AT THE FESTIVAL/CAMPING AREAS

Chicken tikka masala - Mummbai Indian Street Food,
City Center East
Strange how you can crave spicy food sure to make you sweat when the sun is already burning your face off. My Indian feast felt more like a stew than a proper chicken tikka, but I can forgive that since the taste was somewhat reminiscent of the original dish. It came with some mango chutney, pita bread and rice seasoned with turmeric and green peas. All in all a very pleasing meal that both took care of the hunger and the curry cravings.

I jugde thee:

Vegetarian and Mango lassi - Mummbai Indian Street Food, City Center East
She informed me that the abundance of different vegetables was the best thing about it. Chick peas, green leaves, fresh mushrooms, red onions, carrots, zucchini and served with the same seasoned rice and pita bread as mine. In addition she had a mango lassi that was really good. This is a nutritious and healthy meal with most of the basics you need to get through your festival days.

Magda jugdes thee:

Pizza - Bottega, City Center East
After too much champagne at Stine and Jakob's wedding my stomach demanded food, and not wanting to walk too far...we decided to go for the pizza at City Center East. I've had the pizza before and remembered it as quite good. This time however, I was far from impressed (or sober for that matter). Magdalena had the vegetarian alternative and she wasn't all too excited either. Tasteless would be my best description.

I jugde thee:
Magda jugdes thee:

Pasticcio - City Center East
This is a real veteran on my festival menu. I've had pasticcio for breakfast, lunch, dinner and this time as a nightly snack. It's an Italian dish that consists of penne pasta, traditional bolognese sauce and topped with a bechamel/cheese sauce. Very similare to lasagne, though it's not layered in the same way. Not very exciting - but it tastes good, it's relatively cheap considering it makes you full and it works at any hour of the day. This, along with Keema Pita and Moussaka, is just brilliant festival food.

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Coconut chicken soup (Tom kha gai) - One night in Bangkok, Orange
I've missed the coconut milk soup from Mama Mombasa a few years now, and was thrilled to see that One night in Bangkok was serving it. Mama Mombasa's version was very mild and without the chicken. This, on the other hand, was the real deal! Tom kha gai is a very classic thai soup with chicken, coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and other eastern spices. I enjoy Tom kha gai now and again both in restaurants and at home. At the festival the soup was served in huge paper cups which made it easy to bring along without spilling and burning your hands. Great taste! I actually had this twice during the festival.

I jugde thee:

Grilled ox sandwich - Kristinedal, Arena
My funniest memory from this place was back in 2003 when Norwegian black metal band Immortal played at Arena. During the concert this crazed person started running towards the stage wielding a thigh bone from the grilled ox, roaring and tearing chunks of meat from it with his teeth like a caveman. Very amusing.

I've only had the grilled ox sandwich once before and it was surprisingly boring. This time around i got a better cut I think. The meat was tender, tasty and juicy. Only thing - there was too little of it. I could definately gone for one more right away had it not been for the queue.

I jugde thee:

Vegetarian food pancakes - Mama mombasa, Pavilion
Yum yum yum! This is good! The pancakes are filled with veggies and served with grated carrots in a sort of dressing. On the side you have a lovely bulgur salad with herbs. It's simple food and a lot of times that is where the real enjoyment lies. I'm actually gonna try to recreate this dish at home to enjoy it more often than just at the festival. Breakfast, lunch, dinner or just as a snack. Any time of the day goes for this brilliant little dish.

I jugde thee:
Magda jugdes thee:

Bagels - Pavillion
Both Magda and me suffer from crankiness if our blood sugar levels plunges, and this led to getting something easily available (read: wherever with a short queue) at times. I would say the bagels where one of those occasions. I mean, the bagels were okay..but not really what I wanted. Since I'm lactose intolerant I'm also trying to avoid things like Philadelphia cheese. And with that logo printed on the entire stall I naturally was a bit worried about the consequences of the purchase. I chose a chicken with pesto bagel. It was mostly fresh and tasted alright, though I'd hold the tomatoes next time. The bagel was partly cut in two and wrapped in paper - making it almost impossible to eat with one hand, which is necessary since you tend to have a beer in the other. But it all went down in the end and my tummy didn't complain.

I jugde thee:

Chilli burrito - Flaming Cactus, the Oval
Magda told me that one of her favorite meals at Roskilde was a vegetarian burrito at Flaming Cactus. I had already decided to try out some new dishes this year, and it sounded like a good idea. Being a carnivore and wanting something with a punch I ordered the XL chili burrito. The fact that chili con carne is originally a stew, and therefore might be a bit runny, did cross my mind. I should have thought more about that and gone vegetarian! It was difficult to eat as I only had the wrapper around it (no plate with knife and fork) and it was quite runny. My bad. It tasted good, but could have used some more heat - I wasn't blown away. Magda later told me that her vegetarian burrito wasn't as good as she was used to either. I am willing to give it another try however, if I'm back next year.

I jugde thee:

Kaeng pet gai (Red curry chicken) - Thai Lanna, the Oval
An absolute favorite for me. My red curry was just how I remembered it from last year - spicy, tasty, and a generous portion of chicken with different vegetables, herbes and a lovely creamy sauce. Yummy! Magda on the other hand was not so happy when they managed to give her a chicken dish too instead of the vegetarian curry she had ordered. We both thought it was tofu as we didn't even consider such a mistake had been made. After one bite however it became very clear that this was not tofu. She managed not to puke, but was pretty upset and disgusted. I returned the food with a few harsh words..and told them to throw in a order of samosas with the vegetarian dish for the damages. Veggie dish was good (though still not the one she originally wanted which was sold out), and the samosas were indeed a nice bonus to the meal. Everyone can make mistakes, but this was simply sloppy. So to make sure you veggies got what you ordered - have your carnivor friends double-check it for you.

I jugde thee:
Magda jugdes thee:

IN THE "MEDIA CITY"

Roasted ham sandwich
Did I hear anyone sing Jingle bells? This was a strange sandwich. It looked and tasted like they'd try to cram a whole Christmas ham dinner into a sandwich. The meat itself was good and juicy with a really salty and crunchy rine. But the rest of the fillings (among them red kale and gurkins) just didn't do it for me. And who wants to be reminded of Christmas while at a summer festival?

I jugde thee:

Roast beef sandwich
Mmmmmm...this was more like it! The meat is really succulent and perfectly seasoned. It was filled with iceberg salad, tomatoes etc also, but the meat was the centre of (my) attention. I had this sandwich twice during the festival, and it was just as good both times.

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"ROMANTIC" DINNER FOR TWO AT EAT & REST
After passing Eat & Rest and reading their menu daily Magda suggested we should spend some real money and have a posh dinner on Saturday. Unfortunately it's quite a populare place, so we couldn't get at table the same evening. Instead we booked a table for Sunday after checking with the our social and concert plans.

After booking the table we brought our sandwich lunch in to the back area of the restaurant where my secret little garden lies. It was lovely to sit in the shadows and just enjoying lunch amongst rose bushes and the sound of birds.

Sunday finally came and we started looking forward to the dinner already before our morning swim, as we had to decide what to wear for our posh dinner. The day started with some food as always and then on to concerts. Our table reservation were for 17:00 and before that I was going to see Neurosis at Arena. One minute past five I reluctantly left the rest of the concert that had lasted for an hour and headed towards the restaurant. Magda had already arrived to ensure that our table was available. Menus, please?

Fish soup
There were several starters to choose from, but the one we both decided to go with was the fish soup. A creamy and extremely tasteful soup with salmon and blue mussels. We also decided for a bottle of lovely rosé wine to go with it. I am pretty sure the broth was based on crab, shrimps or even lobster. It had the most rich taste of seafood with a dash of white wine and lemon to balance the sweetness. My mouth still waters when thinking about it. We were both nose down in our soups and enjoying every spoonful and cleaning out the last of it with some lovely bread. Santé!

I jugde thee:

Beef steak with oven baked potatoes and ratatouille
There were several starters to choose from, but the one we both decided to go with was the fish soup. A creamy and extremely tasteful soup with salmon and blue mussels. We also decided for a bottle of lovely rosé wine to go with it. I am pretty sure the broth was based on crab, shrimps or even lobster. It had the most rich taste of seafood with a dash of white wine and lemon to balance the sweetness. My mouth still waters when thinking about it. We were both nose down in our soups and enjoying every spoonful and cleaning out the last of it with some lovely bread. Santé!

I jugde thee:

Vegetarian "quiche" with salad and beans
This was Magda's vegetarian choice and it looked really good. Lots of color - there was the pie itself and then a bean salad, a green salad and some tomato ragu alongside. The pie was filled with lots of greens and I wondered for a minute if I'd picked the wrong dish. Unfortunately for Magda it didn't taste as wonderful as it looked. "Compared to the soup...standard of this is mediocre" she told me, and I almost felt guilty for more than one reason for my delicious slab of meat. Then again, it's understandable that a pie might seem too ordinary after a first class soup.

Magda jugdes thee:

DRINKS

Fresh Strawberry Summerbreeze - Arena
After watching Gojira, and their hot bassist, we were in dire need of some cold drinks and hooked up with Lars for some afternoon cocktails at Arena while Satyricon was playing in the background. Magda went over to buy drinks for the two of us after Lars had gone to another line. Somehow Magda managed not only to get the drinks first, but also with 8 cl of rum instead of the normal 4 cl. Either the bartender forgot he'd already had rum in our drinks - or he just liked Magda so much. Lars was very dissappointed he was in no such luck. We also tried a Mojito Royal and the Blueberry Asswipe Iced Tea.

Mojito Razz - Pavilion
You can never get enough ice on a hot day at Roskilde, therefore we started out with buying two drinks each. We fell in love with the Mojito Razz which was very refreshing in the blistering sun. After the first round I managed to get the bartender put our two drinks into one glass. Wuhu..now we're talking. If you wanna try make this at home use this recipe:

Blue Hawaiian - Starfish, Media City
What better way to kick start the last day of Roskilde than a few cocktails in media city's cocktail bar - The Starfish. I wanted something really tropical and fruity. My Blue Hawaiian was every bit of paradise I was hoping for. Magda took one sip of her own drink and made a really funny face followed by the explanation "Whooooa! You can really taste the alcohol in this one". I had to try it myself to see if it really was that strong - and it really hit hard. I made a similar face and now it was Magda's turn to laugh.

Here's a recipe for Blue Hawaiian:

Viña Tarapacã (Rosé Cabernet Savignon Syrah)
This was the rosé wine we chose for our posh dinner, and it went very well with both the creamy soup, beef and quiché. It was very light and fruity - almost a slight hint of strawberry. This could def work both alone or with food. Great for thai and Italian I would believe. Gonna have a look for it later in a wine store for sure.

Roskilde Festival in their own words about the food and beverages:
"The festival’s many food stalls serve both untraditional and traditional dishes, and all types of beverages are on offer, from beer and soda to milkshakes. The selection of food and beverages is characterised by quality, and there is something for every taste and from many corners of the world. We make heavy demands on the quality of raw materials and hygiene in the stalls and strive to use organic products produced in Denmark. The food stalls are selected on their ability to live up to this food policy."