Tapas at Tyge & Sessil
For a good drink, there is nothing more wonderful than traveling to continue eating. The same thing that you can do in your city of residence, you decide to do it several kilometers away and with much more intensity. Why? Because he can. Because he wants. Because that is his personal way of traveling and getting to know a culture. Does well.
We found no fault with eat and drink like there is no tomorrow and paying attention to monuments and museums, as long as they are on the way to the next restaurant or bar that remains to be crossed off the list. Just don't tell your friend the Art History graduate.
Eating Stockholm was this...
This reckless action is usually difficult to defend against friends or relatives who do not conceive not to kick several kilometers a day to "soak up history". It is also true that since a destination is visited a second time, it is easier to get rid of the clichés of the perfect tourist to launch without fear of gastronomic exploration.
So this action comes in handy when it comes to revisiting destinations. Although I shouldn't, since the culinary tradition of a city or country is the perfect indicator of its lifestyle. Especially when it comes to a city like Stockholm , able to get away from our way of seeing the kitchen, the room service and yes, the meaning of high prices.
Start the route.
TYGE & SESSIL
If there is something that the Swedes are doing very well, it is the passion they are showing for natural, organic and biodynamic wines. And locals dedicated to praise them. In this cozy wine bar the goal is that, with a more than extensive –and curious– menu capable of trapping you in the indecision to choose just one.
Its menu is more than brief but enough not to leave you hanging between drinks. They prefer Spanish tapas a lot –kikos, almonds, olives, potato chips, banderillas, anchovies– and a selection of small dishes designed to share , like a spectacular pork terrine with walnuts and pickled cucumber; steak tartare with smoked oyster emulsion and accompanied by rye bread or, if you get the itch after midnight, a combination of spectacular bread with pickles and mayonnaise. Delicious and uncomplicated life. Oh, one point to note: e alcohol in Sweden is expensive , so a glass of wine costs at least between €11 and €12.
Passion for natural wines
STUREHOF
Open since 1897, its terrace is already an institution to see and be seen, but also to taste some of the best seafood in the city. The prices, although high, are not prohibitive enough to be able to get rid of a plate of oysters with crayfish, prawns or lobsters, as well as classics on the menu, such as the roe of a white fish known as whitefish from Lochmaben, served with prawns and mayonnaise.
ask for them assorties, a mega mix of herring, pâté and salmon, all served by some charming waiters wearing a spotless red jacket. It is a mythical of the Swedish capital, so it becomes an essential stop in the Österlmam neighborhood and a few steps from the aforementioned Tygge & Sessil.
SVARTENGRENS
Meat is serious business at this restaurant in the Vastan neighborhood in the north of the city. Each of the cuts that they offer in their extensive menu come directly from cows born and raised in the Holmiense archipelago.
An essential stop in the Österlmam neighborhood
Each week they slaughter only the number of cattle they need – never more – and in a sustainable way. In the basement of the restaurant, they ripen it for as long as they consider necessary for it to be at its best. Experiments are even allowed to lengthen it more than “expected”. But don't worry, they are for the staff's tasting use.
If you ask us, the perfect dinner consists of their silky steak tartare, ribeye and brisket , well loaded with a serving of chips, béarnaise sauce and tomato salad; as well as some roasted vegetables with butter, rusk bread and velouté sauce. If you are more than four, there is an assorted feast with the best cuts (that is, almost all) of the house just for your carnivorous enjoyment.
Oh, and a fundamental piece of information to round off the visit: don't deny trying their Negroni, made with beaver anus liqueur. How do you read it?
PUNK ROYALE COFFEE
This is where things start to go off the rails. Punk Royal was born as a space for not take things too seriously. Well, nothing serious.
Its tasting menu is not haute cuisine nor does it pretend to be, and it's made to lengthen the nights with short, fun bites while the booze keeps flowing.
His fame precedes him, since his chefs – who are also the waiters – are not the typical ones you would find in a typical restaurant. So it has as many detractors as fans.
For newcomers, the best thing is to make a debut in your neighbor Punk Royal Cafe , a lighter version but just as powerful as his older brother. And best of all, at **a price unmatched in Stockholm: 400 kronas (around €40) **.
Obviously the bill starts to rise when you access your shot of vodka with caviar, you get carried away by including the two wines that accompany the desserts and the drinks that liven up the dinner. Even so, pay around €100 for a most entertaining meal –they haven't invented gunpowder nor do they pretend to, so don't go thinking this is StreetXO– and get drunk enough –drinks are taken more seriously at Punk Royal, with more variety, quality and price– to get the point to the jokes that the waiters play or their spontaneous nudes, it is a bargain that goes beyond the gastronomic canons of Stockholm.
MAX
Let's see if you are going to believe that everything in this region is sustainable, organic and designed to take care of that body that you call a temple.
Proof that you were wrong has this Swedish version of McDonald's and therefore, a greasy and satisfying getaway of fresh dishes and full of seasonal foods. The locals love it and you should too.
What they do, is that they honor the vegetarian values that predominate so much in these parts with vegetable options for their burgers and even nuggets. Bizarre, we know.
On a diet at Max
AGRICULTURE BAR
The low cost and more casual version of Agrikultur , the chef's most demanded restaurant Filip Fasten. It is located in the ultra-modern and ideal neighborhood of **Södermalm** –very close to Punk Royal and the much-demanded Cafe Nizza, a nihilistic-looking hip nest in which Mediterranean cuisine and natural wines are the main attraction– and, although it is defined as a bar specialized in gins, it is his kitchen that steals the praise.
The place is tiny but enough to accommodate a good legion of followers They have no problem waiting in line to get a seat. Its terrace is an oasis in the summer and its cuisine is based on dishes designed to share which, as in Agrikultur, are from locally sourced, fresh and absolutely light, evident in its charcuterie, meat or chicken skewers, or dishes such as Swedish corn with black garlic and grated cheese; pea hummus with smoked yogurt, carrots and cauliflower; cabbage, hops and caviar or homemade ricotta with anchovies, roasted courgettes and onion pesto.
WHERE TO SLEEP?
Finished the mission of gaining those kilos that you worked so hard losing during the summer, rest is the remedy to gloat a little between the sheets waiting for breakfast time to arrive.
In Stockholm the offer is varied and extensive, but if we had to choose only two to close with a flourish, we would opt for these:
Of the good stuff, a little? Not quite
DOWNTOWN CAMPER BY SCANDIC
The Scandic chain is all over Stockholm and it is very difficult to walk around the city without bumping into one of its hotels. That experience is the same one that makes it keep expanding. Of the good stuff, a little? Not quite.
Last year he opened Downtown Camper, intended as a more flexible way to stay and socialize within a hotel. It has more than 400 rooms and The Nest, a terrace (available by reservation and at a price that is not included in the room) with views of the city, a heated swimming pool and a sauna that imitates a giant nest (and where, in effect, you hear the birds sing) .
RADISSON COLLECTION
Opened in 1912 to coincide with the Stockholm Olympics, has just enjoyed a well-deserved facelift that includes The Strand brasserie -by chef Richard Williamson-, because you don't want to stop eating.
Overlooking the waters of Nybrokajen Bay, it is very close to the old part of the city (Gamla Stan / Old Town) and has a design that is carried out by the Wingårdhs studio.
Overlooking the waters of Nybrokajen Bay