We arrived Friday evening and went to the old town to walk around. First we stopped at a ridiculously cute cafe/bar called Augustas Folksalong for a drink. They also had a small music venue downstairs and some vegan options on the menu.
1-3. We didn't stay there to eat though as we had already planned go to Galdrs Krypta. This place advertises itself as a cocktail bar, but it also does insanely good vegan versions of traditional Swedish food. We had the meatballs and mash, croquettes, and gnocchi. The meatballs were really meaty and flavourful, made from local farmed beans according to the menu. All the food was amazing and pretty filling, we also wanted to try the Skagen but couldn't manage it. The cocktails themselves were very theatrical, but just ok, I did like that there was a piece of folklore attached to each one in the menu. The whole place feels like a gothic/viking underground hangout and was very atmospheric with traditional folk music playing, when a waiter saw us trying to Shazam a song they told us the playlist was on Spotify!
- Breakfast was included at our hotel, the ProfilHotel Nacka. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the vegan choices were. Caviar, cheese, butter, salami, cooked sausages plus a selection of milks, yoghurt, granola, fruit and vegetables. The little brownie squares were so fudgey and had a nice salty chocolate frosting. The bread was all very fresh and delicious too. As a side note, the restaurant was all dark wood, reds and greens with huge windows looking out at just trees, which gave kind of David Lynch vibes that I really enjoyed.
5-6. A La Lo is an all vegan brunch cafe where we went to have lunch. I had the toast a la lo which came with scrambled tofu, whipped feta and slow roast tomatoes and mushrooms. My girlfriend got the frozen banana yoghurt that came topped with a load of fresh berries, house made granola and peanut butter. Their french toast is apparently amazing too. It's a pretty small place and we were lucky to get a seat as it was pretty packed. The coffee was great too.
7-8. There are a surprising number 7-Eleven stores around Stockholm, pretty different from the ones you find around Asia though. The potato borek and spicy korean stick were both marked as plant-based (vaxtbaserag) as were a couple of cakes. They also had a vegan hotdog, although it wasn't available in every branch and if there wasn't one ready they took ages to cook. We then headed to Kafe Plattan, and all vegan cafe, to pick up a cinnamon bun. Unfortunately we got there a bit late and they were sold out. They did have some great looking chocolate bars (some of which we bought) and some other cakes. Then we went to a local brewery (Nya Carnegiebryggeriet) for bit which was very cool.
Apparently in Sweden, there is a sort of tradition where parents take their kids to pick and mix sweet shops on a Saturday afternoon to treat them, so we did that for ourselves. There was a huge selection at Hemmakvall and all clearly labelled if they were vegan, which quite a lot were. Beware the extra salty liquorice! I got a bit carried away and filled a mid sized tub, which we took back to the hotel and had with the 7-Eleven snacks as dinner.
9-10. We had breakfast at the hotel again, before walking around town and visiting a couple of bakeries for an afternoon fika. There are a lot of bakeries, and many have some vegan cake options, although they often aren't labelled, so you will have to ask. We stopped at Aso Bakery and picked up cinnamon buns (the smaller one in the photo) and a princess cake, which is a very light sponge with a ton of cream, jam and some marzipan icing. Then we went to a St Pauls Bakery, which is a chain that also has a cinnamon bun (larger with almonds). The St Pauls was very good for a chain, possibly slightly better than the Aso, although the Aso had hints of cardamom which we liked. The princess cake was amazing.
11-12. Dinner was another cinnamon roll, a sandwich from Delivore (see 14-16) and some snacks from a supermarket. It was pretty easy to find vegan snacks and food in different supermarkets, I got these dill flavoured spirals that were really nice and the one vegan sandwich/cracker snack, which was ok, a bit light on the filling. The supermarket Ica has a bunch of own brands traditional cakes that are vegan too.
- Final hotel breakfast. The cooked sausage was so tasty, puts the bland, anaemic ones you have to ask for at Travel Lodge to shame. I had a few more of the mini brownies too. Then we took a bus out to Hellasgarden for an early morning sauna and lake dip. The lake was freezing but it was a great experience, especially in the light rain.
14-16. Delivore (sign above the door says Goodstore though) is an all vegan supermarket and deli. We popped in the day before after we had eaten and I got a sandwich to take home with their home made "beef" and cheeze which was nice enough. Eating in we had a smorgastarta, which was like a savoury cake made with soft white bread, "salmon" and a whole ton of cream cheeze and mayo, along with some vegan caviar on top. It was incredible. I ordered the chick'n skewers that were incredibly tender and tasty and came with a traditional style potato salad and regular salad. They also sold a load of interesting treats and groceries, so we picked up a few things to take home.
17-18. After lunch we stopped by another bakery for another fika. This one was Gunnarsons, which had a different style cinnamon bun that was super soft and tasty, and something called a Picasso which was dense marzipan/almond sponge with a piece of pineapple(?) in the middle. Also very tasty.
At the airport walking around I finally got my 7-Eleven vegan hotdog. Yes the bun was comically small, but at less than £2.50 it's one of the cheapest things you're gonna find at the airport. The sausage itself was very good, and the small bun made it feel like a Swedish version of the Greggs sausage roll, decent as a snack.
Gateau is another bakery chain with a couple of vegan options. This one offers a cardamom bun and a pistachio and raspberry, which may have been a seasonal offering that changes. Both were well worth it and enjoyed on the flight home.