When it comes to Swedish food a certain mega furniture store, well known to most, has done a decent job highlighting the top foods from Sweden. However, while this store might be the cheapest and most convenient way to taste your way through Swedish food, when in Stockholm there is an abundance of local restaurants serving up fresher and more authentic dishes, that of course also come with a more authentic price tag; yet worth the splurge. Although the Swedish cuisine extends far beyond this list, as we only had one day in Stockholm, we sampled only a few items.
To start our day we headed to Vete-Katten café for some coffee paired with a delicious cinnamon bun and the amazingly light princess cake, consisting of an alternating layer of sponge cake and whipped cream with a raspberry jam base and a bright green marzipan coating. For lunch we tried gravlax (thin slices of cured salmon with dill) and Skagen toast (a single slice of bread topped with lettuce, shrimp, mayo-based mixture and sliced boiled egg). In between we nibbled on Vasterbottensost cheese, which was quite tasty and complex. If you like sushi and don’t mind a strong fishy taste, gravlax is for you. Admittedly, we were nervous to try it, as it didn’t look particularly appealing; however it was more tasty and complex then expected. The Östermalm Food Hall has a few restaurants offering both gravlax and skagen toast.
For dinner, we decided to get the classic Swedish meatballs, and an elk burger. Meatballs - For the People, while in our experience not the most friendly in terms of customer service, it did excel in the food department. Unlike the mass produced meatballs found elsewhere, Meatballs - For the People delivered an amazingly tasty version of the classic Swedish meatballs accompanied with a potato puree and pickled cucumbers. The elk burger we ordered at a different location on the other hand, while appealing in appearance, didn’t quite get along with our taste buds. Luckily, wrapping up the day the cloudberry soft service ice cream we got at Glassbar Café Järntorget was quite a sweet ending.
- The best: classic Swedish meatballs.
- The worst: elk burger.
- The healthiest: most likely the gravlax.
