A lifestyle expat travel blog about culture, history, Brexit, the Royal Family, travels around the world, Europe, and being British in Berlin!
And so it’s here!
The last post that I’ll be writing about Sweden.
But what a most important post!
It goes without saying that we had a most delightful time in Stockholm, and it was truly awesome.
It was my first time to go to Sweden, but it certainly, won’t be the last. If you’re just tuning in, here’s what you missed:
I’m a bit of a freak as I tend to go to places that are either in the middle of nowhere like Latvia & Lithuania, or places where you need a second mortgage such as Switzerland and Finland.
And in going to Sweden, we were well aware that we would have to tighten our budget, make the local supermarket our friend, and not go on a spending spree of gastronomic delight, as we did in Croatia!
Having said that though, I’m a strong believer that when you go to another country, you ought to try as much as possible to eat the food of the land.
Sweden was no exception.
And so my task was to visit Stockholm. Sleep in Stockholm. Eat in Stockholm. And survive the horrendous prices.
With young boy tween in tow.
Gulp!
Booking.comIn order to have a great time experiencing all that Sweden has to offer, you’ve got to forget about your budget, otherwise, you won’t be able to eat a single thing!
Sweden is terribly expensive and sadly, there’s no getting around it! Prepare yourself for high prices, and either suck it up, or go elsewhere!
Everybody always wonders how visitors do it, so I’m going to tell you how!
When writing about food, it’s best to let the pictures do the talking but of course, if you have further insight, let me know in the comment section below!
Swedish food can be described as cultured dairy products, crisp bread, berries, stone fruits, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, and seafood.
Due to Sweden’s large North–South land space, there are regional differences between the food of North and South Sweden.
In Northern Sweden, fare such as reindeer, and game – derived from the Sami nomadic culture – are eaten. In Southern Sweden, fresh vegetables play a larger role.
Internationally, the most famous Swedish culinary tradition is the smörgåsbord, otherwise known as a help-yourself buffet, the julbord, otherwise known as a Christmas spread, and traditional Swedish dishes such as gravlax and meatballs!
Yum!
Sweden has a unique breakfast culture whose roots are firmly grounded in peasant traditions. We were lucky to experience just how a Swedish breakfast should be, as we were staying at the Hobo award-winning design hotel!
And OMG!
The breakfast there was greeeeeeeeat!
There was a variety of fresh-home-made organic Nordic food, rye sandwiches with caviar (yummy!) a variety of chia seeds, nuts, coconut milk, yoghurt, fruit, juices, and smoothies.
Of course, I couldn’t actually eat most of the items on offer ‘cos of my nut allergy, but the staff were able to make me some nut-free yoghurt!
In Swedish traditional homes, breakfast consists of:
Our hotel breakfast was included with our room, but if you wanted to book it separately then you could! Cost: 120 SEK or €12.30 per person.
Meals are expensive in Sweden, so we opted for taking a fika or a coffee break, even though I don’t drink coffee. Ho! Ho!
However, drinking coffee and eating sweet baked goods or fikabröd is a social institution in Sweden, and just like the tea break in Britain, is a traditional way of socializing, and taken quite seriously.
Many traditional kinds of Swedish sweet baked goods are:
In fact, most offices, schedule official time for fika!
In addition to sweet goods, Swedish food also consists of a huge variety of bread that comes in different shapes and sizes such as:
You can also have other snacks such as:
Soup!
In Sweden, Thursday is traditionally known as soup day!
Ärtsoppa is a peasant meal of thick soup made from boiled yellow peas, onions, and small pieces of pork, often served with mustard and followed by a dessert of thin pancakes or pannkakor!
Wow!
We got the hotdogs on the pier not far from the Vasa Museum and the Göna Lund. I can’t remember how much they were exactly, but they were somewhere in the vein of about €5.00 – €6.00 per sausage!
You could have a variety of sausages, spices and toppings, and The Tall Young Gentleman declared them to be quite acceptable!
I’m not really a fan of burgers as I have a thing about eating beef in restaurants…
I don’t like ’em!
Anyhoo. Since we were having cocktails at the ICEBAR by Ice Hotel, we decided to have dinner there too!
The Icebar is attached to the Hotel C Stockholm, and since the manager had kindly given us a 10% discount card for a meal, we happily used it!
We had quite a nice dinner at Hearts – a blend between an American diner and an Italian family restaurant. We had the Hearts Burger. Cost: SEK 175 or €18.00 per person.
Book Hotel C Stockholm here or here!
Meatballs are a traditional Swedish dish, and one that that many people would recognise.
In fact, in order to get our Swedish fix, we often go to the Ikea Food Hall in Berlin, just to get a taste of Swedish meatballs.
Ohmigosh!
Of course, once we were in Stockholm, we just knew that we were going to get ourselves a good healthy portion of meatballs, with mashed potatoes, brown creamy sauce, with tangy pungent lingonberry berries, and a leafy salad.
And we did!
We went to a lovely Swedish restaurant whose staff were mostly Italian! The restaurant was slap bang in the middle of the Old Town or Gamla Stan and our Swedish meatballs were fantastic! It was called Jerntorgiths Café. Cost: SEK 139 or €14.50 per person.
I love seafood and Sweden has a lot of it!
As far back as 1000 AD, Sweden has been trading and preserving seafood which is salted and cured. If in Sweden make some time to try items such as:
Delish!
In order to fill the appetite of my growing sprog, I decided to go to an Asian restaurant for dinner which would kill four birds with one stone! Thus, we would be able to satisfy our craving for Asian food, seafood, the belly of a teenage boy, and without heaving to sell my soul!
I’ve got nothing left to say!
Alcohol is awfully expensive in Sweden so I only had a drink on my first night, and on our last afternoon!
That was quite delightful!
Cost: It’s cheaper to pre-book or if you’re a hotel guest. Adults 199 SEK or €20.50. Non-alcoholic drinks – 170 SEK or €17.50. Children between 3-17 years – 99 SEK or €10.00.
On the afternoon, we were leaving Stockholm, we decided to visit the rooftop bar next door!
The rooftop bar next to our Hobo hotel, was called TAK!
TAK is a Nordic-Japanese restaurant, and raw / rooftop bar that literally had hundreds of people queuing to get into it, so if you’re going out of an evening, I strongly recommend making a reservation!
We opted for a little after lunch-time, and had the place almost to ourselves.
Phew!
I could go on and on, but I ought to leave something for you to discover, don’t you think?
That’s it for now.
See you next week!
Booking.comThis article is not sponsored and all opinions and the delicious Swedish and Nordic food that we tasted, are my very own!
I’ve got a surprise for you. I’m going to London!
To find out why, make sure you follow me on Twitter and Facebook!
In July, I’ll be writing about the awesome time I had in Slovenia, and spending the summer in France and Germany!
On 24.06.17, I’ll be on a five (5) member academic discussion panel on Brexit, at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin!
It’s part of the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, or the Long Night of Sciences at the Centre for British Studies. My discussion panel will be at 20:00 and the topic will be Brits in Berlin after Brexit, so if you’re in Berlin at this time, come and watch me, and hear me speak!
From July 4th – July 7th, I’ll be at Berlin Fashion Week.
I’ll be there. Will you?
If you’re not in Berlin right now, you’re mad!
Save the Date!
June & July are going to be amazing!
Watch this space!
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So what are you waiting for?
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See you in Berlin.
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Hurrah for Swedish meatballs! Love ’em, and the lingonberries of course… Mind you I wouldn’t touch that pic of swedish food in the wild – that looks like Fly Agaric toadstool. One mouthful of that and you’re vomiting for hours. Two mouthfuls and you’re dead….
Thanks so much Thomas!
Absolutely! Meatballs for ever. Yum!
ps. You’re absolutely right. Those mushrooms were previously used by vikings…! I might change the picture though. Just in case!
Was that caviar red or black?
Thanks so much Victor!
It was pink. I think it’s a specific Swedish brand! 😀
🙂 I have never seen pink caviar.
It’s very common in Sweden and Northern Europe! 😉
We were in Sweden just last week and ate a meal in Gamla Stan that looked exactly like yours. Loved your post and look forward to reading more!
Thanks so much for reading Marvin!
It’s a pleasure to have you on board!
p.s. It might actually have been the same restaurant, as the staff was very nice, and the prices were fantastically reasonable! 😀
The photo of the crispy bread reminded me of s’mores–a campfire fave here in the US. 🙂 Porridge with a shot of whisky? Oh, that’s a good morning start!
Thanks so much Elisa!
The crispy bread was a type of garlic bread, and so delish that we ordered another one! As for porridge with whisky? On a chilly day, it’s the only way to go! 😉
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