On my recent trip to Sweden (in collaboration with Visit Sweden), I got to spend some time in Gothenburg. This is a city I hadn’t been to in years, since my family and I would drive past it on our way to visit my grandpa in the South of Sweden every summer. As my brother and I grew older, we didn’t need that driving break as much, and eventually started just driving past. Which is why I was excited to visit Gothenburg this time around, and to dine at some of the best Gothenburg restaurants!
The theme of the trip was sustainability, so you can bet that the places we stopped had great schemes in place to ensure that they were all operating as environmentally-friendly as possible. For example, Upper House, which I will mention below, had their own beehives on the roof of the building! They are actually the highest placed beehives in Sweden (considering the building is quite tall). And at Gothenburg restaurant vRÅ, we actually went up on the roof to see their gardens of herbs, and watched them pick the herbs for our meal.
Don’t miss this post! 9 Unique things to do in Gothenburg!
Sweden is such an amazing country, with lots of great places to explore! If you are visiting the capital, don’t miss this 3-day Stockholm itinerary!
Having visited such great restaurants in Gothenburg, I felt it was only appropriate to share them with you guys, in case any of you are planning a trip to Sweden (I hope you are, the trip was incredible).
TOP TIP: Get the Gothenburg Pass before your trip to save some $$$ on activities around the city (with free entry to over 30 attractions, activities and museums)! Gotta work up that appetite during your visit.
7 amazing restaurants in Gothenburg you don’t want to miss!
A little disclaimer before you continue reading; I am not a foodie. I have never been very good at cooking, and used to be such a picky eater. But I love great food and dining experiences that excite me (so perhaps I am a foodie?), which is why I want to share these Gothenburg restaurants. In my opinion, they each had something unique to offer, and I know you’ll find the right place for you in this list. They are also in various budgets, which should be helpful too!
If you are travelling outside of Gothenburg, don’t miss my little guide to Varberg if your trip takes you there (I highly recommend it, such a beautiful place!).
Heading elsewhere in Sweden? I cannot recommend Småland enough, so don’t miss this guide if you are planning a trip to the garden of Sweden. This is the hotel I stayed at.
#1 Restaurant vRÅ
vRÅ is the kind of restaurant you’ll be telling your friends about for a while. Today, this is an intimate little restaurant seating only 45 people (originally a pop-up restaurant), but it will soon be moving to larger locales in the same building. It is located in Clarion Hotel Post, right next to the station in the centre of Gothenburg. The hotel has two great restaurants; vRÅ and Norda. Both have great, unique and Nordic-infused concepts. The hotel itself is located in the old postal service building of Gothenburg, and the exterior of the building itself is worth taking notice of before entering.
Restaurant vRÅ is unique in the way that it combines Japanese food with Swedish ingredients and flare, and I’ll admit I wasn’t quite sure as to what to expect when we first arrived at the restaurant. Our table was set with chopsticks, which surprised me a bit (though I loved it).
Fun fact: on the roof of the hotel, vRÅ they have a kitchen garden, where they grow herbs and greens to be used in the restaurant! We got to visit the garden and pick some of our own herbs during the trip, and it was such a cool experience.
At vRÅ they offer both an a la carte menu and a 4-course menu. We enjoyed the latter, and it was accompanied with drinks to match. The drinks consisted mainly of sake, which was fun to try (I have not had a lot of sake in my life). The food was amazing, and I loved how they had taken traditional Japanese techniques and dishes and replaced the ingredients with Swedish and Nordic cuisine.
If you are visiting Gothenburg, I recommend booking a table in advance and opting for the tasting menu! Please note that vRÅ will be closing for some time during the summer of 2019 in order to move into a newer (and bigger) space. Before visiting, do check their website to make sure you can book your table and that they are open.
#2 Upper House
Whilst in Gothenburg I stayed at Gothia Towers, which was such an amazing hotel experience (I strongly recommend it). Gothia Towers consist of 3 towers, and also in the towers, you will find Upper House. This is a 5-star hotel and restaurant that I was lucky enough to visit during my stay. We enjoyed our breakfast at the Upper House Dining Restaurant, and I can say that the view of the city alone was worth a visit. I mean, how stunning is this table setting?
Upper House offers two different dining concepts; Casual Dining and Fine Dining. Both can (and should) be booked in advance through their website. The Casual Dining concept is a bit more relaxed, yet an amazing opportunity to experience a meal at this great restaurant, whilst the Fine Dining allows you to try their tasting menu in an elegant and exclusive atmosphere. I’ll admit I’d love to go back to Gothenburg for a couple of nights to try them both.
One of my favourite things about Upper House, and what makes them so unique, is not just the view from our table (and the amazing, local eggs served at breakfast). It’s their commitment to sustainability! During the visit, I learned that they have beehives and a kitchen garden on the roof, where they produce their own herbs and honey. The beehives are actually the highest located hives in Sweden (which makes sense, considering the height of the tower)!
Not only that, but the hotels in the towers (both Gothia Towers Hotel and Upper House) actually recycle 94 % of their waste! That’s incredible, and it felt really good knowing that I was both staying and dining at places doing their utmost to stay sustainable and care for the environment. But I’ll end with the best initiative they’ve undertaken (in my opinion); all their food waste and compost is converted into biogas, which they then use to fuel the cookers in their kitchens! How amazing is that?
So if you are looking for a truly sustainable dining experience you can tell your friends about, visit Upper House (or any of the other restaurants in Gothia Towers; there are 5 in total).
#3 da Matteo
Want some proper Swedish Fika during your trip? Well, this is one of the best Gothenburg restaurants to get it at, in my opinion. da Matteo is actually a small chain of coffee shops, where they are incredibly passionate about coffee and high-quality bites. They have 5 shops scattered around Gothenburg (so it’s not a huge chain, and the vibe is perfectly local), and each serves freshly brewed coffee, and (even better, some may say) daily baked pastries and bread.
As they say on their website, they are “passionate about coffee”, and if you know me even the slightest, you’ll know that this is something I can get behind. You’ll find information about their different blends in each of the coffee shops, and the staff is more than keen to chat to you about each one. Their main cafe, in Magasingatan (click here for Google Maps location) is actually where they roast all their coffee! So, if you want to have your Fika somewhere special, and have some killer coffee while you’re at it, da Matteo is where you want to go.
#4 Restaurant Natur
This cool restaurant is located right by Götaplatsen in Gothenburg. I was quite intrigued at visiting this restaurant as I had been told that they serve only natural wines there. You know I love my wine, and this was something that I had never tried before! But more on that below.
Restaurant Natur serves a selection of dishes using fresh, seasonal and Swedish ingredients. It quickly became one of my favourite dining experiences in Gothenburg, and I loved the dark, intimate and cozy atmosphere. The staff was super friendly, and seemed more than happy enough to answer all my (probably annoying) questions about the natural wine. Again, more on that below.
They serve an a la carte menu, in addition to a daily Chef’s selection, where the chef puts together a 3-course meal from the menu for you. For my main I had an amazing salad with fried (I believe it was) broccoli, cream of broccoli (I didn’t even know that was a thing), chevre cheese (yumm) and greens, and I swear it was the best salad I have had in my life. And this is coming from a girl who (more than once) have said that “salads are boring”.. I’ll never say that again!
I’d also like to give a shoutout to the bathroom at Restaurant Natur. Seriously, they have somehow managed to get the cozy and charming atmosphere of the restaurant into the small bathroom, and for that, I am truly impressed. I won’t share anything else, so you’ll have to experience it yourself. Find the restaurant here (Google Maps link).
Now, let’s talk about wine. Natural wine is a wine made without adding any forms of preservatives or additives. It is made using only the natural yeast found in grapes, and no extra yeast is added to speed up or help the fermentation process (don’t quote me on this). They also don’t add any sugar, enzymes or acids to the wine.
Before our visit to Restaurant Natur I had been told that a lot of people either love or hate natural wine. But, I found that as with all wine, there is a large selection to choose from and you are bound to find one you love. Personally, I love heavier, fuller reds, and told the waiter as such. I also told him that my favourite grape is the Malbec (if I ever get cats, I will name them Malbec and Valpolicella, no joke), in order for him to know what to get me. He came back with the red pictured below and it was absolute heaven. Strongly recommended!
My friend, however, ordered another red wine for her meal, and I swear it tasted like rosé and red wine on acid together. An explosion of flavours in your mouth, ranging from red berries to lavender. She loved it, I didn’t, and I stuck to my dark, full-bodied Tierra.
#5 Café Fluß
Ready for some colours? Because that’s exactly what you’ll get at Café Fluss (or Fluß, if you have the German double-S on your keyboard)! This fun restaurant is located in the Jubilee Park, Jubileumsparken, of Gothenburg, and is worth a visit during your trip. It is free to visit the park, which is being built to celebrate Gothenburg’s 400th birthday in 2021, and they have a public sauna and a (slightly) heated pool that is free for all to use. So why not have a swim before you grab a bite?
I loved Cafe Fluss for their fun interior and simple (but great) menu. So whether you are there to grab a cocktail in the sun or try their tacos, make sure to take note of all the artwork surrounding you. What was extra cool was when we noticed that the tables and benches were all made of recycled material, such as old pallets. If you are looking for some of Copenhagen’s Freetown Christiania vibes, Cafe Fluss is the place to be.
Get to Jubileumsparken and Cafe Fluss by taking the bus to Frihamnsporten (bus 16, 55 and 58 amongst others), or catching the tram to Frihamnen. Jubileumsparken is then a 2-3 minute walk.
#6 Kafé Magasinet
Wondering where that pretty photo at the top of the article is from? It’s from Kafé Magasinet. This great restaurant/café, located in the laid-back neighbourhood Linné, is just the vibe you need on a Sunday (or any other chill day, to be fair). Kafé Magasinet can be used as an all-day café for those who just need to get some work done while sipping on some kombucha or one of their ecological coffees, or as a meet-up for lunch or dinner.
In the evenings they serve pizza and in the mornings they have some great breakfast offers. Throughout the day, you can enjoy a simple (and delicious) bagel, or have one of their yummy salads (the cæsar salad was to die for). Regardless of what you feel like, Kafé Magasinet has you covered. Oh, and they are one of the pet-friendly restaurants in Gothenburg, so if you want to bring your four-legged bestie, go for it!
#7 Saluhallen
This is not a traditional restaurant, but actually more like a food court. Still, I feel like it is worth a mention as it is a great place to grab some food on-the-go while you are exploring the city (or hitting the shops). Of course, some of the stands have seats, so it is also possible to have a proper sit-down lunch in Saluhallen as well.
This Food Market/Market Hall is the biggest indoor one in Gothenburg, and you can bet they have everything you may need. From local cheeses, chocolate, pasta and meat, in addition to eating here I also recommend you spend some time to have a look at all the amazing things on offer. Personally, I went home with a bag of fresh truffle and cheese ravioli!
Learn more about Saluhallen here!
There you have some of my favourite restaurants in Gothenburg! I’ve really enjoyed writing this post (almost as much as I enjoyed visiting and eating at these restaurants, haha), and I hope you enjoy it. Have you been to Gothenburg? What are your favourite Gothenburg restaurants? Leave them in the comments below so anyone currently planning their trip to Sweden can try them too!
Don’t forget to book your Gothenburg Pass in advance to get free access to over 30 museums, attractions and activities in the city!
Read this next: 9 Unique things to do in Gothenburg!
