Favorite brunch places in Stockholm

Lately Mr.A and I have been on a cafe spree, hunting down the best weekend brunches in Stockholm. We’ve been looking up popular places in town that are known for something special and trying them out one by one. At least three good things come of it – one, this brings us out into the hep parts of the city every weekend; two, we get to try a new place and some of them have quickly made it into our fav-list and three, with all the good food we don’t have to cook until dinner. Win-win, yoohooo! Based on our research, here’s a short must-visit list 😉

#1 Cafe Saturnus

I’ve written about this cafe before, but I was happily reminded about it recently. It’s a cosy place with closely placed seats. If you like eggs, you’ll find it tough to choose from their great list of brunch dishes. Their kannelbullar, traditional Swedish cinnamon buns, are giant in size and taste! Take one to share or to save for a second fika 😉 It’s a very popular cafe, so large groups might have to wait longer to find seating. Strollers have to be left outside. For the two of us, it was relatively easy.

Website: http://www.cafesaturnus.se/

Address: Eriksbergsgatan 6, Stockholm

 

#2 Vete-Katten

This cafe has been around since the 1920’s & has closely maintained its old-world charm. The cakes, pastries & coffee is great. I felt the serving size of the main course (salmon & couscous) was a bit small for the price, but delicious nonetheless. The location is great if you happen to be around the city center. The seating is quite tight and cozy and it might be a tad bit challenging to find a place to sit during the weekends. On the other hand, you could still enjoy a take-away. If not for anything else, I’d say you should check it off your list with at least one visit, being as it is the highest ranked cafe in Stockholm!

Website: http://www.vetekatten.se/

Address: Kungsgatan 55, Stockholm. Psst! They just opened a new takeaway outlet at the Vasagatan entrance at T-Centralen metro station.

 

#3 Greasy Spoon

This one was hard to get into, it’s way too sought after. For all the right reasons, too. They have a scrumptious selection of sandwiches and fancy dishes with egg. Their meals are big in size and extremely gratifying. We tried their croissants which came toasted is butter, in a bed of strawberry compote, sprinkled over with nuts and sugar dust. I think I’ve been having recurrent dreams about that meal ever since 😉 As I said, getting a table is a challenge so you might have to plan to be in early to get your name in the queue, since they do not take reservations on the phone. But once you’re in, you will surely enjoy anything you pick from the menu.

Website : http://www.greasyspoon.se/

Address: Hagagatan 4, Stockholm and Tjärhovsgatan 19, Stockholm

 

#4 Flippin’ Burgers

So who doesn’t like burgers, right? At Flippin’ Burgers, you can find a small selection of perfectly cooked burgers, with optional fries, good beers and even better milkshakes. Guess you don’t need a big menu when you excel at the most popular tastes. Their menu tells you everything that a conscious diner needs to know – the small farms in Sweden where the meat is sourced from, the organic & freshly baked buns, fair-trade ice cream for their milkshakes and their organic  wine suppliers. What they do feels very well thought through.

Website : http://flippinburgers.se/

Address : Observatoriegatan 8, Stockholm

 

Foodie tips, Gothenburg

Last September, Mr.A and I took a leisurely three-hour train ride to pop into Sweden‘s second biggest city, Gothenburg. It’s a lively, vibrant city with a great food scene. Here’s what we enjoyed…

# Breakfast at Scandic No. 25

We stayed two nights at the Scandic No. 25 during our stay and very much enjoyed their scrumptious breakfast which was included in the room tariff. The spread is impressive, hearty muesli, dainty sandwiches, flaky croissants, fluffy pancakes, it’s all in there. The lobby and dining area are pleasant to lounge around in. There is fika of tea, coffee, cakes & biscuits all day, too.

# Lunch at Feskekôrka

Feskekôrka translates to Fish Church, an indoor marketplace for seafood. We had an excellent lunch sharing a plate of grilled fish, a fish pasta in hot sauce & a delicious fish soup at the restaurant housed within the building. Seating is available both indoors & outdoors by the water. Although there is all kinds of raw fish being sold in the same premises, surprisingly there is no unpleasant fishy smell at all. The structure is unique in itself, standing there since the late 1800’s. Gothenburg’s fish harbour used to be across the canal – the men would bring in fish & women would sell the wares right where the fish church is. The building was built to give the fish sellers a place to sell fish during the colder winter months. It was very nice to be able to visit and eat at a place of historical interest. Plus the food and service were simply great.

# Fika at Cafe Husaren

By evening we wandered into Haga Nygata in Gamla Haga, the oldish part of town. The street itself has a quaint old town feel & Cafe Husaren complements that perfectly. The decor takes you back in time with those chandeliers hanging off a tiled ceiling and the beautiful tiles on the ceiling. The coffee is great, there is a splendid array of savoury pies, delectable cakes, and the unforgettable “queen of the kitchen” – a giant kannelbullar or the traditional Swedish cinnamon bun. Of course, if you can’t finish it, you can ask for a bag to take it with you 🙂 If I were living in Gothenburg, I’d be going there all the time!

Hope you enjoy the post! Have a great weekend!!

The (Easter) egg came first / Vienna’s Easter Markets

I haven’t seen as many eggs within the span of two days as I did at the Easter markets in Vienna last weekend. Mr.A and I were in the beautiful Austrian capital, walking around town, hopping on and off the trams, and strolling in and out of its many cozy markets showcasing local crafts and delicacies, among plump fluffy rabbits, cocky roosters and an immense collection of gorgeously decorated eggs. By the end of it we’d seen eggs made of wood, wax and glass, eggs small enough to hold in ones palm to those towering high above my height, eggs dipped in mild vegetable dyes to those bedecked in gilded pearls, dainty crochet jackets or mini oil paintings, and honestly, every other kind of Easter egg in between!

Look, I baked my own bread!

I have tried to bake bread at home several times before, but sometimes the yeast wouldn’t rise, sometimes it would turn out to be a brick and sometimes it would taste like straw. In effect, epic fail, every single time. Until, that wonderful day when I chanced upon Alexandra’s Kitchen, and landed on her mother’s recipe for the perfect peasant bread. And if she claims that this is the best & easiest recipe, then just believe her, ’cause it just is! How she gets the ideal water temperature for the yeast to activate is the coolest tip ever, I tell you it always works. She uses 3 parts cold water to 1 part boiling water (right off the water kettle, for instance), and then equal parts of sugar & dry yeast. No more dormant yeast in my kitchen, hah! Plus it’s no-knead bread, so much better than one that requires muscle power, right? I’ve tried a few variations of the original, it’s turned out super delicious each time. As my colleague said, I’m now ready to be a grand-mom 😀 Here’s me showing off my newly acquired grand-mom skills 😎

My first attempt was to follow the recipe word by word. I really surprised myself with the result. I guess I didn’t have any expectations at all, heh heh.

Next time, I tried to mix the all purpose flour with wholewheat flour in the ratio 3:1, and added some dill. I also baked it in small cupcake moulds, and ramekins just to see how that went. The dill smelt & tasted so good, and these were great for breakfast.

The third time I tried to up the health quotient a bit more by changing the flour ratio to 5:3, the bread was slightly denser, but still quite fluffy. I think I’ll keep this as my standard, any more of the wholewheat will probably not be as yummy. I also put in some chopped up olives and sun dried tomatoes, which made by bread oh-so-fancy!

Do you have a perfect go-to recipe that you swear by? I’d love to know!

Anniversary Teppanyaki

Two words, but quite a mouthful, right?! See how punny I am 😉 So tried out the new teppanyaki restaurant in town, Budda Khan at the Mall of Scandinavia, Stockholm. Mr.A had had teppanyaki before when he was in the U.S. & he was so eager for me to try it. Lucky for us, the joint opened its teppanyaki section just in time for our anniversary, our 6th year as a wedded couple, yes, time flies! As is common at this kind of grill, we shared the table with two other couples. They were such happy souls, the best strangers I could have asked to share our evening with. We ordered king prawns, scallops and rib eye, all prepared with flourish right before us. Seeped in garlicky goodness with flavours of soya, vinegar and some special sauces, each dish was a pleasant surprise. The dinner was accompanied by a fresh mango-rucola salad, some mixed fried rice and a velvety green tea ice-cream served on a bed of fried plantain. The food was absolutely delicious, but of course, half the fun was also watching the ‘show’ being presented by our super friendly Chinese chef. If you haven’t tried it yet, I do recommend going to a teppanyaki restaurant, where dining is supposed to be a complete experience. 

P.S. This post shares my own opinion of the restaurant and is not an advertisement.