Gothenburg’s star restaurants in Guide Michelin
Six restaurants in Gothenburg have been awarded a star in the restaurant bible Guide Michelin. For a city the size of Gothenburg, it is quite unique to have so many star restaurants, and the awards have put the city on the international food map. In Gothenburg, you’ll also find the restaurant that has had its star for the longest time in Sweden, Restaurang 28+, which had a star every year since 1991. In 2023, Markus Pettersson’s Signum in Mölnlycke was also welcomed into the guide, a restaurant whose tasting menu is inspired by the four elements.
Restaurants recommended in the Guide Michelin
In addition to the city’s starred restaurants, there are several restaurants that are mentioned and praised in Guide Michelin, even though they have not yet received a star. Italian Trattoria La Strega is one of them, a tavern run by Nina Rydqvist and Andrea Consonnis and which since day one has served serious, northern Italian food far less trivial than just pizza and pasta. Another restaurant that is mentioned is Bulot, which since its opening has had high ambitions (which the little Michelin guy-statue placed on a shelf in the kitchen gossips about). That the ambition is there is not surprising, since co-founder Gabriel Melim Andersson has worked as head chef at Spritmuseum in Stockholm, Upper House in Gothenburg (when they had a star) and Aska in New York.
Hidden gems
The list of hidden gems in Gothenburg can be made as long as you like. We start at Munkebäckstorget, the small square that is right next to the bus stop with the same name. Here you’ll find an eyeglass shop, a pharmacy and a restaurant named YiLi. At YiLim you probably find Gothenburg’s (and maybe Sweden’s?) best xiao long bao. If we move a few blocks, to the corner Olskroksgatan/Övre Olskroksgatan, we find the Georgian gem Stumari. Here you should order the Georgian specialty and also the cheese-filled pizza pie adjaruli. If we jump to the central parts, more specifically the Nils Ericson terminal (right next to the Central Station), you will find a small box-like place with the Sausage Haus sign on it. If you fantasize enough, your mind can take you to Chicago or Berlin, because the sausage is actually just as good here. Their Italian lamb chorizo has been described several times as “Gothenburg’s best sausage”.
Constantly talked about
What Oskar Ahlvin started is somewhat unique. Nearly six years after his restaurant, Bar la Lune, opened its doors for the first time, they are still top of mind for Way Out West guests, Book Fair visitors and wine and food-interested Gothenburgers alike. A dish that has stuck around for a long time at Bar la Lune is their tarte tatin, which in this case is not a dessert made of apples and sugar but a mid-course made of onions, enjoyed with a fat (42 percent) crème fraiche and a glass of white natural wine. Another restaurant that has difficulty leaving people’s lips is the sushi and omakase restaurant Hoze at Stigbergsliden 17. Here, owner and chef José Cerdá has run his restaurant, with room for only six people, for almost 15 years. José is driven by the Japanese kaizen way of thinking, where every day you try to reach a new level of perfection. Therefore, it is perhaps not so strange that the restaurant feels just as relevant year after year.
Gothenburg classic
Since 1972, Fiskekrogen in Wijkska huset has delivered classic cooking with the best from the sea. This restaurant, we would like to say, is something of an institution in Gothenburg and many birthdays and wedding anniversaries have been celebrated here over the years. Here, of course, you eat fish, and the restaurant’s specialty is actually something as unexpected as cod buns, a dish that chef and owner Lars Ahlström has been cooking for the last 25 years. Another immortal icon among Gothenburg’s restaurants is Manfreds in Linné. Here you should eat schnitzel, although of course there are plenty of other good things on the menu. In 2022, the restaurant’s classic chef, Giorgio Kunkler, who together with Manfred Indinger once started the restaurant, retired. However, we can guarantee that the schnitzel is just as good as usual.
Bakeries
Here we start at the small hole-in-the-wall at the street Solrosgatan 11, or Lilla Sur as most people know it as. Here, everything is baked with sourdough, and something that has made the bakery known far beyond the city limits is their kremla – a cross between the cinnamon bun and the Swedish semla. And yes, it is just as good as you can imagine. Kremlan is also served all year round. Another bakery that has made itself known through a pastry is Sylvain Marron Patissier Chocolatier in Högsbo. A deliciously crispy croissant is baked here, just like you are used to getting it in Paris.
