Earlier this year we visited Sweden and Denmark for the first time. While we hadn’t planned any extravagant meals for this trip, we still discovered several fantastic restaurants throughout our journey.
Reffen/Propaganda
We first arrived in Copenhagen, and wanderered not far from our hotel over to Reffen street food market for dinner. We tried a few different stalls but my favorite was the stand-out Copenhagen dog.
We also visited Propaganda, which promised to be an interesting mix of Danish and Korean cuisine. Unfortunately it was the most disappointing meal of our trip. I’m honestly not sure how they managed to fumble things so hard. One dish that stood out was meant to be marinated beef tongue, but instead of being served in thin slices as one would expect, it was presented in a few unnervingly thick cross-sections. The weak marinade and sauce did little to save the dish from its dismal highschool-science-lab plating. I didn’t even bother to take pictures because it was immediately apparent this wasn’t going to be a meal worth sharing.
On the last day of our short trip to Denmark we took the train over to Malmö to see Eurovision.
After leaving Copenhagen we then travelled to Gothenburg for a few days.
Norda – Gothenburg
Our first stop in Sweden was Marcus Samuelsson’s Norda. They were serving a fantastic three-course dinner for two at the time. Our first dish was a surprisingly refreshing lobster roll–not something I was expecting to eat in Sweden. This was shortly followed by a very tender and flavorful flank steak served with the most supremely crispy fries. For dessert, a crème brûlée with an wonderfully crunchy crust. This was easily one of the best meals of our trip and we left feeling very satisfied.
Noot Nordik Kitchen
Of course, we couldn’t visit Sweden without trying proper Swedish meatballs! While exploring the city we came across Noot which touted casual-yet-modern Nordic cuisine. To say these meatballs were exceptional would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe such a simple food could be so full of flavor and texture. Seasoned with an array of spices, the meatballs were crispy on the outside and tender all the way through. Paired with the lightly pickled cucumbers, smooth potatoes and tart lingonberries, this was a feast on a plate. What seemed to be rather unassuming at first ended up becoming one of our most memorable meals.
After a few days exploring Gothenburg we took the train to Stockholm.
Bastard Burger
We weren’t going to pass up the chance to get lunch at such a ridiculously-named burger spot. Bastard Burger is a Swedish burger chain serving primarily smashburgers with some interesting branding. While we were initially joking about their decor, it ultimately came across as more endearing than cringe. The burger was fantastic as well, one of the best smashburgers I’ve had. I read that the company is looking to expand into the US at some point–with one location open in New York already–so Sweden’s fast-casual Bastard Burgers may become more accessible at some point.
At Six – Stockholm
For dinner one evening we ate at the onsite restaurant in our hotel. We had a nice meal with excellent bread and dessert. The lamb and vegetables didn’t mesh very well, but the giant duck ravioli with parmesan and truffle was delicious (for the few bites I was able to steal). The cloudberry jam and mascarpone was my favorite part of the meal though. We weren’t quite in cloudberry season during our visit, but this jam had far more actual cloudberry in it than other store-bought preserves which brought out much more of the natural tartness of the berry.
The next evening we had some questionable arena food while at the Eras Tour.
Mother India
Our final night in Sweden we stopped in at a small Indian restaurant in town. The addition of pomegranate seeds added such a delightful texture and pop to the biryani. Although we left very full, we were also refreshed and energized after walking all day throughout Stockholm.
Conclusion
We had a great first visit to a couple of the Nordic countries and would love to explore even further north the next time. Overall our culinary experience was positive, even if there were a few unfortunate misses along the way. I think if we were to go back specifically for Nordic cuisine, we would look into some of the more well-known restaurants in Copenhagen and Stockholm.
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