I have said before how fabulous the food scene in Stockholm is, and written about the fantastic tastings we enjoyed on our Stockholm food walking tour. We also had some excellent restaurant meals during our long weekend in the city.
Restaurants in Stockholm are wonderfully inventive, offering high quality cooking that references food influences from all around the world. There’s also a leaning towards small plate menus allowing smaller parties of couples and solo diners to try a great range of dishes at each restaurant.
Read on to learn more about my three favourites from our long weekend in the city.
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Nytorget 6, Södermalm
This place is buzzing and hugely popular, so reservations are recommended. It’s a snug space – we actually shared a table for four with another couple – so don’t pick this restaurant if you need your personal space! We loved it.
The small plate menu is split into small starters, mini tacos, cold and hot appetisers, mains, rotisserie dishes, cheeses and desserts.
We ordered five dishes to start, and another three after that.
Drinks and a gorgeous bread basket with whipped butter were delivered first, and then our ordered dishes.
Our first five were Chili cheese a la N6 (80 sek), Cod fritters with tarragon aioli (89 sek), Grilled Argentinian scarlet shrimps with avocado cream and citronette (85 sek), Mini burger with truffle cream (95 sek) and Taco with grilled Iberico, goat cheese cream, roasted onion and coriander (75 sek).
After these, we ordered three more – Mini scallops with aioli (95 sek), Small potato dumplings with lingonberries and brown butter (75 sek) and Burrata with green asparagus, planed radishes, olive powder and bread crisp (155 sek). The burrata was from the appetisers section and a touch larger in portion than the previous dishes, but not by much.
Everything was delicious, though if I were to pick a couple I’d recommend less enthusiastically, I’d say the taco and the burrata. Runners up for our favourite included the scarlet shrimp and cod fritters. The winning dish was the potato dumplings which were indescribably light and pillowy soft and utterly perfect with the brown butter sauce and sweet tart lingonberries.
Urban Deli, Södermalm
There are three branches of Urban Deli in Stockholm, including the Norrmalm branch that we visited during our food tour. It was the taster of Korean beef tartare that made us so keen to visit them Södermalm branch, that and our quick visit the night before – it’s right next door to Nytorget 6.
Urban Deli is a fascinating idea – a high end deli-supermarket combined with a bar and restaurant with an eclectic and varied menu.
Fresh seafood is bountiful, but you will also find charcuterie, grilled sausages and steaks.
We started with a starter size of the Korean steak tartare, described as minced beef, Korean mustard, red onion, cilantro, scallions, sesame, chili mayonnaise (125 sek, also available in full size with fries 235 sek) and half a Boiled crab with Korean mustard and lemon (135 sek, 245 for the whole).
The tartare was as good we remembered from the taster, the korean flavours working beautifully with the beef. The crab was enormous and kept me busy for ages, digging out its fresh sweet flesh.
Next, a Spicy salmon salad of blackened salmon, root vegetables, lettuce and cabbage in thom paa, chili mayonnaise, coriander, sesame, peanuts, mandu sauce (205 sek) along with a Tomato and onion salad (55 sek) and Fries (45 sek).
This salad was phenomenal! The perfect balance of textures and flavours, every bite a delight. It took much willpower not to abandon plans to visit other restaurants and return for this one dish night after night!
Even the simple tomato and onion salad was exceptionally good, each variety of tomato bringing a different intense flavour to the whole. Excellent fries too.
And the kind of place you can stop in for a quick bite or linger longer for drinks and a feast.
Bistro Oaxen Slip, Djurgården
The more casual sister restaurant to Oaxen Krog, Slip is more informal and less expensive than its sibling but still the most expensive of my three.
Named for the island where the original restaurant started over 2 decades ago, the Oaxen family of restaurants are now located on Djurgården, where you’ll also find many of Stockholm’s popular museums as well as a small amusement park called Gronda Land. Easy to reach via the number 7 tram from central Stockholm, the restaurants are housed in what I think is a converted fishing warehouse, right on the water’s edge by the wooden pedestrian bridge across to Beckholmen and there’s also a houseboat hotel moored nearby for those who want to overnight.
In warmer weather, diners are invited to sit outside under the vast sail that provides welcome shade.
We visited for Sunday lunch, and ordered a selection of small dishes from the brunch menu.
The drinks list is as interesting as the food, with several beers including local ones (75-95 sek), a range of wines by the glass or bottle, and an interesting cocktail list too.
I really loved my homemade Mint lemonade (45 sek), so light, fresh and refreshing.
We started with Oaxen cold cuts, pickled vegetables & horseradish (165 sek), and a bread basket with one of the tastiest crispbreads we tried over our visit.
The charcuterie was good, rich and fatty and full of flavour. The pickles were even better, sharp and sweet and freshly crunchy.
After the charcuterie, the rest of our dishes came together. Deep fried chicken with lactic fermented tomato & chilli sauce, salad of celery and kohlrabi (140 sek), Shaved vegetable salad with hazelnut vinaigrette & apple (55 sek), Smoked Norrøna herring with brown butter, lukewarm potato salad with chopped egg & herbs (165 sek) and Roasted brioche wtih 63° egg, hollandaise sauce, ramson and paprika-spiced sauce (165 sek).
All were good but the brioche with wild garlic leaves and pesto and that perfectly cooked egg hidden under its thin blanket of salami wowed, as did the sweet sour pickled herring, perfect with the potato and egg salad.
Last, we shared the Bread pudding with brown butter, jam and vanilla ice cream (110), dense and moist with crisp edges and gorgeous with the lashings of fruity jam and ice cream.
Of our three restaurants, the dishes we enjoyed at Oaxen were most tied to the local landscape, with many ingredients coming from the restaurant’s own farm.
All three restaurants served us some exceptional dishes, excited our tastebuds and were visual works of art to boot.
Have you visited any of these restaurants? What did you think and what were your favourite dishes? And, more importantly, which are the places we should check out on our next visit, because the one thing that’s certain is that we definitely want to eat more of Stockholm, and soon!
Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!53 Comments to "Three Delicious Small Plate Restaurants in Stockholm"
These look absolutely incredible and your photography is really nice <3 🙂
Thanks Greety!
I really enjoyed reading this post! I’d fit right in there–I love seafood and it seems you were able to try a variety of different types. Thanks for this little peek into another culture’s food!
Yes, there’s plenty of choice for pescetarians or anyone who happens to love seafood.
I’m licking my computer right now )) The seafood and desserts look sooo good!
Ha, yes it makes me hungry looking back on it! I actually went back for work recently and was able to get back to Urban Deli for another great meal!
These all look delicious. We went to Stockholm last year and this would have been very useful.
Aah, sorry Leona, hopefully it will help next time?!
Small plate restaurants are so much fun because you get to sample it all. Very nice for indecisive eaters like myself. Those clams look like they’d be my favorite!
Exactly, I love being able to try a wider range of dishes, not having to choose just one or two!
All the restaurants look so delicious. I haven’t been to a small plate restaurant because where I live have mostly fast food restaurants.
Small plates is more popular in London too right now, though of course the majority of sit-down restaurants are still starter, main dish, dessert per person. Fast food of course is very different!
Oh my goodness, it is lunch time here in New Zealand and my mouth is literally watering reading this! I think the shrimp would have been my favourite, and the bread and butter pudding! I love the idea of shared plates!
Thanks Liz, yeah the sharing plates thing really plays to how I love to eat!
I could really have done with this post a couple of months ago! I spent a weekend with a friend in Stockholm and we stayed in Södermalm. We spent far too much time and energy wandering around trying to find somewhere to eat! Did you find eating out there really expensive though?
Yes, for sure it was expensive, especially if you included any alcohol in the meal. We live in London, which is also fairly expensive, so it wasn’t as big a jump for us as it is for visitors from North America or elsewhere in Europe (excluding Nordics). But still, yeah quite spendy. I did research a lot of restaurants in advance, mainly because given the high prices, I really wanted our choices to be great!
I’ve always wanted to visit Stockholm, but I never thought of it as much of a culinary destination to be honest. Thanks for changing my perspective on that! Your food photography is on point 🙂
The restaurant scene is amazing, expensive but really great food!
I really need to travel more in Europe! The food looks amazing and so must be Stockholm. I am looking forward traveling in Sweden one day 🙂
I love the diversity of culture and architecture and food and everything!
Oh wow! I think I’ve made a mistake reading this before having my breakfast as I’m now super hungry. I think out of all of these dishes, the scallops and dumplings look particularly tasty!
Those were both such great dishes!
I really want to go to Stockholm, mainly for the architecture, but now for the food too!
Both are very well worth visiting for!
I love the look of all of them, though Oaxen seems the most interesting to me. But that seafood looks great too – I could feast all day on Argentinian Red Prawns I suspect!
I loved all three of these, we had some other great meals elsewhere but these were my highlights!
I love posts about food! Looks incredible – I’d love to visit Sweden and clearly the restaurant scene in Stockholm isn’t disappointing!
It’s an amazingly active scene!
Everything looks so appetizing! Will save this for future reference! 🙂
Hope you get to visit soon!
Looking at all those dishes makes me so hungry! I’ve never been to Stockholm but would definitely love to visit now after seeing all that food. The mini scallops with aioli looks mindblowing!
It’s a beautiful and vibrant city, worth visiting even without the food!
Incredible pictures..I hope to visit Sweden soon
Thank you, hope you make it!
I was looking for places to eat in Stockholm and stumbled across your post. I love your photos.
So happy to help anyone find their way to these delicious meals! Thanks for leaving a comment! ?
What an appetizing post. Your pictures are mouthwatering. I loved the idea of small meals. When I travel solo i sometimes skip meals as I don’t like to waste food. Loved your photos.
Yes I know what you mean. Small plates is a bonus for solo travellers especially!
I don’t always like a busy restaurant, but when the food and the vibe is good, it can be a lot of fun. I would check out Nytorget 6 for sure.
Jenn, I’m actually with you, I don’t feel that a restaurant has to be packed and buzzing for me to have a great experience, though when it’s completely utterly empty, that can be a warning sign…!!
I’ve never heard of small plate menus before. Which is unusual as my husband is an Executive Chef. Nice idea, that’s how I like to eat, lots of tastes, everything light. Love the look of all that seafood!
It’s really just the idea of offering lots of smaller plates designed to share, of the size that starters might traditionally be, or smaller, so that the meal is made up of lots and lots of dishes shared.
You have just made me so hungry! I loved the food in Stockholm too, I was surprised especially by how beautifully presented it was. I remember a great walk around Djurgården and I would love to go back: I’ll remember your recommendation for Oaxen Slip when I finally go back, thank you
I love eating out in Stockholm. For me, Sweden is fast becoming the food capital of Europe. So much choice, so much quality and the presentation also fantastic. Love reading this post and now I want to go back to Sweden just for food.
I haven’t visited Stockholm, and never really think of it as a ‘foodie’ city. But this has definitely given me food for thought! The potato dumplings and cod fritters from Nytorget totally sound like my kind of thing. We might do a food tour when we visit, so we can see what the city has to offer!
Great selection of food! What a really good idea to make the most of your visit and order as wide a selection of things as possible. Not surprised there’s so much seafood available – definitely makes it my kind of food city though.
I’ll never forget eating at Urban Deli last year. One of my favorite restaurants in the world. And Sweden has some of the best quality food I’ve had in the world. I’ll have to check out the other two places the next time I’m there, which hopefully will be very soon.
It’s been a long time since I visited Stockholm and the food was excellent. Looks like you’ve found three very good restaurants that I can check out on my next visit. Thank you!
What a tasty selection you have here? Personally, Bistro Oaxen Slip’s food looks the best but they all are so artfully arranged that it was hard for me to choose. I haven’t been Stockholm before but I would love to go. It’s great to see a city with such a unique and inventive array of food.
I haven’t made it to Stockholm yet, but it’s excellent to hear about the fabulous food scene! Nytorget 6 sounds great – usually I’m not a fan of overcrowded places, but seems like that’s part of the experience and atmosphere. And obviously places are popular for a reason right! Will order the potato dumplings!
And will definitely make a note to keep an eye out for a branch of Urban Deli – from your photos and descriptions I can definitely understand why you were tempted to just keep returning here in favor of other restaurants every night!
I need to get back to Stockholm just to try some of these places. Luckily, I’m heading there next summer! Nytorget 6 looks like my kind of place. Those potato dumplings in the lingonberries are right up my alley! Anything in Söder is up my alley!
A very tasty adventure you had in Stockholm, I do like the idea of the mini burger with truffle cream from Nytorget 6 in Sodermalm. I hope it was a good as it sounds!
You mentioned crab that you ate at Urban Deli, and it is bring back memories of when I had crab curry in Sri Lanka in which I also was kept busy trying to dig that sweet flesh out of there, but it is well worth it in the end.
I do like restaurants which sources its food locally, and what better that their own farm at Oaxen.
We’ve never been to Stockholm but are looking forward to. Usually we like traveling to places with a good food scene. And it looks like this city totally does! The Grilled Argentinian scarlet shrimps with avocado cream and citronette looks and sounds so delicious. We’d definitely like to pay a visit to Nytorget 6! Tge idea to share a large table with other people is something we do quite often in Paris or Greece, and it’s actually a great way to connect with people.