Stockholm's Best Japanese Restaurants

Miyakodori is a Japanese Izakaya/gastro-pub in Stockholm. They offer a changing menu of yakitori cooked over burning charcoal and small dishes. Super friendly service and a relaxed and homey atmosphere. The owners had to wait a few years before opening, because they had difficulties finding a suitable restaurant space for their concept. Luckily after many Pop Ups Max, John and Lars finally found a space where they could realize their dreams together. Miyakodori on Upplandsgatan is wonderful. The owners have previously worked in Stockholm's best restaurants and Max in Japan.

The food served in this old shopping arcade is a mishmash of flavours: Japanese, Nordic, Chinese etc. One of the Adam/Albin restaurants, Misshumasshu is a great pick for a quick and delicious meal or drink smack in the middle of Stockholm. The ramen is topped with tender pork belly, coriander and vegetables in a well balanced black garlic broth. A side salad of kale with parmesan, raisins and pine nuts is simply delicious. The evening menu steps up the game with hamachi, quail and squid in the main courses. And some folks come here just for the cold drinks and the music.

Meat heaven.This is one of my favorite steakhouses in the world.Great selection of meat, everything from local dry-aged to Japanese wagyu. If you see in-house dry-aged ribeye, go for it. It's a wonderful piece of ribeye, dry-aged for 6 weeks in ox tallow, a nose of blue cheese, seared foie gras and hazelnuts, creamy taste and super tender. The wine list is filled with the best of the best!

Ramen eatery for a nourishing lunchAn off the beaten track noodles shop where the chef serves delicious and rich vegan ramen bowls, all made of high quality produce and perfectly cooked noodles.

Sophisticated Japanese dishes in a minimalistic but unpolished settingDashi (the umbrella term for the family of Japanese stocks) is also a tiny but ambitious Japanese “tavern” in Stockholm's Östermalm. Hole in the wall -kind of space has 16 seats : 8 on a counter, two high tables and a chef's table in an open, semi-rough kitchen. Dashi offers only one, constantly changing “osusume” menu. "O susume" means “what do you recommend” in Japanese but it is also a nod to the izakaya Suzume in Tokyo, in which Harry Jordås, one of the owners previously worked. The other one, Australian Nathan Turkely has a history in various star restaurants around the world. Dashi is unpretentious but ambitious. Despite mostly Nordic ingredients, everything feels authentic and follows seasons. Small dishes are refined but simple – ranging from week-aged raw fish to horse tartar to high quality game combined often with a variety of interesting specialities, like delicious fermented chili paste kanzuri. Wines come from small producers and there is a wide selection of great sakes, many of them aged. But as genuinely Japanese everything in your plate feels, Dashi is also a relaxed place. Music is mostly 80s pop & rock and atmosphere has nice balance between zen and edge. Money has been spent in the culinary essentials, fancy decoration not being one of them. And one more thing I cannot resist to mention – huge apologies in advance - is their toilet. It has probably the most extreme entrance you've ever seen and reveals immediately if you've had one sake too much. Check yourself.

Come for the ramen, stay for the small plates.Let me SHOYU a little something-something from Tengu. The newest kid on Stockholm's ramen block, Tengu comes from the guys that brought us the likes of Schmaltz Delicatessen, Cafe Nizza and Babette - the last of which is one of my absolute favourite spots in this fine city. As if that wasn't enough to set the siren sounding, they have paired up with Jonas Lindgren of Totemo Ramen, my go-to place when I am pining for a piping hot bowl of noodle-y Japanese comfort. Needless to say, my expectations were high. ✨Menu-wise, there is a selection of snacks and small plates designed to share, as well as four choices of ramen: shoyu, shio, miso and spicy niboshi. The former section has a creative streak that largely seeks to highlight the use of their charcoal grill; whereas the latter leans towards more 'traditional' flavours, or whatever that means from a ramen sense. What I do know for sure is that the bowls come in two sizes, which enables one to go to town on the small plate section and still have stomach space to crush a bowl in its entirety - noodles, soup, toppings and all. 🍜As to be expected, the ramen was really good. The salt seasoning of the chicken-based broth made for a deeply savoury, clean tasting liquid that allowed the intriguing oceanic undercurrent imparted by the niboshi - or Japanese dried anchovy - to really shine. Light but powerful stuff.However, it was the parade of small plates that sidled in and unexpectedly stole the show for me. The turbot crudo, grilled pointed cabbage and BBQ duck hearts were particular standouts; although I didn't even manage half of the items that were simply screaming my name because, alas, we didn't have the manpower. I am a definite ramen-tic...but it is these that will have me coming back for more. 💥Oh, and for the rumoured tori paitan, the chicken-based cousin of the ubiquitous creamy-come-rich pork bone broth, which so happens to be my ramen style of preference. 🐽

Nordic produce with Japanese techniques and flavors. This is a long-awaited project from chef Sayan Isaksson. Nour recently reopened its doors to the public after staying closed during the height of the pandemic. This is a long-awaited project from Sayan Isaksson, the well-respected chef that was part of the iconic and trendsetting Esperanto a few years back.This 24-seat restaurant is very elegant with great attention to furniture and color choices, which together with gently dimmed lighting creates a relaxed and homey feel. The multi-course menu interweaves seasonal Nordic produce with Japanese techniques and flavors. Almost every dish introduces some kind of fermentation created in the kitchen, whether it's the deeply complex miso, tanginess from the vinegar, or the sweet and subtle touch of koji.