Stockholm Recommendations

* * This list was made in 2010, so it’s not really any good today. * *

Here are my recommendations for Stockholm. I’ve lived in the city for a few years, and I’m obsessed with restaurants and eating out. These are the places I would recommend to my friends. To make things simple I only have 1-3 restaurants in each category. I’m not a restaurant critic, and there are hundreds of restaurants I haven’t eaten at in Stockholm. At the bottom you will find a list of the restaurants I haven’t been to, but I’ve heard great things about. I’m mostly putting this together because I get a lot of questions from Icelandic tourists and friends, but I imagine this info could be helpful for a lot of people, so that’s why I’m writing in english. I own a restaurant chain myself, so you’re welcome to think of my opinions as biased. Please note that with a lot of these restaurants you need to make reservations. For most it’s enough to reserve 2-3 weeks in advance if you’re booking a friday or saturday night.


Really, really expensive, but fantastic restaurants

Frantzen. If you have the cash (a meal could easily cost you 3.000 kronor with wine) then Frantzen is worth it. It is probably the best restaurant I’ve eaten at in my life. It’s a tiny place on Gamla Stan, but the food and service is nothing short of amazing.
Also great: Matsalen at Grand Hotel is the other two-star Michelin restaurant in town. It is also fantastic, but I like Frantzen just a little bit more. At Grand Hotel you’ll also find Matbaren, which is cheaper than Matsalen but serves fantastic food.

Steak houses

Djuret. This small restaurant is on Gamla Stan, and it has the best steaks I’ve eaten in Stockholm. The chef and I share a last name, so it gets another plus for that. Also great: Mäster Anders on Kungsholmen, AG – also on Kungsholmen and Grill downtown.

Hamburgers

I love hamburgers. I think I’ve tried hamburgers at all the places that claim to have the best burgers in town (AG, Pubologi, Ruby, etc).

AG. A great restaurant on Kungsholmen. They have fantastic hamburgers. They also have great steaks. Also great: Texas Burger Company. One of the biggest hamburger chains. At least 30% more expensive than Max, McDonald’s, etc – but they’re hamburgers are in my opinion great. They have a 300 gram hamburger, which is my favorite.

Healthy lunch during the week

Matdistriketet – a tiny restaurant on Rådmansgatan. It has an amazing, healthy buffet at lunch, which is great for vegetarians and people like me who like to eat a lot of meat and fish. Highly recommended. Zocalo – That’s my restaurant. I eat lunch at Zocalo maybe 3-4 times a week (the other days I eat at Matdistriktet). Healthy and great food in my humble opinion.  The most central location is at Klarabergsgatan 29 (by Sergels Torg).

Sushi

For sushi I have three recommendations depending on your mood.

Take-away sushi: Akki Sushi. A tiny place on Medborgarplatsen on Södermalm, which has fantastic take-away sushi. Calm dinner; Råkultur. The same owners as Esperanto, next door. Fantastic sushi in Östermalm. Probably my favorite sushi restaurant in Stockholm. If you want to party, and are eating sushi to start the night: Two places, Ljunggren on Götgatsbacken on Södermalm and Berns downtown. Both have really good sushi, and are buzzing friday and saturday nights. Both have bars/nightclubs attached, so you can spent the whole night there.

Italian

Mancini, A great restaurant downtown Stockholm. Probably the best Italian food I’ve had in Stockholm Also great: On Södermalm La Vecchia Signora is quite good.

Pizza

This is absolutely the most frustrating category in Stockholm. There is no truly great pizza restaurant in Stockholm. Period. I personally like

Primo Ciao Ciao – they have three restaurants in Stockholm. Quite good italian pizza And all the tourists love Vapiano. It’s a german chain that serves Italian food. They’re fairly inexpensive, and despite it’s bad sides (long wait times, different lines for pizza and pasta) they’re pizzas make a visit worthwile.

Asian

Berns Asiatiska. They have good sushi and good Asian food. And the location is fantastic. Hard to beat on a Saturday night. The restaurant is so big you rarely need to make reservations. Also great: Other than Berns I still haven’t eaten really good Asian food in Stockholm. There are Thai restaurants everywhere, but none of them have exceptional food. Södermalm has two restaurants that are popular with tourists, Koh Pangan and Thai Boat (which is on a boat).

Mexican

Of course I can only recommend my own restaurant, Zocalo. Our food is a fusion of Mexican and American food. We sell burritos, quesadillas, sallads and nachos. Good, healthy and inexpensive.

Middle-Eastern

Beirut cafe is a fantastic Lebanese place in Östermalm.

Brunch

Mosebacke etablissemanget: I love eating sunday brunch at Mosebacke. The setting is fantastic, and food is good. The brunch selection is a bit more swedish than the majors hotels. Also great: For great sunday hotel brunch with everything you might want: Nordic Light hotel downtown, Clarion on Södermalm. And if you want something more special try Strand on Södermalm.

Ice Cream

By far the best ice cream is served at StikkiNikki on Götgatan, Södermalm. They have fantastic home-made gelato, and their flavors change every day. Highly recommended.

Coffee

Espressino is a tiny espresso place close to where I live. Great coffee.

Also great: Stockholm is dominated by a few coffee chains. Coffehouse by George, Wayne’s Coffee and Espresso House, which is the biggest and the best of the chains.


Other restaurants I’ve liked and can recommend: Gastrologik, Oaxen Slip, Zink, Marie Laveau, Kungsholmen, Smak, Brasserie Godot, Volt, Eksteds. Restaurants I haven’t been to, but people speak highly of. Esperanto, Rouge, F12, Mistral.

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