Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

RE

Ten of the best places to eat vegetarian food in Stockholm

Who said Sweden was only about herring and meatballs? In Stockholm, many cafés and restaurants offer vegetarian menus. Here are some of The Local's favourites.

Published: 4 June 2018 14:21 CEST
Ten of the best places to eat vegetarian food in Stockholm
There are plenty of good vegetarian spots in Stockholm, for all budgets and tastes. Photo: Matthew Mead/AP

1. Hermans

A Södermalm spot you won't want to miss for its panoramic view over the Gröna Lund amusement park and its 100% vegan buffet lunch for 130 kronor ($14). Enjoy dishes from all around the world on the shaded terrace, and don't forget to try the vegetable barbecue at night. 

Opening hours: 11am-9pm daily (10pm during summer months)

Location: Fjällgatan 23B

2. Chutney

This Middle-Eastern and Asian inspired restaurant is among the oldest vegetarian restaurants in Sweden, founded in 1987. Their menu offers a wide variety of vegetarian dishes inspired by traditional Indian, Persian and Thai cuisine. Enjoy your meal in a space with exotic decor and a soundtrack taken from all over the world, including reggae, jazz, Indian and Middle Eastern music. Or just savor the food in the silent room.

 

Une publication partagée par @annikajl le 6 Juin 2017 à 11 :27 PDT

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-10pm; Sat 12pm-10pm; Sun 12pm-9pm

Location: Katarina Bangata 19

3. Doctor Salad

Situated on Östermalm, here you can find organic, sugar and gluten free food for budget-friendly prices, with organic salads from 115 kronor, smoothies for 60 kronor, soups for 85 kronor and breakfast pots for around 100 kronor.

You'll also find a large range of snacks and raw desserts. 

 

Une publication partagée par foodora Sverige ?? (@foodora.se) le 31 Mars 2017 à 1 :29 PDT

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm; Sat 12pm-4pm

Opening hours: Mon-Fri, 8.30am-3.30pm

Location: Sybillegatan 29

4. Farang 

An excellent Asian restaurant on Norrmalm that provides a unique culinary experience via Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Every dish is made from fresh ingredients.

Do not forget to try the noodle bar during lunchtime where you can also take food to go. Expect to pay around 690 kronor for a set-menu, and around 300 kronor for a dish to share.

Opening hours: 11.30am-1.30pm (Tuesday to Friday for lunch) and 5pm-midnight (Tuesday to Saturday for dinner)

Location : Tulegatan 7

5. Mahalo Hälsocafet

The perfect place if you're craving a snack or just for a quick lunch. Everything is vegan, organic and made with fresh local products.

At Mahalo you'll find a broad selection of dishes such as raw food pizza or spring rolls. You can also create your own salad. If you're more of a fika person, try the large variety of sugar and lactose free desserts, or enjoy one of their juices and smoothies. 

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-8pm; weekends 10am-7pm. 

Location: Hornsgatan 61

6. Falafelbaren

As you may guess the main dish here is falafel. And not just any falafel : freshly fried, crunchy and organic. Most dishes are vegan, and all of them are vegetarian.

You can also try other traditional dishes such as börek (filled pastries) with feta and spinach, or enjoy your falafel with homemade skhug (chili sauce) and amba (mango sauce). A set menu combining falafel pitas, wraps and salads with halloumi, baba ganoush or fresh hummus is available.

Opening hours: Mon–Fri 9am–7pm; weekends 10pm–6pm

Location: Hornsgatan 39 (Mariatorget)

7. STHLM Raw

A plant-based cozy café in Södermalm, here you can find gluten-free, sugar-free, milk-free, and of course, raw food. The café offers a wide selection of dishes and drinks, from salad bowls to smoothies and deserts. 

Opening hours: Tu-Fri 11pm-7am; weekends 11pm-5am

Location: Långholmsgatan 11

8. Reggev Hummus

This small restaurant does some of the best hummus in the city. Simple, vegetarian and consistent: what more can you ask for?

 

Une publication partagée par Anna Gnyria (@gnyrianka) le 29 Avril 2017 à 6 :04 PDT

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 10am-9pm; Fri 10am-10pm; Sar 12pm-10pm

Location: Ringvägen 145

9. Hermitage

This cozy restaurant in the heart of Gamla Stan offers vegetarian dishes and a buffet made with fresh ingredients for 120 kronor. Try the lentil soup or a fika, and enjoy the view over the Old Town district. Warning : it's often very crowded around 12pm. 

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-8pm; weekends 12pm-9pm 

Location: Stora Nygatan 11

10. The Plant

This vegan fast-food joint uses 100% organic ingredients, without animal protein or refined sugar, and always freshly prepared to order . The perfect place for a quick budget-friendly meal, such as nachos, salads, burgers and wraps.

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat 11am-10pm; Sun 11am-8pm

Location: Götgatan 132

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FOOD AND DRINK

OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

Should you tip in Sweden? Habits are changing fast thanks to new technology and a hard-pressed restaurant trade, writes James Savage.

Published: 5 April 2024 13:59 CEST
OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

The Local’s guide to tipping in Sweden is clear: tip for good service if you want to, but don’t feel the pressure: where servers in the US, for instance, rely on tips to live, waiters in Sweden have collectively bargained salaries with long vacations and generous benefits. 

But there are signs that this is changing, and the change is being accelerated by card machines. Now, many machines offer three preset gratuity percentages, usually starting with five percent and going up to fifteen or twenty. Previously they just asked the customer to fill in the total amount they wanted to pay.

This subtle change to a user interface sends a not-so-subtle message to customers: that tipping is expected and that most people are probably doing it. The button for not tipping is either a large-lettered ‘No Tip’ or a more subtle ‘Fortsätt’ or ‘Continue’ (it turns out you can continue without selecting a tip amount, but it’s not immediately clear to the user). 

I’ll confess, when I was first presented with this I was mildly irked: I usually tip if I’ve had table service, but waiting staff are treated as professionals and paid properly, guaranteed by deals with unions; menu prices are correspondingly high. The tip was a genuine token of appreciation.

But when I tweeted something to this effect (a tweet that went strangely viral), the responses I got made me think. Many people pointed out that the restaurant trade in Sweden is under enormous pressure, with rising costs, the after-effects of Covid and difficulties recruiting. And as Sweden has become more cosmopolitain, adding ten percent to the bill comes naturally to many.

Boulebar, a restaurant and bar chain with branches around Sweden and Denmark, had a longstanding policy of not accepting tips at all, reasoning that they were outdated and put diners in an uncomfortable position. But in 2021 CEO Henrik Kruse decided to change tack:

“It was a purely financial decision. We were under pressure due to Covid, and we had to keep wages down, so bringing back tips was the solution,” he said, adding that he has a collective agreement and staff also get a union bargained salary, before tips.

Yet for Kruse the new machines, with their pre-set tipping percentages, take things too far:

“We don’t use it, because it makes it even clearer that you’re asking for money. The guest should feel free not to tip. It’s more important for us that the guest feels free to tell people they’re satisfied.”

But for those restaurants that have adopted the new interfaces, the effect has been dramatic. Card processing company Kassacentralen, which was one of the first to launch this feature in Sweden, told Svenska Dagbladet this week that the feature had led to tips for the average establishment doubling, with some places seeing them rise six-fold.

Even unions are relaxed about tipping these days, perhaps understanding that they’re a significant extra income for their members. Union representatives have often in the past spoken out against tipping, arguing that the practice is demeaning to staff and that tips were spread unevenly, with staff in cafés or fast food joints getting nothing at all. But when I called the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Union (HRF), a spokesman said that the union had no view on the practice, and it was a matter for staff, business owners and customers to decide.

So is tipping now expected in Sweden? The old advice probably still stands; waiters are still not as reliant on tips as staff in many other countries, so a lavish tip is not necessary. But as Swedes start to tip more generously, you might stick out if you leave nothing at all.

SHOW COMMENTS