The Best Restaurants in Sweden

@afar
 on 2022.02.03
Multiple locations
7 Places
@afar
In the last decade or so, Swedish cuisine has undergone a radical transformation, with young chefs at popular restaurants embracing seasonal ingredients that are local, organic, and sustainable at popular restaurants, alongside food halls and cafés serving traditional dishes and pastries. Credit: Collected by Stephen Whitlock, AFAR Local Expert

Restaurant Bakfickan

Restaurant · Norrmalm

"The name translates as "Back Pocket," an apt description for this one-room restaurant tucked into the side of the Royal Opera House. The tiled room is decorated with opera memorabilia, and sometimes you’ll find yourself dining next to tuxedo-clad members of the orchestra between performances. Diners perch at the counter at little tables affixed to the walls or, during the summer, outside in the sun. The food is traditional Swedish cuisine— husmanskost , as it’s known—with particularly good seafood, and best enjoyed with a Swedish beer."

Photo by Renée Kemps

Mälarpaviljongen

Temporarily Closed

"Swedish summer is usually an idyllic time. Days are long and hot, nights are short and warm. Most Swedes take the whole of July as vacation, and many Stockholmers leave the city for their country houses or boats. Thosewho remain enjoy alfresco dining and drinking, and Mälarpaviljongen is one of the best: an all-day café-bar with several floating pontoons. There’s nowhere nicer to sit with a glass of rosé and views over the water. Mixed during the day, it’s one of the city’s best gay bars by night."

Photo courtesy of Malarpaviljongen

Sturehof

Seafood restaurant · Östermalm

"Sturehof manages to be many things to many people. It’s open every day of the week and almost every day of the year, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. You can come for an after-work drink in the fresh air at the outside bar at the front, or a late night drink in O-bar in the back, or a business lunch, casual meal, or grand family dinner in the large restaurant. You’ll see grandparents with grandchildren, young couples on a date, and older folks celebrating an anniversary. The place has a somewhat formal look, with red-jacketed waiters buzzing about the place, but there’s nothing stuffy about the atmosphere. It is one of the city’s gems."

Photo by Hakan Elofssson

Adam/Albin

Restaurant · Östermalm

"Modern Swedish food using locally produced ingredientsand emphasizingsimple, unfussy dishes is all the rage in Stockholm —and few places can beat this 50-seat restaurant opened by Adam Dahlberg and Albin Wessman in 2016. The pair previously worked with Mathias Dahlgren, one of Sweden’s most respected chefs.The five-coursedinnerwill costyou just over $100 (wine pairing extra), or you can perch at the bar and order dishes one by one. Thechefs also run a lunchtime-only restaurant next door called Tvätteriet, which is known for its delicious noodles."

Photo by Magnus Skoglof

Fäviken

Permanently Closed

"For the ultimate in locavore, freshly foraged Nordic food, head north to the wilderness region of Jämtland.Although it's in the middle of nowhere—roughly seven hours north from Stockholm, in the most sparsely populated part of mainland Sweden —chef Magnus Nilsson has created a restaurant that is regularly listed among the best in the world. There are only 16 seats, and guests overnight in cabins on the 20,000-acre estate. Despite its location and the fact that dinner (food only) costs around $350, which must be paid in full at the time of reservation, it’s still a challenge to book a table as the experience is so remarkable."

Photo courtesy of Fäviken Magasinet

Daniel Berlin Krog

Swedish restaurant · Simrishamn

"Daniel Berlin and his eponymous restaurant have won high praise from food experts: The Independent newspaper described him as “the natural heir to René Redzepi,” while to Bon Appétit magazine he is “the next big chef from Sweden .” Food enthusiasts are beating a path to his tiny (just 14 seats) primrose-colored cottage in a quiet hamlet near the southern tip of Sweden. He uses ingredients he’s picked from his own garden or caught nearby. Dinner costs almost $200, plus around $130 for wine pairing;there is a juice menu for $75."

Photo by David Magnusson

The Market Hall

Fresh food market · Inom Valgraven

"The city’s most historic food hall is housed in a grand old building with a distinctive arched roof of copper and glass that lets light flood into the bustling interior. Come here to browse the 40 or so stalls and buy cakes, cheese, fish, meat, and vegetables to take away, or better yet, perch at a counter and eat right there amid all the hubbub of the market. The building was completed in 1889 and was landmarked as one of the country’s important buildings in 1985."

Photo by Bertrand Rieger / agefotostock