish because I have never had it and from what little I did know, it didn't seem exceptionally unusual.  I decided to go to Tre Kronor in North Center.  From the outside it looks like an Alpine cottage, very friendly and homey.  The interior maintains that look with wooden tables and chairs, lace curtains, and a mural of elves relaxing on a mountain meadow along one wall.  The music, surprisingly enough was a Fleet Foxes (an indie pop group) album.  I was seated and was quickly waited on. There were several things on the menu that really looked good but I ordered what I think were standards that weren't meatballs.  For my appetizer, I had potato pancakes with smoked salmon and chive seasoned sour cream and garnished with a slice of lemon.  I knew that I was going to like every part of this individually, but together, they were exceptional and worked really well together.  I ended up squeezing the lemon on the pancake, spreading the sour cream on it, putting the salmon on top, and then rolling it up like a crepe.  I liked it a lot and it may have been my favorite dish.

For me entree, I did pick something that is a favorite of mine in other restaurants, duck.  The duck portion of the dish was a Seared Duck Breast.  The duck breast was served with  Asparagus, Rice Pilaf, and a Lingonberry Sauce.  The duck was good, and the sauce provided a nice tartness.  The asparagus was also nice and fresh.  The rice was prepared well and tasted good but it wasn't exceptionally exciting.  While I love duck, the potato pancakes were better.

When I looked at the dessert menu, I saw what I wanted immediately.  I ordered the Lemon Tart.  When it came out, it looked very nice.  It had a sliced strawberry, blueberries, and a whipped cream topping.  The fruits were crisp and juicy and tasted as if they were just picked.  That unfortunately, was the best part of the dessert.  While the lemon part of the tart tasted good, in my opinion, a tart should be fairly firm, whereas this was like pudding.  The crust didn't taste bad but it was kind of tough so it was a bit difficult to keep the tart and the crust together when it was cut into bite sized pieces.

Tre Kronor was very friendly and there were several other things on the menu besides what I ordered that looked good.  I don't know if I would order dessert the next time I return but the food, atmosphere, and service do warrant a return trip.