Sweden’s 11 best destination restaurants worth travelling for

What is it? A world-class sausage kiosk in Roma, 20 minutes outside Visby, serving organic artisan sausages made from scratch.

Why we love it? Few people, and probably no one, have approached sausage-making with the same attention to detail as Petter Bendelin. He left a previous career in fashion and graphic design to become a full-time sausage maker. Forget all those mediocre petrol station sausages or the ones sold on the cheap at a furniture store, this is the real deal. The sausages are made from scratch using organic meat from Gotland farms and seasoned according to a range of recipes Petter has developed through experimentation. They’re served in sourdough buns and topped with accompaniments such as kimchi, miso mayonnaise and chilli threads.

Think everything from Sai Oua sausage, northern Thai style, to lamb salsiccia or a classic smoked Vienna sausage, only plant-based. The vegan sausages here are nothing like the ones you’d normally find in supermarkets. These veggie sausages are made from real ingredients: pulses, quinoa, vegetables and spices. They’re so good they could even win over die-hard meat eaters.

Time Out tip: Behind the kiosk, or ‘korverian’, there’s a sausage restaurant with outdoor seating and a full alcohol licence, including beer from Lost Island, whose brewery is 50 metres away.

Gamla Sockerbruket, Visbyvägen 10, Roma, open from lunch until early evening every day in summer (opening hours vary in low season). Expect to pay SEK 65-140 for a sausage in a bun.

What is it? A shared happy place for wine nerds, foodies and restaurant industry folk. This farm hotel works closely with producers in Österlen, while the kitchen serves rustic, elegant food that looks effortlessly simple on the plate.

Why we love it? The dining room has the vibe of the best dinner party you’ve ever been to. Head chef Fredrika Åström ‘cooks the place’, using the finest ingredients from the surrounding area, including produce from Arken farm in Ravlunda, known for its pasture-raised eggs, and Skåne’s, or probably Sweden’s, best tomatoes, grown by Fabien Juventon.

Talldungen has 18 double rooms, but it’s perfectly possible to book in just for dinner. The set-up is simple: a five-course ‘stove menu’ is the order of the day. There are several choices for both the intermediate course and main. If their porchetta appears among the latter, it’s one you won’t forget in a hurry. A homemade pasta dish, such as gnudi or gnocchi, is also often part of the menu. Emma Höök, who owns Talldungen with David Levung, is a highly skilled baker, and the sourdough bread served at both dinner and breakfast is something special. She’s also one of the country’s most acclaimed figures for both service and wine expertise. Getting to follow Emma into her wine cellar and choose the evening’s bottles together, all hand-picked by her from small-scale winemakers, makes the evening even more special.

Time Out tip: There are several cool producers nearby worth visiting for some excellent food shopping, including Arken in Ravlunda’s lovely farm shop and Rathckegården.

Bengtmöllevägen 7, Brösarp, open every evening in summer (opening hours vary in low season). Expect to pay SEK 800 for a fixed ‘stove menu’, plus drinks.

What is it? The first choice for food and drink with soul in the Stockholm archipelago. While many seasonal restaurants tend to have menus that resemble one another, Svartsö Krog is in a league of its own.

Why we love it? Part of Svartsö’s charm is that the island lies a fair way out in the Stockholm archipelago. Ideally, you’ll take an archipelago boat out here and make the journey part of the experience. The backbone of the menu is à la carte, but there are also set menus to choose from: vegetarian and omnivore. All the food is cooked outdoors using a smoker, wood-fired oven and two grills. The menu puts the ingredients centre stage, and the kitchen aims to source as locally and organically as possible. Take its boquerones, for example, which are made in-house using Baltic herring.

Svartsö Krog also offers several different types of accommodation on the island and was the first place in the archipelago to introduce glamping tents, pitched near the water’s edge and furnished with rugs, a stove and proper beds.

Time Out tip: Svartsö Krog also runs a lovely general store down by the jetty that’s well worth checking out.

Svartsö Alsviks udd 397, Skälvik, open for lunch and dinner every day in summer (opening hours vary in low season, eventually dropping to weekends only until the end of October). Expect to pay around SEK 1,100 for three courses with drinks.

What is it? A mountain hotel in Åre with a kitchen where ingredients dictate the menu, not least those grown in its own gardens.

Why we love it? Hållfjället is that rare thing, a privately owned mountain hotel, and until a couple of years ago it had more or less faded into obscurity. Since couple Carl Hörberg and Maria Elgaard bought it, the place has undergone an extensive renovation, with its original character carefully preserved. Sommelier Linda Perez and her husband Rod, an award-winning chef who has worked at some of Stockholm’s best fine-dining restaurants, are responsible for running the place. The menu is fixed and usually consists of five courses, with many of the ingredients grown down in the village of Ottsjö. One example is reindeer heart with chanterelles, cabbage and lingonberries, served with flatbread and cultured charcoal cream. After dinner, you’ll sleep soundly tucked into the small bunk beds, before waking to the smell of freshly baked bread and a breakfast every bit as impressive.

Time Out tip: Hållfjället is a complete experience with accommodation, dinner and sauna, but tables are regularly released for those who don’t want to stay overnight, so keep an eye on its Instagram. Winemaker dinners are also held from time to time and can be attended without staying overnight.

Hållfjället, Ottsjö, open for dinner Thursday to Saturday (opening hours may vary between seasons). Expect to pay around SEK 8,000 for a room and dinner for two.

What is it? A newly renovated guesthouse with an à la carte menu packed with craftsmanship and finesse, courtesy of former fine-dining chefs Magnus Nilsson and Frida Nilsson, who run the place together with Daniella Rebelo.

Why we love it? The combined expertise and precise instincts of the team have created a food offering that feels familiar to guests while still knocking you sideways from the very first bite.

Pensionat Furuhem calls itself ‘an exceptional guesthouse with a completely ordinary restaurant’, but that’s a serious understatement. The trio has thought through every tiny detail and, in many cases, as with the wine glasses, they’ve created their own to achieve exactly the drinking experience they’re after.

The menu is best experienced à la carte, although there’s also a set menu that works best for larger groups. ‘Sexa’ means delicious little bites to nibble on, such as warm sunflower seeds loaded with salt and vinegar or brill prepared boquerones-style with raspberry vinegar. Starters follow a ‘smörgåsbord’ theme, and Ann Charlotte’s smoked herring bake is utterly unforgettable. The star of the mains is, perhaps surprisingly, not the whole grilled turbot or a retired dairy cow dry-aged for eight weeks, but the side dish: Hasselback potatoes. Spoiler alert: you’ll want to order another round of potatoes. The obligatory dessert for every guest is the Skåne speciality spettekaka.

Time Out tip: Combine your visit with a trip to Lindergrens, an organic farm outside Båstad with a well-stocked farm shop and a restaurant serving a great lunch.

Östermalmsvägen 1, Båstad, open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Expect to pay SEK 1,000 per person for three courses with drinks.

What is it? If the critics, including yours truly, had their way, Vyn would be the country’s next three-Michelin-starred restaurant. It currently has two stars in the Michelin Guide. But its more accessible food and wine bar all too often gets overlooked.

Why we love it? You might visit the Michelin-starred restaurant once a year at most, but Vyn’s food and wine bar is somewhere you’ll want to become a regular. The menu is simpler here, but still created by skilled craftspeople under the direction of head chef Cornelia Weber. If you’re lucky, the kitchen might even sneak something from the Michelin-starred restaurant onto the day’s menu.

Here’s how it works: there’s a shorter fixed four-course seasonal menu or à la carte. The latter consists of snacks, starters, mains and dessert. The dishes are highly seasonal, but there’s usually a homemade pâté, as well as Kalix vendace roe with accompaniments or finger food such as beer sausage from Undersåker. You might also find grilled cauliflower with Prästost cheese sauce and chanterelles, or Skåne tomatoes from Arken in Ravlunda with burrata. As a bonus, you also have access to the Michelin-starred restaurant’s extensive wine cellar, which staff will happily dash into to fetch a bottle of rare aromatic rosé.

Time Out tip: In the greenhouse next door, between the food and wine bar and the Michelin-starred restaurant, you’ll find a cocktail bar serving exceptionally well-crafted drinks created by Ella Widström.

Höga vägen 72, Simrishamn, open every evening in summer (with slightly fewer days in autumn). Expect to pay SEK 1,000 per person for three courses with drinks.

What is it? A tasting-menu restaurant entirely guided by Gotland’s natural surroundings, its own gardens and nearby farmers.

Why we love it? Few restaurants breathe and pulse with Gotland quite like Krakas Krog. Restaurateur Ulrika Karlsson is one of the country’s most acclaimed stars of hospitality, and her lilting Gotland accent could make just about anything taste delicious. Not that it needs to, because the kitchen here is every bit as accomplished as those awarded a Michelin star. The choice is simple: there’s one tasting menu consisting of around ten to 12 servings. The dishes reflect the surroundings, with plenty of vegetables also coming from the restaurant’s own nearby gardens. If you’re lucky, lamb from Graute farm in Hejnum might be on the menu, or perhaps fallow deer from Hablingbo.

The glasses are filled with wines from Ulrika’s own wine-importing business, and she has plenty of unicorn wines that you won’t find on any other wine list in Sweden.

Time Out tip: Krakas has relatively few seats and bookings are often in high demand, but it’s easier to get a table later in the season.

Kräklingbo, Kräklings 223, Katthammarsvik, open in the evenings Thursday to Sunday until the end of September.

What is it? A café obsessed with its ingredients in Sweden’s spiritual home of organic food, which occasionally doubles as a restaurant.

Why we love it? Åsgatan 2 is a gathering place that seems to exist on its own wavelength. That must have something to do with Järna’s strong sense of community, where most people are so-called ‘qualitarians’ who want to see a more sustainable food system in the future.

With that said, everything on the menu here is made using hyper-local ingredients, and there’s no shortage of enthusiastic growers in the area. Behind the place is Emil Grönlund, who previously worked for both Gordon Ramsay and the now-closed Oaxen. Emil’s whole idea for the place is built around showcasing local heroes, such as biodynamic growers and game butchers.

The menu often features salad, porridge made from heritage grains and homemade pasta. The cakes and pastries are baked in-house, and the selection is more outside the box than you’d find at your average café.

Every Friday, the atmosphere ramps up as the place transforms into a restaurant and, weather permitting, everything moves out back. Pizzas are cooked in the wood-fired oven, music plays and glasses are filled with natural wine from European producers. A youth club for grown-ups, sure, but kids are welcome too. It usually turns into something of a neighbourhood party.

Time Out tip: Järna and its surrounding area, just south of Stockholm, are home to some seriously good farm shops. Fill a basket with vegetables from Skilleby trädgård or Nibble handelsträdgård.

Åsgatan 2, Järna, open from morning until early evening, with later opening on Fridays. Expect to pay SEK 300 for a main course, pastry and drink.

What is it? A seasonal restaurant celebrating the ‘heroes of the sea’ on the plate, including mussels from its own farms.

Why we love it? If you’re into mussels, it’s impossible not to love Musselbaren. That might sound obvious, but your heart can’t help beating a little faster for a place that’s thought everything through and is also self-sufficient in its star ingredient.

Behind the restaurant is Janne Bark, or ‘Mussel-Janne’ as he’s known, who is also a co-owner of nearby mussel farms that supply the restaurant’s menu. You can even book yourself onto a mussel safari. Mussel-Janne likes to say, ‘Fish is disco, but mussels are rock ’n’ roll’, and nowhere is that more obvious than on the menu. Mussel soup, mussels pil pil, moules frites, moules marinières, yes, this is a celebration of the mollusc in all its forms.

The view is something special too, particularly if you’re sitting at a table inside the old clock tower watching the sun set over Ljungskile Bay.

Time Out tip: Musselbaren has its own distillery, complete with farm-gate sales. Try its schnapps or gin flavoured with seaweed.

Robert Macfies väg 22, Ljungskile, open every day for dinner during high season and for lunch at weekends (opening hours are updated between September and the final closure at the end of October). Expect to pay around SEK 850 for three courses with drinks.

What is it? A gastronomic landmark in Småland with one Michelin star and a wine cellar that’s worth the journey in its own right.

Why we love it? PM & Vänner has been around for almost 35 years and has had a huge influence on Småland’s food culture. Many of today’s most celebrated chefs have passed through its kitchen.

There are several different businesses under the same roof: a flower shop, bakery, hotel with a spa, cocktail bar and two restaurants. One is a popular bistro where you can drop in for steak tartare or isterband sausage. Slightly more tucked away is the dining room, which has one star from the French restaurant bible and serves a tasting menu of around nine courses. The ingredients reflect forest, meadow and lake, with produce sourced from farms such as Löts mejeri and Gårdsby. One of the biggest draws here is the wine cellar, fittingly housed in an old bank vault beneath the restaurant. It’s overseen by sommelier Rubén Sanz Ramiro, one of the country’s most acclaimed wine experts and someone who has always followed his own path. He likes to showcase wines made from little-known grapes or from regions better known for something entirely different. In other words, the wine experience here is every bit as important as the food.

Time Out tip: If you’re continuing through the region towards Öland, here’s a top tip. Acclaimed chef Olle T Cellton recently opened restaurant Franca in Borgholm.

Västergatan 10, Växjö, open every day for lunch and dinner, with the fine-dining restaurant open Wednesday to Saturday. Expect to pay around SEK 600 for two courses with drinks in the bistro and around SEK 3,500 for the tasting menu with matching wines.

What is it? A bed and breakfast and much more besides in a remote corner of Dalarna. What was once a run-down hostel is now a seriously appealing destination for food and drink.

Why we love it? Turistgården is the result of two passionate people’s deep love for the place. Married couple Jacco and Mieke Langelaar left big-city life in Stockholm for Särna. Bit by bit, they’ve renovated all eight of the property’s rooms, opened an artisan bakery and started an evening restaurant.

Jacco, who has a background at fine-dining restaurants including Gastrologik and Oaxen, cooks with local and mostly organic ingredients. The menu is à la carte and dictated by the seasons. One dish, however, has become something of a signature: ‘Dala paella’. Instead of rice, it’s made with heritage grains including spelt, naked oats and barley, together with a vegetable base, soffritto, and lamb from Widichs farm.

The drinks list focuses on small-scale artisan wines from Europe and local beer from Sälens fjällbryggeri.

Time Out tip: Combine your visit with one of Turistgården’s courses, such as an introduction to sourdough baking.

Sjukstugevägen 4, Särna, the dining room is open for dinner Monday to Saturday. Expect to pay around SEK 1,100 for three courses with drinks.