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hotel Salt ¡ Sill - a sophisticated place with
superb seafood and 'the world's fastest
sauna' on a motorised pontoon.
Back in the city, you'll �nd that Gothenburg
is small enough to navigate in a couple of
days, and oers a packed year-round events
schedule, several theatres and museums,
a noted opera house and some excellent
shopping districts. Don't spend all your
time on the main shopping drag, instead
focus on the streets around the city church
Domkyrkan for the best boutique �nds and
a plethora of small shops selling everything
from Moomin mugs through antique science
�ction books to hand-made clogs.
Fika to fine dining
An integral part of the Swedish daily routine
is �ka - coee and cake. You're never
more than a few metres away from a cup
of coee and it's normally served strong,
in large amounts. Recently, there's been a
move towards lighter, taste-centric brewing
methods and �ne £avours. Places such as
Kale'i, a tiny café with a focus on brew quality,
and Bar Centro, the city centre's most popular
espresso hole in the wall, are the coolest,
liveliest places to experience this. Cakes
include cinnamon buns, with the biggest
ones found at Café Husaren in Haga Nygata.
The area is famous for its �sh, so make
the Feskekörka, or �sh church, your �rst
port of call at lunchtime. The ecclesiasticallooking
building opened in 1874 and acts as a
covered market. Lunches from the numerous
restaurants here are eaten at shared tables or
deli-style along counters, are as fresh as you'll
�nd and not outrageously priced. If you're
after street food, try Strömmingsluckan, a
kiosk in one of the trendier parts of town
selling fried herring and mash. Try the fried
strömming (Baltic herring) with crème fraªche,
red onion and mashed
potato, with a light beer.
Another �ne tradition
is that of husmanskost - a
�lling and low-cost lunch.
These are a good way to
experience the best of
Gothenburg's restaurants,
as many establishments serve special set
menus. On the seafood theme, both of the
Sjöbaren restaurants (in Haga Nygata and
Lorensberg) oer traditional �sh dishes -
including their oft-imitated saron and
GOTHENBURG'S RESTAURANT SCENE AND
CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT ARE AS EXCITING
AS ANY YOU'LL FIND IN SCANDINAVIA
Clockwise from main image: Sweden's west coast archipelago;
Way Out West festival; dining at Koka; the futuristic Kuggen
(Cog), a college for innovation in Gothenburg; a dish at
Familjen; Gothenburg at night; Gothenburg harbour