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| Typical SoFo view. |
Yesterday afternoon, I had the chance to partake in a food tour... a guided walking tour where food is the focus. The tours are arranged by
Food Tours Stockholm and, so far, there are two different tours on offer. The first one is a tour through the
SoFo neighbourhood on the island of Södermalm (home to the
Rival Hotel) and the other is in the Vasastan neighbourhood. While the
Vasastan tour concentrates on Nordic food culture, the
Södermalm tour is more multicultural, reflecting the bohemian feel of the SoFo neighbourhood... and it was this Södermalm tour that a colleague and I went on yesterday.
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| Piccolo Metro deli selection |
I really enjoyed the tour and think it is a great, unique activity for visitors to Stockholm! The tour is 3½ hours long with 8 stops at different restaurants and food specialty stores. As I mentioned earlier, the stops represent the multiculturalism of modern Sweden... with everything from Swedish to Chinese to Italian and in between. One thing I really like about the tour was that the guide Fredrik was very informative about both the food and the surroundings, so it is a great way to see a picturesque Stockholm neighbourhood, get the background story as well as try some delicious food. I also liked that the restaurants seemed generally interested in our visit and were happy to present their food.
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| Paneer Palak Korai at Shanti |
The tour started at
China, a traditional Chinese restaurant that has one of the only (if not the only) authentic Peking duck ovens in Europe. From there it was on to a newly opened Italian restaurant and deli called
Piccolo Metro, where we got to sample some pasta and wine. They do specialize in Appertivo, the traditional pre dinner cocktails with small dishes. Next was
Shanti, a great Indian restaurant (not your run-of-the-mill curry house) where they served us Paneer Palak Korai. Very good! The tour then continued on to
Fang Yuan Shi Wu... a quaint hole in the wall where they serve Stockholm's best dumplings. Just meeting proprietress Wencui Cui made it well worth the stop. Cute as a button!
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| Urban Deli! |
The tour then moved on to more local tastes with a stop at
Urban Deli, which is one of the most popular restaurants in the Sofo district. Urban Deli combines a restaurant with a deli, bakery and grocery store. Here we tried different tastes from their deli selection (sausages, meats and cheeses). Just across the street was the next stop on the food tour... newly opened
Nytorget 6. A great restaurant where the focal point is the beautiful rotisserie and bar. We were treated to some delicious chicken from the rotisserie as well as some local beer.
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| Rotisserie at Nytorget 6 |
Time for dessert! First we stopped at the famous
Pärlans Konfektyr where they hand make caramels. You can actually watch them cook and roll the caramels every weekday in the shop. After trying an array of different tastes, we moved on to the final stop... local ice cream parlor:
StikkiNikki. Here they serve ecological, home made ice creams and sorbets with tastes like peanut butter crumble, strawberry/rhubarb and salted liquorice. The perfect end to the tour!
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| Pärlans Konfektyr |
The price for this tour is 695 SEK per person, which includes all of the food & drink, bottled water to have with you as well as the guided tour. I found the tour to be well worth the price as you do get quite a lot of food and information. The tours are guided in English & Swedish. Be aware that they run on different days, so check their website to find the right date and tour. You can book either of their tours on
their website or, if you are staying at the
Rival Hotel, by contacting me directly. Bon Appétit or
smaklig måltid!
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| StikkiNikki |
Stockholm and the paths are well marked with kilometer markers and maps. My favorite is the one that goes around Djurgårds Canal... it is 7 kilometers long, though there is a bridge along the way if you would just like to do a five kilometer walk/run. The walk takes you along both sides of the canal through leafy forests, wetlands, parks and embassy village. Along the way you will find a few cafés, restaurants and ice cream kiosks if you want to take a break. I did the whole walk a few days ago with friends and it just took a couple of hours (with a stop or two).
re Södermalm (11 km- and perfect if you are staying at the Rival Hotel), Kungsholmen (9 km) and Brunnsviken/Haga Park (12 km). All three of these paths are through green areas (mainly), along the water and with plenty of interesting things to see... and, of course, there is nothing saying you have to do the whole course!
