Muffin Bakery

Muffin Bakery on Drottninggatan

Locations:
Fridhemsgatan 3 (Kungsholmen)
+46 (0) 86 51 88 00‎

Drottninggatan 73 (Norrmalm)
+46 (0) 84 11 68 88‎

Tegnérgatan 11 (Vasastan)
+46 (0) 820 69 40‎

Linnégatan 42 (Östermalm)
+46 (0) 86 63 02 22‎

Monday-Thursday 9:00-19:00
Friday-Sunday 9:00-17:00
www.muffinbakery.se
Map (all locations)

L: My American friend S recommended this place for our weekend fika.  It was fantastic!  I should make her suggest fika places more often.  I find it difficult to find places for fika that both have good food and coffee and a nice place to sit.  The Muffin Bakery satisfied on both counts, despite being a chain.

We met up at the Fridhemsgatan location, which features spacious outdoor seating.  It’s great not to be perched on the sidewalk for once, but I did think the AstroTurf under the tables was a bit odd.  One danger is that you may be attacked by a large bird who will steal your muffin, but it seems that they are usually occupied with food in the street.  S and I guessed that the cafe might be sacrificing an occasional muffin to the birds to keep the customers safe.

Ah, the muffins.  They are large and lovely.  Tons of flavors, the ones I remember include: chocolate cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake, apple cinnamon, and carrot cake.  Don’t worry, they will have something for you.  They even had a few ‘healthy’ looking muffins.  Prices are average for Stockholm.  For a muffin and cappuccino it costs around 60 kr.   The cappuccino was good, but not outstanding.

I’ve been past the other locations.  All seem nice enough, but the nicest outdoor seating is definitely at the Fridhemsgatan cafe.

Summary: Great place for a fika, especially if  you’re American and craving a huge American-style muffin.

Rating: **

Roxy

Nytorget 6
116 40 Stockholm
Sweden
+46 (0) 864 096 55
Tuesday-Thursday, Sunday 17:00-00:00
Friday-Saturday 17:00-1:00
Monday closed
www.roxysofo.se
Map

L: Casual dinner out with my lovely friend L was the perfect chance to try out Roxy, which has been sitting on my restaurant queue for a while now.  Roxy is located in the trendy SoFo area of Södermalm on Nytorget.  The restaurant itsself is simultaneously both hip and cosy, with small nooks built into some of the walls.

When I arrived there were no waiters standing near the door, so I walked over to the bar to ask for our table.  When I told the waitress there my name and reservation she grumpily said that she would help me in a few minutes and continued preparing drinks for a table.  Not great.  I mean, how hard is it to understand that you should help the person standing in front of you and then fix the drinks???

The menu is quite impressive, including small dishes, medium dishes, and main courses.  I had heard that the best is to take several small dishes and have a tapa-style meal, but when I asked the waitress how many it would take I was a bit put off by the idea of having 3-5 small dishes costing from 73-99 kr.  I settled on the chorizo stuffed chicken (198 kr), and L took the grilled fillet of beef (240 kr).

No complaints about the food: the chicken was moist and succulent.  The choritzo made for an interesting flavor combination.  The mashed potatoes on the side were rustic and lumpy, just the way I like them.  L was also quite satisfied with her food.

At some point during the evening we realized that we seemed to be the only straight people there.  No idea if it was a coincidence or if we just missed something, but it made for great people-watching.

Summary: Good solid food at ok prices.  A great place to take a group of friends.

Rating: **