After 2 weeks in Amsterdam for work, I jetted off to Sweden for a vacation I had planned before I took this new job. While it sounds super glamorous and I'm not complaining at all, it was a bit tiring being away from home for that amount of time. But luckily Sweden is such a lovely place that it made it pretty easy to relax. I had been wanting to check out Sweden ever since I went to Denmark and Norway a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with Scandinavian culture and life.
While it doesn't quite have the same culinary reputation as Denmark, Swedish food was quite surprising. Almost every meal I had was pretty good and despite it being famous for Swedish meatballs, it was a very veggie friendly place to travel to as well.
Our first stop was to stay in Stockholm for 4 days, which is plenty of time. Stockholm isn't a huge city and honestly most people leave the city during July, so it was pretty quiet. One place that had gotten tons of good reviews was this Rolf Kok - which translates to Rolf's Kitchen. While I can't say I know exactly what Swedish food is, the menu gave off a very Scandinavian vibe. Lav and I split the kale salad and I got the braised ox cheeks (265 SEK = $29.57 USD). Maybe it was something lost in translation but the kale was really much more like a lettuce based salad but none the less, it was a fine salad. The ox cheeks were braised in red wine came with really buttery mashed potatoes - what's not to love? The cheeks were perfectly moist and tender to the touch. My only complaint would be that the dish is quite heavy. For dessert we got the strawberries/champagne dessert with ice cream and a chocolate pudding (65 SEK) - both excellent but I preferred the refreshing strawberries one.
This was a very pleasant intro to food in Sweden and price-wise, it was pretty on point with what to expect. Sweden is not a cheap place to vacation at all, so don't be surprised when almost every meal runs you between $70+ per person. Total bill here: 684 SEK ($76 USD)/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
Rosendals Tradgard Rosendalsterrassen 12, 115 21 Stockholm, Sweden 4.5 Forks
I know the term Farm to Table concept is so cliched and overly used but the food here is literally straight from the farm you're sitting in to your plate. Ok, it's not really a farm, it's a greenhouse but all the veggie and ingredients are grown onsite so you know it's fresh and delicious.
The place is a bit of a hike to get to - you have to go to through the park and then it's still a bit of a walk to get there but on a sunny day, it is 100% worth it. The grounds are gorgeous and even if you don't want to eat the food here (not sure why you wouldn't), you can bring a picnic and lay out in the back.
To be clear this isn't a restaurant but more like a cafe. You wait in line in one of the greenhouses and you pick up a tray. There are a bunch of fresh bread products and pastries in the line while you wait to get up to the counter and when you get up there, the menu is pretty limiting, but I found it to be super worth it. I got the roasted chicken with swiss char and roasted carrots and a cinnamon roll with rose sea salt. It's a hipster's dream.
The food was fantastic - super fresh and even though I'm not a fan of carrots, these were incredible. It was such a simple meal done right. Of course, you can't come to Sweden without having a cinnamon roll and the rose salt here was a nice touch to it. Unlike the sticky sweet buns in the US, the ones in Scandinavia are more focused on the bread with a hint of cinnamon (with no glaze). As with any meal in Sweden, it was a bit expensive for the amount of food, but honestly I was not bothered by it since I really thought the quality was excellent. A must visit when you are in Stockholm. Total bill: $25/pp with tax and tip
Nygoret 6 116 40 Stockholm, Sweden 4 Forks
Every article you read about Stockhom, it'll mention how the neighborhood of Sodermalm is the super hipster section of the city and it's often compared to Brooklyn. Honestly, I don't see it or get it. Maybe it's because we went on a Sunday and many places were closed, so it didn't really seem to have this lively feel to it but I was underwhelmed by it. I've clearly lived in Williamsburg for too long because nothing feels as hipster as the 'Burg or Bushwick to me.
I will say that the area did seem to have a lot of cute restaurants/cafes/bars so maybe that is where the comparison is. I had wanted to try to Meatballs for the People but it was closed for summer vacation, so we ended up here with no reservation. They were pretty accommodating - at first we sat outside but then it ended up being kind of chilly, so they moved us inside with no complaints.
The menu is a quite eclectic - it's got mini tacos, seared tuna, meatballs, pastas and rotisserie meats all on the same menu but yet somehow it works and everything sounded really tasty. I started with a rhubarb negroni drink which was excellent and a nice twist on a classic. Since everything sounded great, we split the fried halloumi burger (195 SEK) and I got the sliced steak appetizer (115 SEK), while Lav got a pasta dish (105 SEK). The steak appetizer was delicious. It was thinly sliced, perfectly medium rare and served with red wine vinegar sauce and topped with one of my favorite mushrooms, enoki mushrooms. Since it was a appetizer, it was on the small side but I would have gladly gotten an entree size if they made it. The halloumi burger was also pretty good - it was a panko crusted fried piece of halloumi cheese with avocado, harissa mayo and served on a really buttery bun. I'm glad we split it because it was a pretty hearty "burger" on its own. The fries that it came with were extra cripsy and divine.
Overall, it seemed like a really nice local joint that I could see myself going to often if I lived in the area. Total bill: $105 USD for two people with tax and tip
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