Stockholm is a destination that really surprised me with its cuisine. I knew that the kanelbullar would be amazing (who doesn’t love fika?) and there would be plenty of interesting restaurants, being the capital city, but the quality of the produce and expert cooking really impressed.
During our long weekend, we grazed on premium Swedish grilled steak, authentic Mexican tacos, summer truffle corn on the cob and an indecent amount of traditional spiced pastries. In fact, there wasn’t one meal that fell short, so I’ve included every single one.
Here are some fantastic places to eat and drink when visiting Stockholm…
Fikabaren
Södermalm, the island just south of historic Gamla Stan, was named by Vogue as one of ‘the 15 coolest neighbourhoods in the world’ in 2014, so of course you can expect a multitude of cool coffee shops. Fikabaren in SoFo (south of Folkungagatan) is bigger than most indie cafes, set across a few rooms with minimalist concrete and wood interiors and great photography on the walls.
It serves coffee from independent and sustainable producers, as well as home-made sandwiches and Swedish cakes. Our Matcha lattes were made with high-grade green tea and farm fresh milk – the perfect refuel.
Urban Deli
Another foodie beacon in Södermalm is Urban Deli, a fabulous food store and restaurant. This boutique chain has a few locations across Stockholm and you can find everything from Swedish pastries and take-out coffee to locally-produced gourmet cooking ingredients.
It’s not as pricey as you might think, with plenty of offers on products, and the Urban Deli in Norrmalm even has its own hotel attached!
Art Bakery
A new addition to Stockholm’s upscale NK. department store in Norrmalm, Art Bakery is the vision of celebrity baker Johan Sörberg. It features contemporary artwork and exhibitions in a large industrial-style bakery and cafe and the creativity runs through to the food.
Art Bakery’s exquisite patisserie takes centre stage, however you can also make a meal of it with salads, sandwiches and even ramen from the dedicated Japanese food counter. Not only are the cakes out of this world, but it’s a stylish, tranquil place to watch the world go by.
Sänkdalens Glass Bar
A tour around Gamla Stan in the warmer months wouldn’t be complete without ice cream. Bypass the tourist traps and check out the petite Sänkdalens Glass Bar, where you can find delicious Swedish ice cream in natural flavours, using organic milk and fruit from its own farm.
Highly recommended is a scoop of blueberry and rum & raisin.
Miss Clara by Nobis
Breakfast was a highlight of our stay at Miss Clara, a fabulous design hotel that’s part of the trend-setting Nobis Group. Of course, you don’t have to be staying at the hotel to enjoy this copious, high-quality buffet breakfast in its restaurant (but you will pay a little more as a non-resident).
We feasted on Scrambled eggs loaded with cream and grilled bacon, pancakes, mini pastries, fresh yoghurt and cured meats and local cheeses. There’s even a self-service waffle iron with fresh batter and sweet toppings, which was a real treat.
La Neta
Mexican food is big in Stockholm and one of the most authentic, fun and affordable places for a taco fix is La Neta. Named ‘the real deal’ in Mexican slang, La Neta is a colourful, unpretentious taquería with outposts in the City and Södermalm, another in Täby and two in Copenhagen. They only use premium ingredients and make the tortillas and salsas from scratch in-house – you can even buy them online or at Urban Deli.
We both went for a mix of five tacos for 110kr, so we could try a little of everything. They all hit the spot, but our favourites were Pastor (marinated pork with pineapple), Suadero (slow-cooked beef) and Carnitas (pulled pork confit). Guacamole con Totopos was also fantastic with crispy, bubbly corn chips and smooth guac that had an unexpected chilli kick.
The tacos were moreish and subtly flavoured – you can load them with as much fresh coriander, onions, sour cream and salsa as you like at the dining room counter. I long to go back for more tacos and hope they might expand further across Europe.
Restaurant J
On our first night in Sweden, we stayed at Hotel J on the idyllic island of Nacka in Stockholm’s urban archipelago. Also part of the Nobis group, this stylish, New England-influenced hotel has an old school resort feel and its waterside Restaurant J is undoubtedly the place to be, whether it’s a glass of wine on the sun terrace or an indulgent dinner of steak, daily catch or fresh lobster.
We made the most of the sun sitting on the terrace and enjoyed the most wonderful Swedish sirloin minute steak with crispy kale, veal gravy, smoked ramsons butter and Caesar salad with French fries.
The steak was smoky and well-cooked with flavourful accompaniments and we loved the generous family-style sharing bowls of crunchy fries and Caesar salad topped with lots of grated fresh Parmesan. It was surprisingly substantial and really delicious – definitely worth splashing out on.
Bleck
Nothing captures the spirit of Södermalm more than Bleck, a cute and casual restaurant overlooking the park Lilla Blecktornsparken. Its heated terrace is the place to be, especially on warmer days to watch the sun go down over beer and exceptional, good value small plates using fine local produce.
We ordered Swedish bitter lemon drinks and grazed on the most tender, flavourful Corn-fed chicken fried and glazed with sesame mayo and kimchee. We were also wowed by the punchy Fried potatoes with Parmesan, onion, chives and sour cream and the summery, aromatic Roasted corn on the cob with summer truffle, pickled onion and brown butter emulsion.
Giro Pizzeria
Since we’d already had breakfast in Miss Clara’s main restaurant, we decided to try Giro Pizzeria next door. This neighbourhood Neapolitan pizzeria is a collaboration between Nobis Hospitality Group and the world-famous L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, that also has a restaurant in London.
We ordered a simple Margarita and Diavola and both were just heavenly with light, blistered crusts, tangy tomato sauce and creamy fior di latte. Giro Pizzeria is walk-in only and service is quick and cheerful, which was handy for us to roll back to our room and watch Eurovision with a pink raspberry Princess cake from the NK Saluhall.
Oaxen Slip
Oaxen Slip is a stunning Swedish bistro and the casual sister of the acclaimed two Michelin-starred restaurant Oaxen Krog. Occupying a prime spot overlooking the water on the leafy Djurgården island, Oaxen is set across a refurbished boatyard shed and its interiors echo the building’s industrial origin.
For weekday lunch, Oaxen Slip offers three weekly-changing special dishes (Veckans Värsting) for 155kr and we found them all rather tempting. We both went for Flank steak with peas, fried potatoes and smoked mayo. Arriving as a sharing plate, the medium-cooked steak was tender and juicy and went perfectly with the golden, crispy potatoes and sunkissed tomatoes and large peas that tasted like they’d been freshly-plucked from the garden.
Not only is Oaxen Slip a beautiful place to bask along the peaceful waterside, but the food has a home-style feel using superior ingredients. I’d definitely book a table at Oaxen Krog to get the full experience on another visit.
Travel tip:
If you hear that Stockholm is mostly cashless, believe it! Almost every cafe and restaurant we visited only took card payments and it was hard to spend the small amount of cash that we brought just in case (supermarkets, ticket offices and the NK department store accepted it, thankfully). A waiter actually told us that in about four years time, cash is expected to be obsolete on Sweden, so be sure to look into a prepaid currency card to avoid those pesky conversion charges.
All photos by Chérie City
