Stockholm Restaurant Recommendations

[John Talbott]

Today in the French newspaper Les Echos, their food critic Jean Louis Galesne reviewed places in Stockholm mentioning: Kungsholmen, F 12, Mathias Dalhgren, Lisa Elmqvist + Pelikan.

[John Talbott]

In today's NYT Travel section, another in their "36 Hours" series touts the following in Stockholm:

P.A. & Co.

Babylon

Chokladkoppen

Bistro Ruby

Mathias Dahlgren (Matsbaren + Matsalen)

[TheSwede]

I recently had dinner at F12 and Matthias Dahlgren (the dining room), same week wednesday and friday. Full tasting menus etc.

While F12 is good (eaten there quite a lot of times), MD is fantastic. I didn't take notes, photos etc so I won't even attempt doing real reviews. However, MD served what probably is the best fine dining meal I've had in my life.

BTW, Mistral is closing its doors 22nd of December. I don't think it is lack of success, rather the strain of running a top "boutique resturant" with a very small staff.

[ulterior epicure]

I recently had dinner at F12 and Matthias Dahlgren (the dining room), same week wednesday and friday. Full tasting menus etc.

While F12 is good (eaten there quite a lot of times), MD is fantastic. I didn't take notes, photos etc so I won't even attempt doing real reviews. However, MD served what probably is the best fine dining meal I've had in my life.

Fantastic! My meal at Bon Lloc two years ago was every bit as memorable for me as your meal at MD was for you. I remember sitting down with Chef Dahlgren after my meal and talking with him about his future plans, as he was just a few weeks away from closing down Bon Lloc. I have been waiting for his reincarnation, and it sounds like a positive report. I need to get back to Sweden soon.

Edited November 5, 2007 by ulterior epicure (log)

[TheSwede]

I had dinner at Bon Lloc a very long time ago when they were in their old venue in Kungsholmen. That was good, but nothing near what he does today (but I believe BL got more sophisticated when they moved the restaurant downtown).

I'm guessing he is now shooting for two Michelin stars.

BTW, if anyone is coming to Stockholm feel free to PM me for information. I'm in no way an expert on restaurants in Stockholm or elsewhere, but I try to keep reasonably up to date with what is happening.

Edited November 5, 2007 by TheSwede (log)

[TheSwede]

An update on Matthias Dahlgren: The dining room was reviewed today in Dagens Nyheter, Swedens largest newspaper. They gave it a 10 out of 10, a grade they have never given any resturant before!

[ulterior epicure]

I'm sitting here on a cold night (in the U.S.) and dreaming of a dish I had at Backfickan. It was a dish of steaming boiled beef with freshly grated horseradish. You can see a picture here.

I know the Viennese call this tafelspitz... is there a Swedish equivalent?

[Bridgestone]

I know the Viennese call this tafelspitz... is there a Swedish equivalent?

Yup - you ate it!

(Sorry for being smart...)

What you had is called "Pepparrotskött" or "horseradish meat" and is a classic dish pulled out of Sweden's culinary roots.

Pepparrotskött is really a cousin dish to a dish I've got some photos of. The only difference between these two really is the choice of meat (veal, lamb or beef are all acceptable) and the seasoning (dill or horseradish).

Initial ingredients:

Veal stock, veal, spices (thyme, allspice, black peppar, bay leaves), leeks, onions, carrots and parsley.

Place all of these ingredients in a pot and simmer until tender (about 1 hour).

After:

(Save everything except the spices!)

Next, make the sauce. Ingredients:

The reserved stock, two egg yolks, sugar, concentrated distilled vinager, flour, dill, cream, butter.

Bring the stock to a boil and add the flour (I made a slurry by adding a few tbls water):

Add the cream and the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the egg yolks, the vinegar and a few knobs of butter. Add the dill:

Finally, add the boiled meat and the reserved vegetables:

Serve with a vegetable and boiled potatoes (and a Swedish ale if you've got one sitting around!).

So, the preparation is, well, probably worldwide. However, the flavors (sweet, tangy and dill or horseradish) are very scandinavian!

[ulterior epicure]

Oh, genius, Bridgestone! Thanks for the lesson! What cut of beef do you use?

To make this tie into this thread - what Stockholm restaurants are known/good for their Pepparrotskött?

[Bridgestone]

Thanks!

I used veal shoulder.

By the looks of things, Operakällarens bakfika was an excellent choice! Many Swedish restaurants serving lunch will generally have a few daily choices of traditional Swedish fare or "Husmanskost". This particular dish would probably show up from time to time - especially now (in the winter). Although it's getting tougher and tougher to find places that actually make this fare from scratch...

[ulterior epicure]

Although it's getting tougher and tougher to find places that actually make this fare from scratch...

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Yes, I was there towards winter-time. You'd think that this simple (but tasty) dish would be an easy crowd pleaser that restaurants would be glad to serve.

[TheSwede]

Esperanto

I had the tasting menu at Esperanto yesterday. Esperanto is one of Stockholm's one star resturants and is known for their innovative/cutting edge food. In general, it was an excellent meal. Not all dishes was top notch, but it was never boring.

I didn't take notes or photos so I won't attempt a real review. However, I can give you some impressions.

Here is what I had:

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Amuses (three different, lobster, eel and ??)

Frozen white onion with apple, celeriac and dried beef

- Very good. Creamy onion ice cream with condiments.

Octopus pressé Méditarranée

- Tender but not all that inspiring tastewise.

Langoustine au coraille in an ocean mist with frozen vinaigrette

- Excellent! Beautful dish (served over a bowl of hot herbal stock and dry ice for perfume and show), very good langoustine tail and the smoked paprika flavoured vinaigrette granité was spectacular.

Coagulated egg with truffels, oysters and shallots

- "Custard" with an oyster juice pearl. The truffles and shallots were diced and found at the bottom of the custard to provide a textural difference. A very subtle dish. Different but good, nice counterpoint to prevous dish.

Seared turbot skirts with caviar and brown butter

- Exactly what is says. Plain and good. The caviar amount was so minimal they could have left it out.

White winter vegetables with seared foie gras and jasmine-perfumed dashi

- The disapointment of the evening. Not because it was bad (it wasn't) but because it could have been spectacular. Our seared foie was served cold and had kind of rubbery texture. It also needed a little bit of salt. The perfumed dashi was a stroke of genius and if the foie had been hot and crispy this would probably have been the best dish of the evening.

Bresse chicken with artichoke ravigote, rosted bone flour and sauce offal

- Excellent chicken, crispy skin. The bone flour gave a smokey touch. The artichoke was a nice acidic counterpoint.

Cheese

- Mature french cheeses. I had all the five available!

Pre-desert

- Interesting spicy/sweet/salty crunchy powder (cumin, chili, cinnamon, cardamom..?) called "Sands of sahara" or something similar.

Roses, Champagne and Madeleine

- Candied rose petals, milk skin (?), some sort of pudding (?), hot madeleines flavoured tableside by the application of rose water with a perfume mister. Very good!

Canapés (four different, including home made purple mini macaroons)

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I would say that this was among the best four or five meals I've had in Stockholm and certainly one of the most exciting. I will definitely go again.

http://www.esperantorestaurant.se/

Note that they don't serve a la carte, only two different menues.

Edited February 1, 2008 by TheSwede (log)

[TheSwede]

Had dinner at Matthias Dahlgren at Grand Hotel once again. Tasting menu and matching wines. Was as excellent as the first time. I haven't been to Edsbacka Krog (Stockholm's only two star) in a very long time, but I'm still proclaiming Matthias Dahlgren as the best place to eat in Stockholm and probably Sweden right now.

[adey73]

have you got any photos of the meal, Mr Swede?

[docsconz]

Had dinner at Matthias Dahlgren at Grand Hotel once again. Tasting menu and matching wines. Was as excellent as the first time. I haven't been to Edsbacka Krog (Stockholm's only two star) in a very long time, but I'm still proclaiming Matthias Dahlgren as the best place to eat in Stockholm and probably Sweden right now.

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Dahlgren is up next in my report on Madrid Fusion 2008 when I can get to it. He was very impressive.

[docsconz]

My report with photos of Mathias Dahlgren at Madrid Fusion can be found here.

[TheSwede]

have you got any photos of the meal, Mr Swede?

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Sorry, no. But as Docsconz says, some of the courses were shown at the Madrid Fusion conference. You will find some photos there.

I do have this debate with myself every time I'm to parttake in a better meal: Should I review or should I indulge? For me, they are somewhat mutually exclusive. Indulge wins every time...

Friday in two weeks I will hopefully dine at new hotshot restaurant Franzen-Lindeberg. They serve a 20 course tasting menu definitely inspired by Alinea/WD-50/El Bulli. I can't promise any photos, but I will do my best to post some impressions.

[TheSwede]

Some brief impressions from Restaurant Frantzén-Lindeberg:

I was there this friday and had the 20 course tasting menu with sommelier's choice of wines. The restaurant is definitely in the "dining is a total experience" camp and has some leanings towards powders/snow/foams/airs etc without going totally overboard.

It was a fun dinner. A wide variety of complex dishes arrived with a nice pacing. Some were absolutely stunning (scallops with hay ash) or really really good (foie gras foam, truffle and cabbage medley, pork belly braised for 60 hours). Other didn't live up to expectations (sweetbreads with liqorice and yuzu, served with liqorice air or the dessert "cheeseburger" served with "mustard" and "ketchup").

It is very hard to give a overall judgement. I had a great time and to experience such a wide range of tastes and textures in one go was incredible. Yet, the individual dishes didn't always succeed. FOH/service was perfect, informal without being too familiar.

The restaurant has only been open for four weeks and trying out such an ambitious project so early is always going to be something of a gamble.

The menu isn't available in english and translating the whole menu is a monster task. But the complete descriptions of the particular dishes I mention above goes something like:

Whipped foie gras with spun foie gras sugar

Molasses, raisins, jerez vinegar and granola

Scalops "Boulangerie" with tobacco honey and burnt bread pudding

Crispy breadcrumbs, cauliflower x 2, beurre noisette, hay ash and flowers

Sweetbreads "2001-2008" with yuzu and licorice

Jerusalem artichokes in two textures, asinat cress, hazel nut meal and licorice air

Truffles and cabbage "One-Two-Three"

Aspic, consommé, fumé & marshmallow

Pork belly "Vacuum", 60 hours later...

Black winter truffles, heirloom beans "Signe", bee pollen, potato onion and snail caviar

Cheeseburger "v 1.0"

Ketchup & Mustard

http://www.frantzen-lindeberg.com/

Edited March 3, 2008 by TheSwede (log)

[FDE]

Some brief impressions from Restaurant Frantzén-Lindeberg:

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Just visited Edsbacka and Operakallaren, but wow, Frantzén-Lindeberg sounds more interesting. I will definitely try it next month when I am back there again.

Our meal at Edsbacka was lovely especially this “Ocean’s pleasure”:

For Operakallaren, it was the slowest meal ever… the second course of our 7-course meal arrived 1.5hrs after we ordered, unbelievable!!!

www.finediningexplorer.com/Rest_of_Europe

[TheSwede]

Just visited Edsbacka and Operakallaren, but wow, Frantzén-Lindeberg sounds more interesting....

Definitely very interesting, but a bit uneven. We were told that they are revamping their menu in the near future.

The White Guide is the only restaurant guide that covers the whole of Sweden. They came out with their annual ranking today. They put six swedish restaurants in "Highest International Class":

1. Esperanto, Stockholm, 33/84, Lux, Stockholm, 32/90

3. Edsbacka Krog, Sollentuna (Stockholm), 32/89, F12 Restaurant, Stockholm, 32/89

5. Mathias Dahlgren, Stockholm, 32/87, Oaxen Skärgårdskrog, Oaxen, 32/87

Points are food/total experience. Note that all restaurants get 32 points for food except Esperanto who get 33.

Having relatively recently eaten at F12, Esperanto and Mathias Dahlgren (see posts above) I'm not sure I agree with the relative ranking (mine would be Mathias Dahlgren - Esperanto - F12 based purely on food), although I do agree that they all are among the best in Sweden.

[TheSwede]

Michelin 2008 just came out. In Stockholm:

Edsbacka retains their two stars

New stars: Leijontornet and Mathias Dahlgren gets one star each.

Mathias Dahlgren is rising star towards two

Esperanto, F12, Operakällaren and Lux retains their star.

Edit, some comments: that Leijontornet didn't get an "Highest International Class" from White Guide (previous post) was a bit suprising, but Michelin rectified that. It is more than a year since I was there last time, but I've heard lot of good things.

The reason that Oaxen doesn't get any mention in Michelin is that they are way out in the countryside and also only keep open during summertime.

Also note that Operakällaren ("The Opera Cellar") didn't get highest class by White Guide but still retains their one star.

Edited March 11, 2008 by TheSwede (log)

[Badabing]

Interesting to see that Leijontornet FINALLY got their star. I expected it 1-2 years ago, but for some reason the guide didn't recognize it until now.

MD - hands down the best restaurant in Sweden at the moment, and I would be VERY surprised if it doesn't have 2 stars in a year from now.

Operakällaren - well, I think they are struggling quite a bit at the moment, and if they don't get their s**t together they might follow in the footsteps of Wedholms in a year or two... With the amount of financial resources they have, I doubt that they will let that happen though.

Still too bad that Oaxen is not eligible due to their location....

[John Talbott]

In the June Bon Appetit, Adam Sachs describes the following restaurants: Kungsholmen, Aquavit, Humlegarden, Mathias Dahlgren + Backfickan and Ostermalms saluhall market and the Cajsa warg food shop.

[TheSwede]

I had dinner at Lux this Saturday. Overall a very enjoyable experience. I had forgotten how pretty the surroundings are on a nice spring/summer evening.

The menu was as follows:

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Dill boiled langoustine from Smögen with apple pickled cucumber, broccoli sprouts and wild broccoli

Spruce twigs smoked pike-perch from Ängsö and salmon from Vånö with sea bouillon and spring leaves

Tartar of entrecôte from Svartådalen with water cress, truffle and poached quail egg

Green meadow tea

Fried young rooster from Hagby Farm with spring air, garden peas and crispy pickled onion

Hazelnut soufflé with thyme spiced goat cheese from Gullspira farm and burning apricot eau de vie

Rhubarb compote in an almond nougatine with sorbet of Eskesta yoghurt and cardamon milk

Chocolates

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The tartar and the rooster were exceptional and the smoked pike-perch/salmon almost as good. The langoustine and especially the two desserts weren't as successful. Definitely not bad, but not mind blowing either.

Wine pairings were generally good, although there was one or two choices that didn't quite live up to the same standard as the rest.

Well worth a visit. Definitely one of Stockholm's top five restaurants.

[Robot Coupe]

Now, the last year has brought some changes to the Swedish capital, and here is a brief update:

*****

- Edsbacka Krog. The only two star Michelin restaurant in Scandinavia. Very traditional french cuisine, and obviously very good food. In my mind, it is a bit stiff unless you are celebrating something special - but thats just me. Beautifully set 20 minutes outside Stockholm. Worth a try, if you can afford it!

Phew.. That was some of them for my first post here. Might come up with some more later on...

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Great post, but youve forgotten that Bagatelle also has two stars.

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Hmmm.. The last time I looked, Bagatelle was still in Oslo?

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mattias Dahlgren is now locted in the Grand Hotel , he retained his star he got at Bon Lloc but on top of that gained a rising star for second one. Also Chez Dominic in Helsinki has two stars and is a super nice resturant I have been told, also made it in to the 50 best rest -08.

For the best resturant in sweden now is whit out of a doubt Oaxen Skargardskrog. A bit of a drive but so is Mugaritz...in spain

Check it out NOW