This bright and chirpy café is a design lesson in Nordic minimalism, perked up with cheerful splashes of patriotic yellow and blue. Barely a month old (Fika opened in the last week of May) Fika has already proven a hit with Swedish expats, all cosied up with mugs of Oboy hot chocolate or bottles of Rekorderlig and Two Elk cider.
Wrap your hands around a giant cup of Swedish tea – blends with names like Stockholm South, Nordic Forest and Polaris – and settle in among the lemon-yellow cushions. You’ll have to order and pay at the register, but your food will be brought to you when it’s ready.
Wrap your hands around a giant cup of Swedish tea – blends with names like Stockholm South, Nordic Forest and Polaris – and settle in among the lemon-yellow cushions. You’ll have to order and pay at the register, but your food will be brought to you when it’s ready.
Rock up early enough for breakfast and you can get into the semolina porridge with caramelised apple or the Swedish breakfast tray that includes a breakfast bun, muesli, boiled egg and freshly squeezed orange juice.
At lunch the menu shifts to more traditional fare. Did someone say meatballs? You betcha. These house-made meatballs are sweet with onion, and deliciously soft and juicy in the middle. You can get a modest serving of these with mash, onion gravy and lingonberry jam or go for the sandwich option with beetroot relish on Sonoma bread.
The cured salmon option also presents a plate-versus-sandwich dilemma, but the flying fish roe, crisp lettuce leaf and mashed egg combo on bread easily beats boiled potatoes and mustard, in our opinion. The surprise hit of the blackboard menu is the skagen prawn sandwich mixed through with mayo, dill and salty little bursts of bright orange fish roe.
Desserts are all house-made, from a rustic wedge of apple pie to a fine rhubarb and raspberry crumble. Chocoholics should head straight for the kladdkaka, a traditional Swedish chocolate cake that has the texture of a rich and squidgy brownie. It’s hard to pass up the cinnamon buns too – petite buttery scrolls rolled up with cinnamon sugar.