We saw:
As card-carrying audio guide fanatics, we now won’t consider visiting anywhere that doesn’t have one. For the city itself, we downloaded the Talk of the Town guide which was very well produced – 56 points of interest throughout the city in excellent English that struck the right balance between historical accuracy and anecdote. We also whipped round the Royal Palace, cathedral and National Museum. The hop on hop off boat was great for getting around and saving your feet.
We bought:
Half the shop at Norrona for gorgeous skiwear. Cloudberry jam (fell in love with these orange beauties in Newfoundland, where they’re called bakeapples) and herring roe at the airport.
We ate:
Prinsen
We went here only because when I have a deadline, even a lovely one like going away for the weekend, I avoid it like the plague. That’s why, on ringing my first choice Pelikan on Thursday night, they didn’t have a table for the Friday, so I booked Prinsen online at the last minute. Bits of the meal were yummy – the bread promised much, the herring was gorgeous (several little dishes of fish marinated in different ways with new potatoes that made me remember how good just plain potatoes can taste) and the crayfish were undeniably fresh. We ordered badly for our main courses though – the wallenbergare, one of veal and one of seafood, were basically giant pan-fried meatballs: a bit heavy and not our style. And desserts were pretty rubbish – tiny and a bit stale. The welcome on the street was definitely world weary, but inside our waiters were charm personified. Prinsen’s not bad at all, it’s just a bit lazy: a bistro that has been lulled into indolence by a clientele of indiscriminate tourists and blazer-wearing local couples of a certain age.
Volt
Now Volt is a whole other kettle of fish. I left thinking that this, pretty much, is a perfect restaurant. Actually, scratch the qualification – I’m not sure how the people at Volt (apparently four young breakaway chefs, tired of restaurant stuffiness) could improve.
If Volt were my local restaurant, I’d be here with my boyfriend every two weeks or so for a subtly romantic evening – I might wear trainers if we’re tired, but stockings and heels would feel right too. I’d take visiting friends here on their first night in town, because the food is local but modern and light after travel, the ambience is elegant but easy. I’d take business clients here, because it’s a professional operation and the whole effect is quietly impressive. I’d take my mum and dad here, because it’d be one of the best meals they’ve had outside Italy. I am, as you might surmise, insanely jealous of the Stockholmers who get to live around the corner from this place.
The decor is spot on – simple without being “we’re, like, so down-to-earth” pretentious. A bit of exposed piping and perfectly placed worn posters of fish and mushrooms, furry sofas, dark slabs of stone to serve the bread. Low lighting, but not to ridiculous levels so you need to grope around to find cutlery or squint at the menu. Someone’s got a good eye, and has used a small budget well. And the service was delightful – knowledgable and friendly without pushiness or American over-explanation.
Ambience and waiters are good clues, but you know it’s going to be a good meal when the bread is good. The bread here – an oversized levain roll with a dark, crackly, floury crust – was deliriously tasty. Thank goodness it was big enough for two, else an undignified tug-of-war would have ensued with the loaf held between our teeth.
The menu comprises three items each for starter, main and pud/cheese. That’s about all my choice-addled brain can handle these days, so it’s a perfect size for me. We had three courses, although they also suggest five or seven in tasting menus. The food is inventive without being challenging (who the f***, really, wants to eat stuff that looks like other stuff?) That said, this isn’t food I would cook at home – it’s far too well thought out and exquisitely presented for that. And surely that’s the point of going to a restaurant? For starters, the broccoli/oysters/sea plants/algae was a gorgeous collection of unusual and usual perfectly cooked green stuff with a creamy oyster tartare underneath. Mackerel/horseradish/radish/cress seemed to be a riff on the local herring – two long strips of sweetly smoked (I think) mackerel sprinkled with crunchy radish and contrasting with the slightly fiery cress and horseradish. Heaven.
For seconds, we had one chicken/chanterelles/hazelnut/egg – chunks of the tenderest chicken ever, just teetering on the edge of being cooked, with delicate pale yellow mushrooms and a creamy hazelnut sauce. The other main, if possible, was even more perfectly conceived: plaice/peas/yoghurt/spruce were delicate fillets of flounder, with a puree of broad beans, tiny fresh peas, little clouds of fluffy natural yoghurt and the most delicate hint of pine leaves – unexpected and brilliant.
Desserts. Ah, the desserts. We had both: currants/marmalade/almonds/woodruf I remember as being almondy clusters spiked with jam and a fresh grapey granita. Although I could be wrong, as it was outshadowed by the corn/caramel/salt/oxalis – a creamy semifreddo (I think) of corn that enclosed tiny fresh sweetcorn kernels with a perfectly judged salted caramel sauce. We ordered another one as soon as we’d laid down our spoons from the first.
A restaurant that can make me like sweetcorn, let alone relish it and order seconds? Only at Volt, it seems.
We stayed:
The Lydmar Hotel
A fantastic location, slap bang next to the Grand Hotel, just across the bridge from the old town, Gamla Stan, and within spitting distance of all the nice shops – basically perfect whether you’re out on the town or doing touristy cultural things.
The common areas downstairs are mostly taken up with the restaurant although the concierge desk is always manned and very efficient and friendly. The restaurant is fab: breakfast is a buffet (included in our room price) with a really nice selection of excellent pastries, various jams, greek yoghurt, cereals and lovely fresh fruit as well as some cold cuts and cheese. Cappuccino was very decent indeed. We also fuelled here at lunch on both days, just because the position of the hotel was so handy. And for the bread basket which was awesome (if someone can give me the recipe for those mini malty caraway loaves I’ll be a happy bunny). The shrimp salad with egg and avocado was huge and piled high with tasty pink prawns, the steak tartare just the right side of spicy, the lavaret roe was light and fresh. Highly recommended.
The rooms are really lovely – it’s an old building and they’ve really tried to preserve that charm but with a modern twist. The beautiful arched windows flooded our Medium room with light, but also have ultra-effective sound insulation. (This continues with isolating doors to the room and in the corridors, making this one of the quietest hotels I’ve slept in recently, notwithstanding the open-air bar below.) Freestanding wooden wardrobes, comfy sofas and bookshelves with eclectic nicknacks mix with over-sized anglepoise lamps and a very sleek and modern dark grey tiled bathroom. Really comfy bed and wi-fi included complete the deal.
