Cafes and Bakeries in Stockholm

For my last post on Stockholm, I’d like to focus on what I always associate with Sweden – baked goods, excellent baked goods. These excellent baked goods made up my breakfasts and my fikas and were eaten on the hoof, in cafes, at tourist attractions.

My first fika was at Vete-Katten, a well-preserved labyrinth of a coffee shop in the centre of Stockholm.

There was, of course, coffee (apparently Swedes have the 2nd or 3rd highest coffee consumption per capita) and an excellent kardemummabulle (cardamom bun).

And their Prinsesstarta! I never really understood this cake, thinking the green layer on top was all a bit odd but my goodness was it ever good. The lovely thin layer of green marzipan held together the lightest freshest whipped cream and a most delicate sponge. It’s a popular cafe and you may struggle to find a seat on the weekend but it’s worth the wait!

Later in the week, I visited another well-known cafe located down the road – Sturekatten (what’s with the cat names?). The cafe is quite a well known one locally with its original vintage furniture and tasty food.

I settled in with some coffee and a punschrulle (aka the dammsugare, or vacuum cleaner). Both very good though most of the baked goods did look a little better at Vete-Katten.

And then there were the rest of the bakeries I frequented every morning before work each day for the remainder of the week. I was based that time very close to central Stockholm and I’d grab something from a different place each day. From a chain called Gateau, I tried an orange brioche filled with vanilla cream and then topped with chocolate. Not outstanding but very good. Perhaps it was a bit too much cream for me for breakfast time.

From Fabrique, the Swedish chain with outlets in London (hooray!), an outstanding flaky bun with rhubarb and hazelnuts …

… and an excellent kardemummabulle (shh, I prefer cardamom buns to cinnamon buns).

And I discovered the mandelbulle (almond bun) sold at Bröd & Salt, another bakery chain found throughout Stockholm. Imagine that cardamom dough rolled up with frangipane, sliced and then topped with a biscuit topping with lots of whole almonds. Yes, it was amazing.

There were even visits to two bakeries in Skansen! There was first the village bakery that actually does sell its wares still to the public.

I purchased a delightfully homemade looking kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) and munched that happily as I continued with my visit.

Then there was my favourite – the bakehouse. Here is where the famous Swedish flatbreads are baked for keeping throughout the year and being baked that day was tunnbröd (thin bread). Apparently the traditional version would be baked very dry and the soft versions available at supermarkets (and frozen at Ikea) are fancy modern thin breads.

There was a proper demonstration of how the dough was rolled out and pricked using the textured rolling pin …

… and then baked in the wood-fired oven.

And when it came out, there was butter to slather onto the hot bread… it was excellent!

I loved Stockholm! I loved its food and its beautiful surroundings and its flowers and everything. I’m hoping to visit again in the future, bringing Blai with me this time, and he’s keen to go too after seeing all my photos. Thanks to everyone who sent information about Stockholm, its restaurants, and Eurovision, which was on the weekend I was there!

As is usual, all my Stockholm travel photos are sitting in a dedicated Flickr album.

Advertisement

 

Lunches in Stockholm

I was in Stockholm for work and that let me try some of the weekday lunch deals on offer at various outlets. At Café Panorama, a few daily dishes are on offer. For 95 kr, you chose your main course (this appears to change each day) – fish soup for me – and it included access to the drinks dispenser, a salad bar with bread and cake, and coffee or tea to finish.

That fish soup was a cream based one that was chock-full of fish and shrimp – it was a fish stew rather than soup. It really felt like a bargain with all that fish in there – really, did I mention it was jam packed full of fish? And it was all delicious.

I visited Hötorgshallen market hall two days in a row, keen to try a couple of the vendors. I went with Saluplats Husman and their adorable fur covered stools. For about 100 kr, I got a lunch of wallenbergere with mashed potatoes, peas, gravy and all the lingonberries I could eat. There was bread and knäckebröd on the side and also water or lingonberry water to drink.

And that veal burger was delicious, with a richness that’s due to the addition of eggs and cream. I almost forgot, there was coffee included, of course!

On the second day, we joined the queue at Kajsas Fisk where I perused the fishy menu for what seems like ages before finally deciding on the fried herring with fresh mashed potatoes and remoulade sauce (100 kr).

There it was again, my new favourite Swedish fish dish and this time was just as delicious. Remoulade sauce was a great creamy, tangy addition. Of course, bread and salad were included though I couldn’t check on the coffee as I had to rush back to work.

I should confirm that lunches on weekends are good too! I was in the Historiska Museet (the Swedish History Museum) on a Sunday and there was a good selection of hot and cold foods – it was a toasted ham, cheese and tomato for me, and with a little salad, it hit the spot! And they too have lunch specials on weekdays.

And this was my excellent prawn sandwich (about 100 kr) on my last day in Stockholm at Café Petissan in Skansen. As an aside, Skansen is an absolutely brilliant open-air museum (the world’s first) which I highly recommend – I thought it was mainly a children’s museum at first but that’s far from the truth.

I had a lunch companion too – this duck – and he showed up by my side begging for a little treat, even going so far as to nudge me gently in the thigh. He got a little seedy bread for his troubles.

I cannot promise that you too will have a ducky friend but it certainly made for a memorable lunch!

 

Sjöpaviljongen, Stockholm

The weather that evening was vile – all stormy and windy and with a windchill below zero – and I didn’t want to venture far from my hotel. I was staying in the Scandic Alvik and while there’s a good supermarket and good cafes nearby, there are few restaurants in the area. It’s in a good spot though as the train gets you into central Stockholm quickly but that night really was something; I needed somewhere to eat close by. I did note a cute restaurant at the end of the street by the water on Google maps and heck, that restaurant – Sjöpaviljongen – turned out to not just be by the water but on the water. They found a table for me right by the open fire (I must have looked like a drenched rat) and I am forever grateful to them for it. Service was exceptional that evening and I was made to feel most welcome.

The selection of bread that was brought over was divine. My favourite was a sweet-ish dark bread that was utterly divine with lashings of the accompanying whipped butter. I could have eaten the whole lot if I didn’t have lots to look forward to.

My first course of Råbiff på svenskt gårdskött, ramslökskräm, betor, kapris och sommartryffel (Steak tartar on Swedish meat, ramsons, beetroots, capers and summer truffle, 165 SEK) was beautiful, all delicate little things tossed together with contrasts in every bite. Slivers of fried potato gave the whole mixture a lovely little crunch.

I was extremely happy with my Sjöpaviljongens fisk- och skaldjursgryta med aioli (Fish- and shellfish casserole with aioli, 199 SEK) – again another little break from cream. There was salmon, cod, another white fish I couldn’t identify, shrimps, crayfish, and mussels all mixed up in this tomato based broth with fennel, onions and dill. A little slurp of soup, a little dollop of aioli on my fish….mmm… I’m salivating just thinking about this.

It was lovely and cosy in there and I wished I didn’t need to head back to hotel! The photo below shows you the inside and its coziness reminded me of many of the traditional Swedish restaurants I visited when I visited West Sweden a few years back.

I loved the place so much I returned later that week for another dinner, this time with colleagues. And this time the weather was gorgeous (such a change less than a week later!) and we had drinks prior to the meal on the deck on the water. We could look out upon the calm waters across to Kristineberg (another Stockholm district).

This time I started with Toast Skagen med kalixlöjrom (Toast with a mix of prawns, dill and mayonnaise and a fish roe topping, 129 SEK), quite a common classic Swedish starter.

I was really looking forward to my main course of Biff Rydberg med rå äggula och senapsgrädde (Biff Rydberg with egg yolk and creamy mustard, 259 SEK); I was thinking about it all day since we had to choose our dishes in advance for such a large group. This was fabulous – a kind of luxurious version of the classic Swedish pyttipanna, which is a hash of potatoes, onions, and meat. And here there was fried potatoes, fried onions, fried pieces of fillet steak and a raw egg to hold it all together. Oh, and a butter sauce. Delicious.

A final photo of the restaurant!

If you go, do make a booking if you can – the best way to contact them is via their email address on their website.

Sjöpaviljongen
Tranebergs Strand 4
167 40 Bromma
Stockholm
Sweden

 

La Neta, Stockholm

Apparently Friday nights are taco nights in Sweden. There’s some understanding (thanks to a clearly ridiculously successful marketing campaign) that Friday nights are for cosy nights in with tacos (or pizza) and junk food; there’s even a word for it – Fredagsmys (cosy Friday). Swedish tacos are … very different from Mexican tacos and perhaps are more similar to those eaten of the Old El Paso kit variety here in the UK. Actually there are some clear differences from these as well as this hilarious Reddit post illustrates.

Anyway, I thought of this tradition as I munched away on some excellent Mexican food in Sweden. We’ll rewind to half an hour prior to proper tacos – after a few days of butter and cream, I couldn’t face another very rich cream-laden Swedish meal. I contemplated the highly rated vegan Chinese place near my Airbnb flat but when I saw the reviews for La Neta, a Mexican joint just a little further walk away, tacos tacos tacos consumed my mind.

The restaurant on Barnhusgatan is tiny – it’s a basement joint with a large kitchen (I believe they make their tortillas on site) and shared dining tables and a counter by the window. Queue at the till, place your order, find a seat, and pick up your order when your buzzer goes.

I had one each of the tacos on offer that day: Tacos de Pastor (marinated pork with pineapple), Suadero (a slow cooked beef), Bistec (grilled steak). They were 22 kr each and were served on homemade corn tortillas.

Of course, tacos are not complete without a salsa bar – and I’m glad to report that La Neta had a little one! I added the chopped onions and coriander and helped myself to the green and red salsas on offer. From what I can see on Instagram, their salsas are made fresh each day. They were perfect – the tacos and the salsas. The meats were all tender and flavourful and tacos just looked right. An aside: I read recently that La Neta was opened by two natives of Monterey, California, both of whom missed the Mexican food they could get easily back home – these were legit tacos.

There were quesadillas too.

had a Rajas (poblano chili, courgette, corn, onion and philadelphia – 28 kr) …

… and a Choripapa (potato, chili, onion and chorizo – 28 kr). Both were excellent and of note was the Mexican chorizo which was totally on point.

My Mexican dinner hit the spot – and fret not, I went straight back to trying more Swedish foods after my palate was refreshed here. There are freshly made tortilla chips and larger tacos in flour tortillas too. And you can even buy their freshly made corn tortillas by the kilo. I love this place!

La Neta
Barnhusgatan 2
111 23, Stockholm

There’s a second branch on Södermalm.

 

Nystekt Strömming, Stockholm

Head south from Gamla Stan in Stockholm and you’ll pass the metro station Slussen. In front of the station is a large square that will be filled with the usual fruit stands and flower stands; somewhere towards the back will be this van, with its large fish sign emblazoned with ‘Nystekt Strömming’.

The name of the van translates to ‘Freshly Fried Herring’ and yup, that’s all they do here. There are options to have your fried herring in a burger bun, or on some brown bread as an open faced sandwich, or as a ‘meal’, which is the option I chose. This was my small fried herring plate that came with mashed potatoes, pickled cucumber, sliced onions, coleslaw, and a piece of knäckebröd. I think this was about 60 kr (SEK). There are a few tables on which to park yourself though if the weather is nice, there’s plenty of ledges on which to sit around the area.

I do believe fried herring is now my favourite herring preparation – I love the flavour of the oily fish when cooked like this! The fish was fresh and tender and not at all fishy and the salads help cut through any richness you may find. I wish I’d had more opportunity to try the rest of the menu; the burger looked great as did the open sandwich. Or if you don’t find yourself in the area, you can find fried herring at some traditional Swedish restaurants too (more on that later).

It’s not for late night eats (I believe it closes at 6pm on most days) but an order from there makes for a perfect snack or light lunch.