Sirap

Brunch #5 (toast not pictured).

Surbrunsgatan 31
+46 (0) 86 12 94 19
Monday-Friday 9:00-18:00
Saturday-Sunday 11:00-17:00
www.cafesirap.se
Map

We went to Sirap for a late brunch on Saturday with S’s friend O and his flatmate.

L: I have to admit that I tend to be skeptical of places in Stockholm that claim to serve real American food of any kind, particularly those specializing in brunch.  Most such places offer a ridiculously expense buffet of things I don’t want.  Think a table covered in prince sausages (prinskorv), bad scrambled eggs, stale toast, and cold Swedish pancakes for around 120 kr each.  Exciting, no?  No.

But I digress.  Suffice it to say that I probably would have avoided it had not O been such a winning fellow.

The first impression was not great.  The place was hideously overcrowded an underserved, but the food looked amazing.  You can see beautiful and surprisingly realistic pictures of the food on their website.  Annoyingly there is no service, so you have to queue to make your order.  Despite the fact that we were lucky and there were only a few people in front of us in line it took about 20 minutes.  The person who took the orders also had to make the coffee – not very efficient.

After having managed to place the order, it was about another 20 minutes before the food came – a grueling 20 minutes of starvation while watching other people stuff down delicious breakfast, might I add.

So worth it though.  Fabulous fluffy American pancakes with lashings of maple syrup, generous amounts of bacon, and some of the best scrambled eggs I’ve had at a restaurant.  S had the Brunch #5 for 100 kr (which I stole from), and I had the Ceasar Wrap for 85 kr.  The wrap was heaven.  I didn’t realize how much I missed the American version of Ceasar salad.  It was full of chicken and bacon and so huge I had serious problems finishing, despite the long wait.

I recommend reserving a table if you plan to go on Saturday or Sunday morning.  The place tends to be packed.  The crowd is a bit interesting as it seems to be a mix of 20-something Söder-dwelling Indie types and rich kids who have wandered over from Östermalm.

Summary: Great food.  If you’re missing real American breakfast this is your place.  The wait is way too long, with better service we would definitely add a star.  We’ll be back.

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: **