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

 

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!

Happy weekend!

Summer traditions, Stockholm

There was so much fun stuff to do this weekend, it felt almost like vacation. It was time for three of Stockholm’s annual traditions. Each had a different flavor and I would have a hard time if I had to compare one with the other 🙂

First-up on Saturday, there was the Stockholm Zombie Walk 2015, an annual cosplay event where you can register to walk as a zombie. For those who do not want to be smeared with ketchup or other fake blood replacements, you can always track their route and get a good look at the creative make up. There is some gory imagery to be seen, some of the work is so impressive, it must take them a while to get the whole costume ready. Some make it a family outing, with kiddy zombies in tow; they are simply adorable! Photographers, both professional & amatuers, have a field day. I got some great shots from last year’s zombie walk, and was able to top it up with more ‘killer’ shots this time.

In the evening, there was another annual Stockholm tradition – the Midnattsloppet, or Midnight Run, a 10km run which hosted nearly 38,000 runners this year. That’s massive, no?! Mr.A made me super proud by being one of them 😉 Before you ask, no, I’m not much of a runner myself, so I was one of the bystanders, cheering for those who did the real job! The atmosphere was carnival-like – different bands played at every kilometer milestone, onlookers cheered along the full circuit, there wwas even a masquerade team that ran in costumes. The night reminded me of a college festival where the air would be charged with energy. It was also very heartening to see the spirit of the runners, as they encouraged one another to keep going, some even slowing down their own pace and hold hands to spur a friend or partner.

Then on Sunday came the Bokbordet, proclaimed as the World’s Longest Book Stall. All along Stockhom’s busy Drottninggatan street,  booksellers line up tables and vend books of any genre under the sun. Still better, most of the books are really cheap, starting from 10 Sek, that’s €1.06 or $1.18 by today’s rate. Now, find me someone that doesn’t think that’s awesome! Although most of the books are second hand, I never complain since they are always in good condition. English or other foreign language books might be rarer than those in Swedish, but I have managed to find a handful of interesting titles every time. It’s been a tradition for Mr.A & me to check out the book stalls every year, ever since we arrived in Stockholm, so that’s four years in a row for us. The book fest does own a special corner somewhere in my heart ❤

That was my fun weekend, how was yours?

Must eat in Madrid

Remember that time I told you about binging in Barcelona? Well, I have resolved – when in Spain, just focus on the eating. I confess I am a foodie and I’ve found my match in Mr.A! When we travel we like to get a taste of the local cuisine, and Spain in particular never disappoints us. On a recent weekend getaway to Madrid we treated ourselves to the must-eat trio of Spanish cooking.

What trio, you say?

#1 Paella

#2 Churros with Hot Chocolate

#3 Tapas

P.S. Special mention to Sangria, of course!