Sapporo: one of the best cheap ramen in Paris

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As many of you have noticed, I haven’t been very active recently. Haven’t been going out, haven’t taken time to cook and most importantly, haven’t discovered any new restaurants –until this week!

Last Sunday we fancied a Japanese noodle soup, ramen, and headed to the Little Japan of Paris, located on Rue St Anne and its proximity. Sapporo is open until 11 p.m. on Sundays, and as we were approaching the closing time, we quickly walked in.

Sapporo, located in Rue St Anne near Opera, is open until ii p.m. on Sundays. Handy!

Sapporo, located in Rue St Anne near the old Opera, is open until 11 p.m. on Sundays. Convenient!

My husband had Gomoku Ramen (pork-broth based noodle soup with prawns and vegetables, 9€50) and I had Ebi Yasai Itame (sauteed vegetables with prawns, 9€80). As our waiter explained, most of the dishes are made of pork broth, but my dish plus a few others are pork free.

Ebi Yasai Itame, sauteed vegetables with prawns. Yummy!!

Both dishes were excellent and rather copious. Healthy tasting with very fresh ingredients. I did think that my dish had a slightly “Chinese taste”, but I am neither an expert of Chinese food nor Japanese so I let those who know better comment. My husband’s soup tasted rich but light. I don’t like pork and never eat it, but the broth didn’t have pork taste in it, so we could actually share the dishes.

Gomoku Ramen, noodles with vegetables and shrimps

Gomoku Ramen, noodles with vegetables and prawns. A perfect and healthy autumn warmer!

Our Sunday night dinner experience was indeed so great that we returned on Tuesday night to the same restaurant! On Tuesday night Sapporo was all full.

Some waiters do not speak English or French, but it didn’t bother us. Service was rather fast and it was fun to watch chefs cook behind the bar. There are fixed menus, too.

If you are in the Opera area and looking for a fast, ethnic eating experience, think about Rue St Anne and Sapporo! I had not visited this street for some time and I will make sure to stop by during the coming cold months to warm up my bones with a good old ramen soup!

SAPPORO: 37 rue Sainte-Anne, 75001 Paris. Tel. 01 42 60 60 98 . Open every day! There is another Sapporo in 276 rue Saint-Honoré, also in the 1st arrondissement, but closer to Louvre and Palais Royal.

PS Sapporo is listed as one of the top five places to eat ramen in Paris by Le Figaro newspaper! See the link and other addresses here:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2014/01/16/30004-20140116ARTFIG00605-les-5-meilleurs-ramen-de-paris.php

Golden cupolas of Kiev

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After publishing photos from the eastern Ukraine I got to thinking about my one-year stay in Kiev. Today I went through my photos from the Ukrainian capital, taken between 2005 and 2006, and here are some of the best shots of the famous golden cupolas that dominate the street view.

Kiev, the birthplace of Russia, is full of old Orthodox churches. Many of them are as old as Kyivan Rus.

Kiev, the birthplace of Russia, is full of old Orthodox churches. Many of them are as old as Kievan Rus’, making them more than 1000 years old.

…usually when visiting an Orthodox (or any!) church you should cover your knees and shoulders…

Wherever you look, Orthodox churches dominate the street view in Kiev.

Golden cupolas against blue skies.

More golden cupolas against the otherwise grey city of Kiev.

They do love blue color! One would almost think it has some symbolic value for the Orthodox church!

When life gets too hectic outside, there is always a place for a candle inside.

Some previous photos from Ukraine:

Photos of eastern Ukraine: part 1
Photos of eastern Ukraine: part 2
The Privoz market in Odessa

and more to come! Meanwhile, come and say hello on Twitter (@Miia_Niskanen), Instagram (Pearlspotting) or Facebook (Pearlspotting).

Photos of eastern Ukraine: part 2

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The introduction to this post can be found in the previous post, Photos of eastern Ukraine: part 1, where I explained that I used to work in Ukraine from 2005 to 2006 and that I visited the eastern part of Ukraine many times for work.

Eastern Ukraine is a region of incredible mineral resources and it is no wonder that it was once the heart of the Soviet Union’s industrial production. I could visit factories that employ more than 10,000 people, meaning an entire town. The physical scales were huge, but so were some personal egos, too. I got a feeling that the region was home to some extremely powerful men, who made or broke the lives of the rest. In describing the region’s relation to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, unity and co-operation were not the words I would choose.

This is the very same region that has been making headlines for too long now, the very same region that has been transformed into the latest battlefield of Europe.

Join me again to discover this region by photos I took during my visits:

Orthodox church in Donetsk.

“Metallurgical cinema”: Soviet-time movie theater in Donetsk.

Donetsk, the city of metallurgical companies and mines. Now a self-claimed People’s Republic…

I wonder what these women think of today’s situation?

The main square of Donetsk has a big Lenin statue. What would he think of the current developments?

Lenin, standing on the main square of Donetsk just a few steps away from my hotel, became my object of observation.

Every other night I would go for a walk from my hotel and see demonstrations. Always supported by Lenin.

Every other night I would go for a walk from my hotel and see political demonstrations. Always supported by Lenin.

When this young man wore a shirt saying “For Ukraine without Yushchenko”, little did he know that things would get much more serious than just getting rid of the President….

Any thoughts these photos brought to you?

Photos of eastern Ukraine: part 1

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As you know, my blog is not about politics. However, these ongoing events in eastern Ukraine have stopped me many times, bringing some vivid memories from the times I visited that region for work. The region is very different from the rest of Ukraine: very industrial and very Soviet. Some say Russian. Polluted and grey. My visits took place after the Orange revolution and before the global economic meltdown, during the period of optimism. I met some wonderful and fascinating people, drank a fair share of vodka in meetings, and appreciated the chance to get to know the region. But I always felt that there was something very “wild east” over there.

Today I went through some old photos and I decided to publish some of them.

I suggest you take this blog post as a photo reportage and as an opportunity to look into the life of a region that has become a battlefield between the East and the West, and who knows what else. As an opportunity to time travel and revisit the period when Lenin was well alive and celebrated. As an opportunity to put a picture to the news you read every day.

Statues like this are not rare in eastern Ukraine.

During the winter months the region is cold and grey. This was once the heart of the Soviet Union's industrial production.

During the winter months the region is cold and grey. Once upon a time it was the heart of the Soviet Union’s industrial production.

Enormous factories often employed entire towns. Something that still happens in China I guess?

A ghost factory somewhere between Donetsk and Luhansk.

Can happiness exist when there is so little color?

Soviet wall frescoes remind us of an other era.

Any thoughts you would like to share?

The Old Market Hall in Helsinki

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From The Market Square by the sea in Helsinki my little good bye tour of Helsinki continued to another wonderful market, the Old Market Hall. This beautiful building, open to public in 1889, is one of three covered market halls in Helsinki and another must place to see when visiting the Finnish capital.

The Old Market Hall opened its doors in 1889. This is when Finland was an autonomous state of Russia named the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The Old Market Hall opened its doors in 1889. This is when Finland was an autonomous state of Russia, the Grand Duchy of Finland.

The Old Market Hall has some of the best choices of food in Helsinki, from oysters to snails.

The choice of food is outstanding and includes fresh oysters, snails, crayfish and best cuts of meat, among many others.

I had already had strawberries and coffee outside by the sea, and it was now time for salmon and more coffee. A typical Finnish breakfast (just kidding!).

My mission was to overdose on Finnish delicacies before catching my flight a few hours later and I had decided there was no better way to do this than buy slices of marinated salmon and eat them with fingers!

Salmon with different flavors at Fish Shop Marja Nätti. My paradise!!

Salmon with different flavors and ways of preparation at Fish Shop Marja Nätti. My paradise!!

When in Finland, make sure that you taste other fish like white fish, too. The variety of fresh water fish keeps impressing me, so don't stick to only salmon.

When in Finland, make sure that you taste other fish like white fish, too. The variety of freshwater fish keeps impressing me, so please do not stick to only salmon!

I purchased a few slices of marinated salmon from Fish Shop Marja Nätti that I got to know during my food tour in May (Helsinki by Food), and entered a fish heaven. I have no problem eating salmon for breakfast, as long as it tastes good, and the rosé pepper flavored salmon was just from heaven. Not only it tasted divine, but I was also boosting my Omega 3 levels… Perfect! Ready to leave Finland soon!

The Old Market Hall: http://vanhakauppahalli.fi/en/

The Market Square by the sea in Helsinki

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It was my last day in Helsinki. Well, to be precise, I only had a few hours remaining. My husband had left on an earlier flight and mine was in the afternoon. I hopped on the tramway, got off at the railway station, and begun my own little good bye tour of Helsinki. The sun was shining, it was 27C and the more I approached the place where I would have coffee, the more I could hear the seagulls.

The Market Square is a lovely place by the sea in the center of Helsinki. The farmers sell their fruits and vegetables next to vendors specialized in souvenirs such as reindeer skin. The square is always full of locals as well as tourists, many who stop by for a cup of coffee or salmon soup.

The Market Square is located on prime location by the sea, next to the Town Hall of Helsinki and the Presidential Palace.

You should visit the Market Square in the morning to find the best products.

Like everywhere in the world, visit the Market Square in the morning to find the best products.

I ordered take-away coffee and begun walking around. The breeze was lovely. People were happy and I felt excited as a first-time tourist in Helsinki. There was an abundance of berries, potatoes, smoked fish and girolles. I bought strawberries for breakfast. Talking about natural sugar!

Finns are crazy about strawberries in summer and I was not an exception.

Finns are crazy about strawberries and I was not an exception.

While I was enjoying these local delicacies something struck me. I sort of went crazy and purchased blueberries, strawberries, salmon and girolles to take back to Paris…. as if Paris didn’t have them –of course it does! However, my moment of craziness was moderate, I think, because I did not buy potatoes and onions…. and not even dill!

Even if this dill looked amazingly tasty (nothing like one finds in Paris), I didn't buy it. And guess what? I regret I didn't!

No, I did not bring potatoes to Paris… even if they looked delicious and so clean!

Pleased with my purchases, I started walking toward the Old Market Hall (The Old Market Hall in Helsinki). I don’t know if they have always been there, but for the first time I noticed some boats in the harbor, between the Market Square and the Old Market Hall. The boats were very cute: small and inhabited by individual farmers selling few selected food products (fish and potatoes, of course). I almost wished that I could sail to one of the many islands of the Finnish archipelago with them.

These small boats had sailed from the archipelago to sell vegetables and fish in Helsinki. Cute!

These small boats had sailed from the archipelago to sell vegetables and fish in Helsinki. How romantic!

The Market Square is a lovely place to hang out, to buy food, to drink coffee or eat salmon soup and other Finnish delicacies, so make sure you make it your stop when visiting Helsinki!

PS This is where most of the archipelago cruises depart. The Suomenlinna ferry that I took in winter (The Best Part of Public Transport in Helsinki) can also be found in the proximity. If you hold a valid public transport ticket, do not miss this great opportunity!

A chapel of design

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This summer I discovered something in Helsinki that I found absolutely fantastic and incredible: a very simplistic, curved-shaped chapel made of wood in the heart of the Finnish capital. Let me present you, the Kamppi Chapel of Silence! One of the world’s most stylish chapels:

Would you have guessed that this is a chapel?

The Chapel was completed in 2012, the year when Helsinki was World Design Capital 2012. This urban and spiritual project was designed by K2S Architects Ltd, who describe the project like this “This small wooden chapel introduces a place for silence and peace in the lively commercial centre of Helsinki. The chapel space is located in a sculptural wooden volume. The interior is warm and enclosed from the surrounding urban life. Indirect toplight enlightens the wooden chapel interior.”

My first impression was very powerful. I loved the outside design. Even if the Chapel somehow looks like nothing and could-be-anything at the same time, it is very elegant. It is one of a kind. I loved how the sun rays touched the wood (wood that was glazed with wax by using nanotechnology, says the brochure of the Chapel).

The wood used in the chapel has been glazed with wax. Nanotechnology was used in this method, but do not ask me in what way.

I was sort of nervous to walk in. Would the inside match the beauty of the outside?

Judging by these photos, I am sure you will agree with me that it did. It was at the same time imposing and down to earth. Quiet and present. Difficult to describe.

If you haven't found the type of church you feel comfortable in, try the Kamppi chapel in Helsinki, Finland.

If you haven’t yet found the type of church you feel comfortable in, try the Kamppi Chapel in Helsinki, Finland.

During the time of my visit there were numerous tourists from France, Russia and Japan, but I could also witness young children popping in, alone, on their way from the sports to home. In some ways I felt happy that a religious place managed to attract the younger generation. Even if they didn’t come in for spiritual reasons (but what do I know, maybe they did!), they came in, stayed quiet, looked around, observed, took photos and left. It seemed like they appreciated the place and the feeling in it, and to me this represents the most powerful “recognition of success” the architects could ever receive!

The Kamppi Chapel attracts many kinds of visitors: photographers, architects, tourists, but also curious locals.

Even if you may have very little time in Helsinki, make sure you visit this chapel only 5 minutes away from the railway station by walking. It is open from Monday to Friday 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. and from Saturday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To be found on Facebook here: Kampin kappeli.

For more information:

K2S Architects: http://www.k2s.fi/
ArchDaily article: and http://www.archdaily.com/252040/kamppi-chapel-k2s-architects/
..and lastly, a photograph of the Q&A I took in the Chapel:

This Q&A may answer your additional questions!

An iceberg named after my brother!

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The coolest thing ever happened yesterday and I am sure you will agree with me! Continue reading to find out more!

An article of the Danish Meteorological Institute appeared on the Facebook page of my brother Tuomas with a comment “Not everybody has a giant iceberg drifting in Greenland named after him. Watch out, here comes the Iceberg Niskanen!!“.

While I was writing Tuomas to know more I was asking myself if the heat wave in Finland had melted his brain –after all his Facebook comment sounded rather absurd, didn’t it? But no, I soon learned that it was a true story. Tuomas responded to me to explain that his former colleagues had paid respect to him by naming an iceberg after him. As simple as that. During one of their research missions they found a new iceberg drifting in the ocean near Greenland, thought about my brother Tuomas, and called it after him. Isn’t this is the most cool thing ever???

When my brother Tuomas was sunbathing in Svalbard, little he knew that across the Greenland Sea there was an iceberg that was going to be named after him.

When my brother Tuomas was sunbathing in Svalbard, little did he know that across the Greenland Sea there was an iceberg that a few years later would be named after him.

I also learned that prior to spotting the Iceberg Niskanen off the coast of East Greenland, near Tasiilaq, the Danish Ice Service had been surveying it from July 12 to July 23. The Iceberg Niskanen had moved at the speed of 0.5 knots in the recent days and its speed was expected to increase the closer it gets to the southern tip of Greenland. Moreover, the Ice Service seemed pretty certain about the origin of the Iceberg Niskanen: Jøkelbugten in Northeast Greenland.

As this iceberg measures more than 2km times 4km (the size of the capital of Greenland!), I remain hopeful that it will resist the global warming, at least as long as it takes Tuomas to visit his namesake!

PS Coincidentally yesterday was also my brother’s birthday, so by this recognition he probably received the biggest birthday present anyone can ever get! Or can you think of anything bigger?

The Danish Meteorological Institute article: http://www.dmi.dk/nyheder/arkiv/nyheder-2014/07/nuuk-stort-isbjerg-passerer-tasiilaq/

***

One day after this post, Helsingin Sanomat, the main newspaper in Finland, published an article about my brother and the iceberg. It can be read here (in Finnish): http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/Gr%C3%B6nlannista+irtautunut+j%C3%A4%C3%A4vuori+sai+nimekseen+Niskanen/a1407031200275

The Summer House: Ten Days and Still Nostalgic

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It has already been ten days since I returned to Paris but I am still nostalgic about Finland and the summer house. It feels that everyone I know is having the most amazing time by lake or sea, enjoying the heat wave and temperatures hovering around 30C, and I am “just in Paris”. It has upset me to receive text messages from my father saying that our lake (that is big and deep!) measures 27C. That is the usual temperature of the Mediterranean and not a lake half way between Helsinki and Lapland…!

So, now that you are convinced that weather-wise Finland is the new Côte d’Azur, you must be wondering what it is that makes me so nostalgic. Well, this is the list upon which I have been pondering. The accent will be on the summer house because this is where I spend my time when in Finland in summer.

When you get lucky with weather, this is what a Finnish lake looks like. Lovely, isn’t it?

1. The most peaceful place on the planet

A Finnish summer house is probably the most calm and peaceful place on this planet if we ignore the poles, some Pacific islands and Greenland of course. The life revolves around breakfast, checking fishing nets, swimming, reading magazines, wood cutting, lunch, siesta, raking leaves, wood cutting (again), heating the sauna, preparing dinner, checking the nets (again), sauna, swimming and dinner. The daily life follows a routine, but a fun routine that calms even the most agitated urban dweller (like a Parisian!). In my book, the summer house is comparable to yoga retreats.

Life is sweet. My husband and my mother reading design magazines by our private beach.

Life is sweet. My husband and my mother reading design magazines on our private beach.

My father catching our daily staple. Only us, the boat, the nets and some seagulls waiting to see if there is anything for them.

My father catching our daily staple (fish, you guessed right).
Only us, the boat, the nets and some seagulls waiting to see if there is anything for them.

2. Privacy

Summer houses, in most cases, come with a private beach. Our beach is relatively small, but it is ours. In addition to us, only birds use it sometimes.

We have some neighbors to the left side but to the right there are only willows. But even in more populated areas of Finland there never are too many people –after all there are only 18 inhabitants per square kilometer in Finland (for example, the UK has 265!).

A big lake just for you. Not many people around.

Sometimes if we want even more privacy, we take the boat and visit one of the many islands of the lake to play Robinson Crusoe!

Island hopping. No parking fees, no traffic jam. In fact, nobody Still, nobody else around!

Island hopping. No parking fee, no traffic jam. In fact, nobody else around!

3. The nature

If you get tired of the lake, there is always forest nearby. We have some behind the summer house.

My mother says that there is nothing as beautiful as the Finnish forest, especially after rain, and I sort of have to agree with her. It is a different kind of beauty, the beauty I grew up with, so it is only natural I find it comforting… But who wouldn’t feel rejuvenated after watching these eighty-year old trees?

Some eighty-year old trees against the perfectly blue sky.

Some eighty-year old trees against the perfectly blue and white sky.

4. The weather

My French husband thinks we the Finns are obsessed with the weather, but I guess it is normal considering that there are pretty extreme and unpredictable weather conditions in Finland… For example, when my husband arrived at the summer house last summer the weather changed from semi-tropical 27C to miserable 8C….. Enough to put a Parisian in a bad mood!

This summer we were particularly lucky. The temperature in the shadow was consistently around 25C and sometimes a bit more. The lake measured 22C during my stay, which is a lot. We were very lucky and I would have liked to enjoy more of that wonderful weather. Since my departure it has gotten even hotter, and if I remember correctly this summer’s record in Finland has been 32.5C. That is a lot for such a northern country!

Repeating myself, I know, but when the sun shines this strongly at 9 o’clock in the evening, it is miraculous.

5. The amount of sunlight

Whenever I return to Finland in summer I am astonished by the amount of sunlight there is. Even when the sun sets, it stays so close to the horizon that one doesn’t know if the sun is about to rise again. It doesn’t get pitch black in Finland in summer, and well, it doesn’t really get dark at all! Finnish Lake at Midnight is quite something! I would say it is the eight natural wonder of the world.

At the summer house I go to sleep watching this view.

I would usually go to bed around midnight (it is difficult to go to bed when the night has not arrived!) and I would be woken up three hours later by the sun’s rays… I actually never got up to take photos of the sunrises but I am sure this is the moment when the animals wake up, moose cross the fields and bears take a deep breath while turning to the other side.

***

Note: There are over 500,000 summer houses in Finland so one can imagine that each one of them has a life and a personality of its own. What I described above is a personal story about my relationship with our summer house. But why not to visit Finland and create your own love story?

…and if you liked this story, why not to check Pearlspotting on Instagram and Facebook, and Miia_Niskanen on Twitter? See you soon!

Le Zerda Cafe: the number one by Le Figaro

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In the quest of finding the best couscous and tajine of Paris, we visited the restaurant listed as the number one in Le Figaro‘s Best Couscous of Paris list –Le Zerda Cafe.

Le Zerda Cafe is located in a lovely pedestrian street called rue René Boulanger in one of the nicest parts of the 10th arrondissement. When we had called in advance for the reservation the terrace was full, but upon arrival we got a table outside after a five-minute wait. The street was lively, the weather was hot, and the night was perfect for people watching and exploring a new restaurant.

Open the door and enter the world of North African food.

We ordered “the usual”: couscous for my husband and tajine for me. I am not a big fan of semolina (made of wheat) so tajine with meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts suits me perfectly. (Note: Le Zerda Cafe, as many other North African restaurants, is happy to serve semolina also to those ordering tajine, so do not hesitate to ask for it!)

My husband’s Couscous Zerda arrived with fabulously fine semolina, hearty vegetable stew and a mix meat plate of lamb, beef, meat balls and merguez (spicy sausage). He thought that the merguez and meat balls were a bit tasteless, but he liked very much the lamb served on a brochette and grilled lamb.

My tajine included a lamb shank with pears, almonds, dried apricots and plums. The dish had a balanced taste (not too sweet) and I also liked the fact that there were no potatoes added (commonly served with tajines). Unfortunately the lamb shank (souris d’agneau) was not the best piece of lamb I have eaten as it was rather greasy. I kept giving pieces of my lamb to my husband who in exchange made me taste his meats.

Is there anything better than the arrival of boiling hot tajine on the table?

To wash all this food down we drunk Algerian red wine Chateau Beni Chougrane from the Mascara region, which was a lovely choice even on a hot summer evening. As I have mentioned before, most North African reds make me very tired. My theory is that these grapes have been absorbing a lot of African sun, making them a good remedy for falling asleep –the same effect spending an entire day under the sun can have on you!

We had a lovely evening, the service was friendly and the food very good, but somehow we had been expecting more. After all, we were visiting the number one couscous restaurant of Paris (according to Le Figaro), so we had all the reasons to expect something out of ordinary! Unfortunately I guess this is a common problem: when something is so highly praised, your expectations grow out of proportion. This is why listings are bad….

This said, I am sure we will return to Le Zerda Cafe. As one of the oldest Algerian restaurants in Paris, it is a real institution and its dining hall very picturesque. To me it looked like the most perfect place to warm the bones up during the long Parisian winter!

Le Zerda Cafe: 15, rue René Boulanger 75010 Paris. Tel. 01-42002515 or 06-28476381. Metro: Strasbourg – Saint-Denis.

Le Figaro list: http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2010/11/22/03013-20101122ARTFIG00674-le-test-des-meilleurs-couscous.php

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Previous posts about eating North African food in Paris are:

L’Alcôve: finest meat of Paris (also serves couscous and tajine, but the house specialty is grilled meat –delicious!)
Algerian restaurant l’Atlantide in Paris (excellent couscous and tajine –my top choice!)
L’Homme Bleu: Berber hospitality in the center of Paris (reputable couscous and tajine restaurant but I was disappointed during my last visit)
Le Tipaza: refined Moroccan food (a good address near the Eiffel Tower)

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