SWEDEN: eating in Stockholm

winding cobbled lanes of Gamla Stan

Sweden is a country I’ve longed to visit for some time; particularly its capital of fourteen islands, Stockholm.

I’ve only ever heard great things about the quality of life here – one of the most unpolluted cities in the whole of Europe with waters so clean you can, and are actively invited to, fish for salmon in them. Imagine that, fishing for salmon within a capital city – no need for a permit. 

And on the note of salmon, the Swedes don’t half love the stuff. I’ve eaten more of it raw and cured, enjoying its unmistakable deep orange pink flesh in the past four days than I have in the past six months – I believe my annual omega 3 quota has been fulfilled.

When in Stockholm you are never far from water; usually serenely calm and in our case reflecting the brilliant unbroken sunshine and blue skies for the full duration of our stay.

Imposing and statuesque medieval and Renaissance buildings jostling for space on the gently rippling surfaces were interrupted by solitary shards of ice floating between the islands from the winter just passed. Yellow ochre plaster of the towering 18^th century buildings line the steep cobbled lanes of Stockholm’s old town, Gamla Stan. 

To the east lies the large and green island of Djurgården - former royal hunting grounds and heavily wooded, forming the northern side of Stockholm harbour. Prolific with the signs of early spring – crocuses and snowdrops huddling in colourful groups against the early morning frost amongst newly emerging grass; red squirrels with their tufty ears galloping like little dogs across pathways, up trees and onto Matt’s head; great tits and blue tits perching on my finger tips to feed straight from my hand. 

To the south lies Södermalm (where we stayed), rising steeply from the water and is something of a city in itself with its own character, charm and dialect. The slopes are lined with old wooden cottages providing an unrivalled view of Stockholm along with a plethora of restaurants and bars and a lively night life.

An integral part of any international visit I make is sampling the typical local dishes. It was the promise of pickled herrings, meatballs, smörgåsbords  gravadlax, dense rye breads, Swedish coffee and cinnamon buns that was the deciding factor for the next city break to cross off the list. 

I’m pleased to say this rather charming city with its abundant and fit waterside joggers, edgy fashion sense, good looking waiting staff and air pure enough to clean out these London lungs did not disappoint. I’ll share a little about my culinary experiences whilst staying here.

water side buildings of Strandvägen in Östermalm

Money Money Money*

One thing you may have heard about Stockholm is that it can be pricey. 

People have provided similar warnings about a lot of cities I’ve visited – New York, Reykjavik, even my home town of London itself – none of which I’ve found to be particularly expensive. This isn’t because I have bottomless pockets but because these preconceptions are often simply down to a lack of research. 

Spend a few minutes of pre-planning and it’s not difficult to locate and plot on your Google maps good value places to eat that the locals themselves would frequent, going against the grain of typical tourist traps and their inflated prices and often poor quality grub. 

But I’ll tell you what, I may well have been defeated in Stockholm. Eating here is expensive. We’re talking on average around £20-£25 for one plate of food at dinner time i.e. the main course. If you’re after something focussed around a steak or perhaps a fillet of elk with some vegetables, we’re talking £30 plus. Add to that starters or dessert and alcohol at around £6 for a glass of wine or pint of beer and your bill will soon tot up.

It's not that these restaurants are particularly high-end, it's just that these are the average prices of eateries in Stockholm. The only cheap eats that really exist are McDonald’s, Burger King, or hot dog stands. So my advice would be to just accept the prices early on and get over it – it’s the only way you’ll enjoy yourself. 

But also, bear in mind this one tip that can go some way in helping you to try and get round the swift departure of your well-earned krona; it seems to be something both tourists and locals alike partake in. Eat your second (after breakfast) and final meal of the day in the late afternoon, say around 3-4pm. 

Restaurants tend to have lunch menus available until this time which serve similar if not the same food as in the evenings, but for quite a lot cheaper. This tactic worked nicely for us as we filled our bellies with such gusto for breakfast that we weren’t hungry until about 3pm anyway. Punctuate these two main meals with a Swedish coffee and a cinnamon bun (£5-£6) for a fika at some point (see below) and you will be more than satiated for the day.

*ABBA reference intended

Breakfast

I’ve mentioned it before in this post about how much I look forward to and actively revel in the joys a hearty breakfast can provide. Once decided upon a destination, our hotel choice almost entirely comes down to the range and quality of breakfast on offer. I don’t want scrambled eggs and baked beans on cellophaned white bread – I can get that easily enough in London. I want to make like the locals and eat like they do. And the breakfast at our hotel certainly delivered.

If presented with foods that are not a standard in your daily consumption, it always takes at least the first day in a hotel to work out what you like over everything else. And it’s then this combination that you’ll tend to stick to or hover around for the remainder of your stay. But you should try everything on offer before you decide – one of my pet hates are people who won’t try something before deciding they don’t like it. How on earth do you know you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it? Looking at it is not enough.

My pick of the breads available included a freshly baked large loaf of mostly white flour and I suspect enriched with butter or eggs - it had a wonderfully flavoursome chewy crust and an open and light texture. 

There was also a dark and dense rye with a sticky glaze, each slice punctuated with generous chunks of walnuts. And my goodness this bread was impressive – every time I had a bite I felt the urge to declare yet again just how good it was, having already exclaimed it every morning, several times. 

On a large slice of the former I smashed up a soft boiled egg and topped it with crispy bacon rashers. On the rye I spread cream cheese, layered thickly cut succulent chunks of moist cured salmon, and topped it off with pickled gherkins and a twist of pepper. I looked forward to the salmon on rye as early as dinner the night before – that’s when you know you have a good thing going at breakfast. 

With these I also had a bowl of fruit, a cup of Rooibos (while the Swedes do excellent coffee, they also love their tea – a vast range available in every café), a shot of the home made smoothie available that morning (my favourite was the raspberry, strawberry, ginger and rhubarb combination),  and washed it all down with an excellent cappuccino and croissant.

Three slices of dense rye with cream cheese, salmon
and gherkins. Soft boiled egg and bacon on the loaf.

My assembled concoctions, along with a bowl of fruit,
shot of home made smoothie and cup of Rooibos

All finished off with an excellent Swedish cappuccino
and an oversized croissant

You would be correct in thinking that this is quite a lot of food for one sitting. But as the saying goes, 'breakfast like a King..'. It certainly met the criteria of adequately fuelling us for most of the day ahead whilst still being completely delicious.

Hotel Rival

Mariatorget 3, Stockholm (Södermalm)

'Fika' - the Swedish coffee break

A fika or to fika - you decide as it can be used as both a noun and a verb. The fact the Swedes have a specific expression to describe their institution of taking a break to socially interact with friends, family or colleagues over coffee demonstrates that this is a pastime to be taken seriously.

According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Sweden ranks second in the world after Finland in terms of coffee consumption per person, and it is through fika that this coffee drinking culture is fostered. 

Fika is often enjoyed with freshly baked pastries such as cinnamon buns (kanelbullar), collectively called fikabröd. What makes the concept of fika so intriguing to us foreigners is the sheer frequency at which it is observed each day. 

It’s apparently not uncommon to grab a cup of coffee after breakfast, after lunch, before dinner and after dinner. This tradition is an opportunity for Swedes to set aside a few moments each day for quality bonding over coffee, and it’s a tradition I fully support.

We found a great little place to fika on the island our hotel was on, Södermalm. Gildas Rum was packed full of clientèle when we entered, but we managed to nab two armchairs and a little table in a cosy corner of the room. 

The décor is stylishly kitschy, with muted red and gold tones and the bookshelf pattern on the wallpaper and those comfy armchairs lend the feeling of an old-fashioned reading room. The counter was heaving with home-baked goods of which I decided upon a square of brownie. And hands down, this was the best brownie I’ve ever tasted – gooey, deliciously dark, speckled with chunks of walnuts and topped with some sort of chocolate cream. 

It went perfectly with yet another very good coffee. An excellent venue to rest weary feet after a day of meandering across the city.

Gildas Rum

Skånegatan 79, Stockholm (Södermalm)

Swedish meatballs

One of the main reasons anyone pays a visit to Ikea is not to fulfil a burning desire to ogle flat pack MDF and buy tea lights, but to eat the meatballs in their restaurant. Few would dispute that they're pretty good (whether they contain horse meat or not - which I don't have a problem with, incidentally). 

But you haven't tasted true Swedish meatballs until you've eaten them in Sweden. And after a bit of research and review reading to source the most favoured meatball establishment in Stockholm, I decided upon Pelikan. Assisting with this decision was the visit paid by Anthony Bourdain in his 'No Reservations' episode on Stockholm - if he went, it must be good.

The high-ceilinged
interiors of Pelikan

Pelikan is regarded as somewhat of an establishment in the city and serves traditional Swedish fare through and through in its rustic, high-ceilinged beer hall setting. There's a lot of wood and waiters in black and white suits to help ease you into the warm atmosphere of its old world charm. 

The menu is brief, I always regard this as a good sign of the quality of what's on offer. Do what you do well, and leave it there. I also suspect it hasn't changed for years, and why should it when locals and tourists alike regularly fill out its seating area. 

Starters consist of the ubiquitous pickled herrings, roe with eggs and anchovies, soups or duck sausage. 

We decided to share a plate of the assorted pickled herring and cheese (£12). It included herring in a sweet dill sauce, herring in cream and chives and herring with red onion and seasoned with pepper. In the middle of the plate was a soft boiled potato and the cheese was speckled with something slightly sweet, perhaps lingonberry. Whilst conservative in its portion, this was a tasty little appetiser to ready us for the main to come. 

The mains on offer include cured salmon with dill and potatoes, potato dumplings, Swedish hash with eggs and beets, boiled knuckle of pork (what Tony had on his show), spring lamb in red wine, and a schnitzel of veal. But of course, we came specifically for the meatballs. And at £20 for a portion, I was expecting great things.

What I probably wasn't expecting was the sheer mass of what I was presented with. I had heard the Swedes were generous with their portions (and I do wonder if this is an attempt to appease the high prices of their food in general), but these were almost laughable. 

Four huge and dense meatballs on both of our plates, each the size of a snooker ball. Served with pickles, wonderfully sweet and slightly tart stewed lingonberries (mostly whole rather than saucy) to cut through the weight of the plate, and a dish of soft smooth mash. 

Estimating, I reckon there was about 350-400g of meat there. Think of a pack of mince you purchase in a supermarket being 400g-500g - there was a lot of protein on our table.

the meatballs at Pelikan

But praise be to the Viking gods, these were exceptional. Soft and melting in the mouth, these were moist and beautifully savoury, detecting a good amount of heat from the liberal use of pepper in the seasoning. 

We were trying to work out how they would have gone about cooking a parcel of mince of that size without drying it out - I'm not sure we figured it out. The dish was delivered submerged in a pool of meaty gravy of which the waiter happily fetched some more at Matt's request. 

I coupled this with a glass of beer (it was a beer hall after all) and despite not having had lunch (see above for the big breakfast reference), I was defeated. It was me vs. the meatballs and the meatballs won. 

I managed to polish off two and a half with some difficulty along with some of the mash, but I couldn't accommodate another bite. They were just so BIG. Matt put in a sterling performance and through controlled breathing and mopping the meat sweats from his brow, he managed to clear his plate.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I visited again, a single portion of these shared between two along with the mash, table bread and a starter would have more than sufficed. As well as help keep down the costs. But regardless, you must try meatballs if you visit Stockholm and I highly recommend trying them here.

Pelikan
Blekingegatan 40, Stockholm, (Södermalm)

Vegetarian Stockholm

Eating so much meat and fish will invariably result in a yearning for at least one meal away from the delights of the flesh. Not to mention it being good for the gut. 

While deciding upon a meal for our third day, we happened across some favourable reviews for Hermans, a well visited and reviewed vegetarian restaurant serving buffet style meals for £17 a head. This includes unlimited tea, coffee and tap water but does not include any additional drinks or desserts.

The restaurant is situated on the north side of the island of Södermalm and provides some beautiful views over Stockholm. The bill is paid for in advance at the till, where you are provided with a plate per head and let loose on the buffet. 

The buffet consisted of both salads and hot foods whilst involving flavours from around the world including: creamy mushroom potato gratin (my favourite thing there - delicious), fantastic humous, tzatskiki, Greek salads with feta, antipasti with roasted peppers, aubergines in yoghurt with dill, dhaal with raita, tiny spiced florets of cauliflower, diced beetroots with cashews, red cabbage and white cabbage salads - the list went on for quite a bit more. 

It was all plentiful, fresh, colourful and delicious.

We wrapped the meal up with a slice of gluten free chocolate cake (£6) to share which I initially didn't care for with my first bite, but quickly grew to like the unusual paste-like texture due to the lack of standard flour, I presume. 

Washed down with some quality filter coffee on Matt's part and a few cups of organic Rooibos for me (caffeine after 3pm means I won't sleep) and we were happy to call it a very successful meal. The place was packed at 4pm and whilst a little bit hippy-dippy with some of its wall art, I really enjoyed it. Quality buffet style vegetarian meals should be available in London - I would visit.

Amen to that

That's what all the
tree-huggers say

Hermans
Fjallgatan 23, Stockholm 11628, (Södermalm)

Smörgåsbord

A smörgåsbord is typically Swedish and is a meal served buffet style, with multiple courses of both cold and hot food. I was keen to have one reasonably blow-out meal in Stockholm and trying out the smörgåsbord at the Grand Hotel is reputedly the best way to fully appreciate the experience in the city.

They've provided a little excerpt on their website titled 'The art of enjoying a smörgåsbord' to whet your appetite:

• Everything is delicious, but start with your favourites. It’s easy to overdo it
• Make sure to make room for all the courses. Make several trips to the table, taking a clean plate each time
• Start with the herring dishes, traditionally served with hot new potatoes, crisp bread and cheese. Accompany it with the perfect libation, a cold beer or home made snaps
• Then it’s time for the gravlax with hovmästare sauce. Don’t miss the smoked salmon with pressed lemons
• Now sample the salads, egg dishes and charcuterie
• On to the hot dishes! Don’t miss our home made meatballs with lingonberry jam
• For dessert we recommend a little of everything, but he fruit salad is a must. Finish off with a cup of coffee and an ice-cold punsch. Skål!

I''m actually going to stop there as I think this meal is deserving of a post all on its own, so watch this space for a link to it soon. It will be a good'un.

This post has now been written and can be found here.

Grand Hotel
Sodra Blasieholmshammen 8, Stockholm 103 27

Stockhom is a stunning city and I'm almost certain I'll return. The people are incredibly friendly and have the right mentality when it comes to enjoying the good things in life. 

Now that my Swedish fix has been fulfilled, I find myself with the unenviable task of trying to source that impeccable glazed and fresh walnut rye I had for breakfast, somewhere here in the UK. I don't think the Ikea food shop is going to cut it.

Afiyet olsun.

Pétrus - Review

Slow poached breast of pigeon with confit leg, 
pickled beetroot, hazelnut and girolle mushrooms

The way to my heart is wholly and unashamedly through my stomach. Gifts involving food at any time of year are eagerly anticipated and received with great pleasure and appreciation be they pots of something tasty brought home from a local farmer’s market, jars of homemade goodness from friends, breakfast in bed, cupcakes from colleagues, and so on. 

Matt told me that on Saturday we’d be leaving the house at midday sharp but would not reveal the destination. After spending most of the morning feverishly knocking up two batches of panettone dough ready for their first prove while we would be out (blog posts for these to come), I was rushing all over the shop sporting a dusting of flour in my hair. Dressed with little thought and ready to leave, Matt looked me up and down in my jeans and element braving jumper and with unimpressed eyebrows exclaimed ‘you need to wear something nicer than that’. Right, thanks. Nice dress thrown on, a slick of lippy and we finally left.
A crisp, dry and rather gorgeous afternoon walking through the beautiful residential streets of Knightsbridge, and I suddenly find myself passing through the doors of Petrus, one of Gordon Ramsay’s Michelin starred restaurants. Turns out part of my Christmas present this year was a slap up lunch – oh yes please.

Pleasant and warm staff de-robed us of our winter armour and directed us to a table for two in the corner. I was soon presented with what I initially thought to be a Tolstoy masterpiece – turns out it was in fact the wine list.  The leather bound book of a menu could have anchored a cruise ship. Thankfully, the section for wines by the glass was brief and in the first chapter so I was able to choose a reasonably priced red without having to contend with the whole content. An entry of note I did spot – a 1945 Petrus at £19,500. Maybe next time.

From the dining menu, we each opted for the three course a la carte (£65). I chose the red mullet to start and venison for main. Matt opted for the pigeon to begin with, followed by the beef. Before our starters arrived, we were presented with an amuse-bouche in the form of a pork croquette with thin apple shavings, sitting atop a celeriac velouté. Tasty shredded pork encased in a crispy deep fried coating with a hint of sharp sweet apple and earthy celeriac, it certainly did the job in igniting our appetites in preparation for the start of our meal.

First courses were presented shortly after. My red mullet was served with small and sweet clams; light, soft and silky coriander gnocchi; and a delicate lemongrass sauce poured over the dish by the waiter. The skin on my fillet was wonderfully crispy with the flesh perfectly opaque and well seasoned.  Before Matt was a plate of perfectly pink pigeon breasts and a confit leg – the best thing on the plate. Crispy leg skin retaining the flavoursome fat encasing a conservative but delicious package of meat, easily breaking away from the bone. The pigeon was served on wafer slices of pickled beetroot with hazelnuts, and the plate was dotted with quaint apricot yellow girolle mushrooms providing a hint of nuttiness to the dish.

Pork croquette amuse bouche

Pan-fried fillet of red mullet with clams,
coriander gnocchi and a lemongrass sauce

For the main, my roasted venison loin was served sliced and pink. Succulent, gamey, and topped with a juniper berry sauce, it was quite delicious. Also on the plate was a small tower of Stilton macaroni resting on a layer of venison shin. The combination of cheesy pasta alongside a hunk of quality meat was sublime. It reminded me of the Mauritian roast beef with cloves and garlic my mum makes that is always accompanied by macaroni cheese. Turns out red meat and cheesy pasta is a winning combination. Roast pear and shavings of the fruit fresh provided welcome hints of sweet and tart respectively. Matt had a rich fillet of Casterbridge beef cooked medium rare with a roast onion that had been stuffed with braised shin for a tasty surprise. There were a couple of nuggets of bone marrow on the plate which were highly anticipated, but in fact added little to the plate as a whole. The dish was due with a Barolo (wine) jus but as Matt doesn’t drink alcohol (or want to consume it in any form), he requested a sauce without the wine present. The staff and chef were highly accommodating and instead presented the beef with an earthy cep jus. 

Loin of venison with a juniper berry
sauce and Stilton macaroni 

Fillet of Casterbridge beef with roast onion,
braised shin, bone marrow and Barolo jus

After our mains we were handed small ice cream cones filled with white chocolate, passion fruit and my first encounter of something that left me in fits of giggles – popping candy. I was quite surprised I hadn’t come across this before as I know it’s been around for ages – either way, it’s great fun. The saliva dissolves the sugar coating of the small nuggets releasing the pressurised pockets of carbon dioxide on the palette, much like a muted firework display taking place on the tongue.

Passion fruit and white chocolate
- with popping candy!

For dessert, I ordered the blackberry parfait with a chocolate ganache, lime and vanilla cream. I have to say that unfortunately, I didn’t care for this plate. So much so that I left it unfinished. Perhaps I chose the wrong dish, but I was expecting pangs of tart from the berry presence. Instead I felt the parfait was lacking and uninspiring and the ice cream had barely a sniff of lime. I do love tart, sour and citrus flavours and this dish didn’t have enough of them when it was needed. Matt had the chocolate sphere with milk ice cream and honeycomb. The sphere arrived on the plate resembling a large and glistening tea cake. The waiter poured over a hot chocolate sauce causing the dome to melt and collapse, revealing the ice cream inside surrounded by sticky sweet honeycomb - a pleasant way for Matt to round off his meal.

Blackberry parfait with chocolate ganache,
lime and vanilla cream

Throughout dinner the front of house staff were warm and attentive without being overbearing. Matt ordered a coffee post-meal which we took in the foyer by the window seated on soft sofas by the Christmas tree. It came with cocoa covered almonds and a box of dark and milk chocolates. With our stomachs already fit for bursting, a beaming waiter presented us with our final consumables for the afternoon, a bowl of liquid nitrogen with the evaporating cloudy gases theatrically bellowing over the rim – I thought only Heston did this sort of stuff? In the bowl were two Armagnac and white chocolate lollipops. As they had the alcohol present, the waiter brought Matt an un-prompted alternative in the form of a little pot of honeycomb and the consideration was appreciated. This of course meant I had both of the lollipops, and they were very pleasant indeed.

Armagnac and white chocolate lollipops

Honeycomb bites

We were even asked if we would like to see the kitchen and the chef’s table which I was quite excited about. Lead down a set of stairs, we were taken through some doors into a good sized kitchen heaving with chefs, cleaning down after the lunch service and beginning the preparations for the evening service. Wonderful looking fresh ingredients were dotted about the place, I spotted some beautiful purple green artichokes and the tiniest of carrots getting stripped and trimmed. The chef’s table is a great example of how one should be – not behind a screen but instead perched just to the side of where all the action is happening.

The lunch was of a fantastic quality with wonderful flavours – I put the dessert failure down to perhaps expecting something that was in fact never intended. As well as inventive and exciting dishes, it’s the staff that also make these experiences what they are. And it was one of great pleasure. I recommend a visit and if you have any spare change, perhaps indulge in that 1945 bottle.

Alfiyet olsun.

sunday brunch at best mangal 3, fulham - review

 

It’s no secret that breakfast is almost universally recognised as the most important meal of the day.  Face contortions of disbelief ensue when people inform me they skip this turbo-thrust booster equivalent of the food world. How does one function on an empty tank, and more importantly, why would anyone turn down the chance to be eating? A notion I find difficult to digest.  

The high regard attributed to breakfast is reinforced by the fact that every country in the world has their own interpretation of what it involves and almost all of them make a big deal out of it.  I found a very appetising article listing, with pictures, top breakfasts from across the globe - I have bestowed upon me the challenge of gradually and authentically working my way through the whole list. Exactly how I’ll achieve this is yet to be defined. 

Best Mangal has a few branches in London and its Fulham venue is an unassuming Turkish restaurant sitting at a junction on the main road. Glance at its façade and you could easily mistake it for another standard kebab house. But wonder on inside early on a Sunday morning and you’ll be presented not only with a heaving throng of Turks fully exercising their well-versed eating skills, but also a full on multi-tiered banquet of all things great associated with a Turkish breakfast.

The spread was fresh, colourful, inviting and abundant. Crammed to the hilt with many Turkish specialities, it had a wide variety of soft, creamy and crumbly white Turkish cheeses; glorious potato salad with parsley, dill and celery; beef and lamb salamis; posh corned beef; wafer thin bresaola type beef; brimming bowls of seasoned green and black olives; wonderfully oily roasted artichokes and piled high sun dried tomatoes; smoky aubergine salad; boiled eggs; preserves and spreads including rose jam, strawberry jam, honey, tahini and thick strained yoghurt; tomato and cucumber salads; fresh melon and grapes alongside dried figs, sultanas and apricots; metal containers full of hot and fresh boreks; piles of bread made that morning warmed at request on a griddle by a waiter to the side of the spread; and more.

The buffet is open between 10am - 2pm on Sundays at the Fulham branch only, and they do not take reservations - when we arrived just before 11am, small groups and full on family forces were already seated enjoying the pleasures of good food, good conversation and the consequential satiety with life itself. 

And the best part of this whole experience? The price. £8.95 per head (drinks not included) for all the Turkish goodness you can gorge yourself on. I’ve never come across this type of format anywhere else in London, especially for breakfast; unlike other countries such as the US (who do this sort of thing quite well), it’s difficult to find quality buffet eating options outside of hotels.

A good time to arrive is between 10am – 11am. Even if the place is full, you’ll likely only need to wait for a few minutes to be seated. During the course of our stay tables frequently became available with a steady flow of customers both leaving and entering.

Needless to say, with its relatively close proximity to where I live, free bay parking on Sundays, and the exceptional value for money for what's on offer, I already know we’ll become regulars and I’ll be spreading the word to everyone I know.

The bill

buffet breakfast £8.95

Afiyet olsun.





This post is also featured on T-Vine magazine.