Restaurant Hantverket- Stockholm, Sweden

Summer 2024 is well and truly here and I am loving it so far. We are in Stockholm. When I say we, I mean my cousin (Wana) and I are on a much needed city break. Our last city break was pre-covid, in Rotterdam for North Sea Jazz festival and we had us a time. Not just at the festival but also exploring the culinary delights of Umami by Han! Spending time with loved ones, aka your people is a MUST for me because time whilst so precious is truly the best gift to give. When I tell you Stockholm is a vibe, it is a VIBE! I can’t quite put into words what it was, but the energy of the city? it gave ease, the fashion on 100, designs, the art.. It has become my ‘Japan’ on this side of the world. We really didn’t have an itinerary per se other than to have brunch with the darling Mina who is a local. Plus, we really both just wanted to take in being in Stockholm at our own chilled pace and that is exactly what we did. Nothing says ‘chill’ quite like wine, cocktails and a charcuterie board served at the bar of your hotel,

one time for Villa Dagmar, absolutely gorgeous boutique hotel smack in the middle of city. We bee-line for late lunch / early din dins at Restaurang Hantverket after spending the earlier part of the day exploring and it was the one! The restaurant style’s very similar to gastro-pub and the food? Flipping delish! Food is served tapas style, sharing plates (our fav) and we got to sample some mouth watering food, starting with the ‘tuttul’ which was pulled pork cooked in it’s own fat, served with flatbread (potato roti). The dish is to be eaten like a taco and boiii! It was good! Whilst I love pork (duh, Filipina here) not very keen on pulled pork because I find that (well most of the ones I have tried anyway) tend to be marinated in very sweet / rich bbq flavour(s) which is not a taste I particularly enjoy. However, the pulled pork here was not over powering, very balanced and spot on with the roti! Same could be said of the thinly sliced raw beef, gruyere cheese and hazel nuts.

The salmon though? Okay, if you don’t know, most of the world’s large size Salmon probably come from Sweden (google it) so you know the Salmon here is LIT

Any ho, the next course was tartare of Salmon and this dish is truly one of a kind. First off, can we talk about the plating of this dish, looking like a tray of unassuming cupcakes.

When I tell you there is nothing unassuming about this here Salmon, it is not a plane Jane okay? It is the disco lights on a disco ball. Layered with caviar, ginger, radish, it gave textures…

The first bite is intense which settles into a burst of creamy, savoury flavours. My goodness, it was DIVINE! Paired with a German Riesling from the Mosel region – magnificent. Not gonna lie, the man dem here, take tapas and small plates sharing to a whole new level because tell me why the next course, noodles, was noodles of scallops. Yep, SCALLOPS! With feta cheese, zucchini, crushed tomato and parsley, out here looking like some pasta like dish

and that was not the most surprising thing about it. It was served cold and it has got to be one of the most crispy, fresh and refreshing noodles! The Veal (which was cooked perfectly) had crispy potato gratin which gave dauphinoise vibes.

I was concerned that the glaze would be too sweet but it was more savoury than sweet, like I said, PERFECT! As was the boneless pork chop. We almost didn’t order pudding, but in the words of Brandy ‘almost doesn’t count’