Fika

Great chilled vibe in this Swedish outpost in the hectic Brick Lane. The smell of cinnamon buns is tantalising and their Christmas meal is great value for money, awesome and filling.

I popped into here around 5pm today. Very cozy atmosphere, with wood paneling, mismatched chair and pretty plateware. There’s a terrace on the first floor. I popped by specifically for the quinoa salad but sadly it’s been taken off the menu and replaced by a yummy goat cheese and roasted sweet potato salad. Great flavours but a bit steep at 11 quid. I also got the kladdkaka with vanilla ice cream. While the presentation was lovely, I have come to the conclusion kladdaka is the most overrated dish. It’s just mildy chocolately– I’m looking for something much more powerful. I also got the carrot cake for takeaway, which is fine– nothing special.
HOWEVER, the chocolate balls, flaked with oatmeal, are AMAZINGGGGGG– rich chocolate flavour and a nice crumbly texture. I would return just for that!
I had a lovely waitress– friendly and gave me a much-​appreciated carafe of water just for me. Plus ICE, so rare in Europe!

Fika is a really fantastic little café/​restaurant in the heart of Brick Lane. It’s cosy and quirky with cute décor.
I originally ordered the elk burger, which looked delicious! Unfortunately the waitress had us wait about 15 minutes or so before informing us that they were out of elk. (I’m unsure why it took so long?) We ended up ordering the meatballs and mash, which didn’t disappoint.
I will definitely come back again, maybe for lunch next time.
To summarize:
Ambiance — 5 stars
Service — 3 stars
Food — 4 stars

Cosy little spot on Brick lane that now boasts a roof space up some very steep stairs. It’s worth stopping up and checking it out though be warned, if you don’t like the smell of bagels, you might want to reconsider.
You’ll see what I mean.
We’ve just stopped in for drinks and a chat, will come back for the food but it’s a nice change of pace and puts a pin on the map for London’s gap in the Swedish representation of international food.

This is a tricky one. I went there under the recommendation of a Swedish friend. I saw the place from the window and, since it looks fairly attractive, I decided to give it a try.
As we sat down the waitress brought three one-​page menus for us, four people, and two big books. To our surprise, the books hid a small drinks menu. Since there were something like 10 dishes to choose from, it didn’t take more than five minutes for us to be ready to order. The waitress came back, she took the order and when we decided to add some chips she told us they had run out of them (how can someone run out of chips in London?).
Ten minutes later our two meatball sandwiches and meatballs and mash hadn’t arrived and we kept on listening the bip-​bip of a microwave. The waitress wasn’t in the salon, which made us think she was heating our dishes as well. When the food finally arrived we were starving.
I must say that everything tasted ok. The gravy in the meatballs wasn’t uniformly heated (that must have been the microwave of course) but the flavour was good.
I would avoid going if there are more than two tables taken.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience. I don’t think I’d repeat it though.

I was very hungry so the food tasted good. But nothing to write home about. Meatball dish with mash and sauce was microwaved. The meatball sandwich was good but I think a salt beef bagel from next door would have been a better option! Would not recommend but not necessarily a place to avoid.

Fika is a slightly pretentious Shoreditch type place but it actually has some substance behind the hipster froth.
I liked the way they presented the cocktails, for example one came with the alcohol in a bag to be added to the drink and another came with the constituent parts in different beakers. The menu was presented on a map and was due to change to winter at the time of our visit. Some Swedish cultural knowledge is required when interpreting the menu as most main courses come with sides that aren’t mentioned. I had the mashed potato and chicken which was really good. The great smell in Fika is caused by the Swedish meatballs so I would recommend those to.
Overall, despite its hipster pretensions, I quite liked the place and will try and come back in future.

Fika is like the Wes Anderson films it was paying homage to when I swung by: mildly pretentious offset by charm and plenty of substance.
The pretension is to be fair, pretty minor. I asked whether the meatballs came with any potatoes or chips. The waitress replied with a slight sigh, saying that they had neglected to mention on the menu that the meatballs came with mashed potatoes because «a Scandinavian would know that.» And what of the 99.9% of Londoners who aren’t Scandinavian?
But the rest of the experience here was pretty enjoyable. The meatballs were easily some of the best I’ve had, including those from culinary powerhouse IKEA. The mashed potato was good too: creamy but with a rougher texture provided by the laudable inclusion of potato skin. I opted for a straightforward Briska cider for drink which was great. If I was being really picky I would say they they should have included some beers from star Danish brewer Mikeller on their menu but to fair they’re probably more leftfield than what Fika is going for.
For dessert, I joined Grant in opting for a fried peanut and jelly sandwich. Because the sense of danger appeals to me. And yeah, it truly was awesome. The quality of the (locally-​sourced) bread was I think key and the fact that they opted for that rather than a cheap ‘authentic’ white slice is particularly commendable.
Add to this that within my eyeline was a photo of one of my cinematic heroes, Max Fischer and well, I have to admit that I really rather liked this place.

Fika was the location for one of our book group meetings. While the book we were reading is Icelandic, and Sweden is not Iceland, the biggest thing we realized while reading the book is the severe lack of Icelandic restaurants in London. So we came here instead.
I kind of fell in love with it. Maybe it was the obscene amount of Wes Anderson memorabilia. (Well there’s not really a maybe about it.) The astroturf animals on the wall sipping tea? Also a nice touch. The waitstaff was super-​friendly, and one guy was wearing a t-​shirt with Anchorage, Alaska printed on it. I was going to ask him if he got it from Alaska, but by the time we finished, he had disappeared. Maybe next time.
I had two cocktails while waiting. It was kind of a mistake. They made me incredibly drunk. The first one was Life Aquatic (notice the theme? do ya?) and it was dill vodka (I love dill!), elderflower liquor (I love elderflower!) and lemonade (British lemonade of course). It came out with the lemonade in the glass with some dill and a packet of booze in a ziploc bag on the side. Neat! I made it myself. To be honest, I think having the booze in the glass and the lemonade on the side might have been better. And maybe muddle the dill. But it was an interesting (and fun!) drink nonetheless. The second drink consisted of candy floss in the glass with cognac, chili caramel and vanilla vodka on the side. I was concerned about it being too sweet, but it actually worked really well together, so I was quite happy.
Food-​wise, I ordered pâté on a doughnut. Because pâté is good, and I’ve never had it on a doughnut. So interesting! I also ordered sliders. The pâté was a bit thick, but super tasty, and having it on a doughnut was a unique experience for me. And tasty. It was served with apple and everything went well. The sliders were a bit overcooked, but the cheeses on them and the bread were fantastic. I also enjoyed the side of chips served with sour cream (ingenious).
Dessert came around and I opted for the fried peanut butter and jelly. Because I’m American. And also because it sounds amazing and terrible. And it was amazing. Simply awesome. I tried some of Robin’s chocolate cake and it was really tasty as well.
So food wasn’t perfect, but the atmosphere and service were pretty spectacular. So I’m a fan. We all signed up to be in «the club», and next time we go we apparently get a Fika keychain and canvas bag.
Some venues in Shoreditch may be winning me over, but only in an ironic way.

I would give this place 1 and a half stars, but as people seem to round up their reviews in Unilocal,I round down. There’s not a lot of variety on the menu, and half of the dishes had the same red wine sauce, which was mediocre. A friend had Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes. The meatballs at IKEA are better than these. And he had a paltry 6 or 7 on his plate with a small portion of mash. My plate, butternut squash 2 ways, was executed and plated terribly. Brie was haphazardly thrown atop broccoli and beetroot. I think there were three bites of butternut squash in there. Everything was thrown together and piled atop one another. When you have to try and figure out how to eat a dish, that’s a bad sign. Even though we both finished our plates because we were starving, we left hungry due to the small portions, but paid as if we’d had large ones. Very disappointing.

With the front wide open to the elements, we supped G&Ts while looking out onto a very busy Brick Lane.
Slow but friendly service. We didn’t try the food as it was slightly out of our price range, but the setting was perfect just for a casual friendly meet-​up.
The only complaint was from my friend who complained that there was the choice of only one Rum — but this is a Swedish café/​bar so I don’t think this complaint stands!

I was quite disappointed with our meal at Fika. We decided to have a bite here totally by chance even though it was more than we’d usually spend just to munch.
We both got the Pepper Crusted Seared Beef Fillet thinking it’d be well, a plate of sliced beef fillet that’s been crusted in pepper and seared but we basically got unseasoned beef carpaccio instead. The salad was tasty but sparse and it just wasn’t what I expected! Yes, it’s a starter but for £7.90 at a place next to the bagel shop I thought it’d be slightly more substantial. The kladdkaka was also meh. It wasn’t sticky or anything like the other kladdkakas I’ve had. More like an overdone chocolate fondant where the middle isn’t gooey but not quite set either. Also, it took about 10 minutes to get the bill after they forgot the first two times. In general, meh meh MEH.

Fika — so darling.
The translation (as told to me by the owner, a Swede) is something along the lines of Let’s have a «fika» — meaning to go to relax/​chat at a café, have a bit to eat. Explaining an expanse of time dedicated to just enjoying the moment with food, drink and friends.
It was a rainy afternoon on (still) busy Brick Lane, and I ducked into Fika looking for a space to relax, eat, read a book and decompress between a few appointments. As luck would have it, this was an absolutely the correct choice. I’ve spent time at Brick Lane Coffee before and found it nice, but not very comfortable — and certainly not entirely welcoming. Fika is the opposite.
And I indulged! The Gravadlax savoury waffle was absolutely delicious piled with greens, goat cheese, smoked fresh salmon and honey drizzle. The waffle itself — I’m glad there was only one, I think I could’ve had many, many more.
Coffees: A cappuccino and a latte, both up to par.
Homemade Iced Tea: Peppermint and lime: very refreshing!
And the sweetest treat of all? The chocolate cake (shaped as a rose, no less!) with gooey inside, and a scoop of ice cream. Decadent. Thankfully it was rather small (made up for in quality!) as it was quite rich.
Will return for dinner, this is a calm in the Brick Lane storm, great staff, very sweet and excellent made-​from-​scratch food! Cute décor as well. Pull up a seat.

I have to say, I was looking forward to Fika as the menu looked interesting and it is a cool looking place. We arrived and they were very unorganised. The wine list small and it’s not that good, so if you are looking to have a wine with your meal, think again.
The starter was great, I had the goat’s cheese and then the rest of the meal kind of fell away. I order rib eye steak it was cooked well, but a poor piece of meat. Others on the table ordered the lamb burger and the veggie option, they were disappointed. The deserts were pretty too.
Overall, a disappointing meal with poor service.

Overall rating is 3 stars worthy for good service, homemade Swedish meal and ambiance. However the price and taste of the food did not elevate itself beyond ordinary.
I cant help comparing the meatballs, mash, lingonberry and gravy meal they serve here to the ones you get from Ikea. Though the meal tasted homemade and meatball being moist, the flavours let it down for me. The gravy tasted sweet which as a result concealed the sweetness and tanginess of the lingonberry. Unlike the ikea meal, each flavour accentuate each other to a very satisfying taste.
The potato with aoili and salmon starter were good but not spectacular. On the other hand the bottled premium swedish apple cider was an excellent quencher.

Fika is my new favorite place on brick lane. The inside is adorable, and just obviously enough with its hipstery «marrimekko pillows and animal shapes on the walls made out of turf» and cool lamps. Who doesn’t like cool lamps? My experiences thus far have been primarily in the hot chocolate division (which Fika has excelled at nicely), but one of these days I’m sure I’ll get around to ordering food.

Well, they now take cards! I didn’t realise til I read the other reviews that this is a new development. It’s important.
Fika has a very interesting drink menu with dill and gingerbread snaps (not together!) and iced teas with all kinds of floral and fruit flavours. My party ate the planked salmon (very nice presentation!), the soup of the day, gravadlax with a beet purée and ryvita, and the meatballs – must return for the Flygande Jacob with a combo of chicken, bacon, bananas, and peanuts (!)
Excellent service if a touch slow, nice atmosphere.

Das Wochenende war ich in London und da England jetzt nicht grundsätzlich für tolles Essen bekannt ist war die Suche danach natürlich eine der Kernaufgaben.
An der Brick Lane gelegen befindet sich dieser Laden in einer relativ hippen Gegend, allerdings eher weiter am Ende und daher ist es dort nicht mehr so trubelig.
Ich hab mir hier gebratenen Lachs mit angebratenem Kartoffelmuskranz (oder so) und einer tollen Sauce bestellt, von der ich leider nicht mehr weiß, was drin war. Aber: Alles war seeehr lecker, der Fisch war perfekt gebraten und fiel schön weich auseinander, mhhmmm!
Leider hab ich vergessen, was mich das ganze Theater gekostet hat, aber inklusive einem Glas Wasser und Holunderblütenwein waren es nicht mehr als 20 Pfund, das weiß ich jedenfalls noch, weil am Ende der Reise so viel Kohle übrig geblieben ist :-)
Kann ich auf jeden Fall empfehlen!

Fika is a tiny cozy place on Brick Lane. I liked the wooden-​style interior a lot. When it comes to the food, I ordered Köttbullar (meatballs) — and as I did not read the menu in detail, I was a bit surprised, that it came with a red wine sauce and not a gräddsås, but it tasted good anyway. The meatballs were only a bit too soft for my taste, but besides that the meal was great!
Clearly the best thing I had this evening was not even the good rose wine or the kladdkaka, but the white wine cocktail called Summer Night City. A really tasty refreshing drink!
Fika is a place I will definitely go again.
It is not a cheap place though — but whjat do you expect from a Swedish-​themed restaurant?!

I have a sneaky feeling it might be Christmas here all year round. The wood clad walls and kitch reindeer decorations are so cute. All that is missing is an open fire.
As for the food, it’s heart warming lushness. We all chose a different Planka which consisted of grilled mashed potato, a sauce/​gravy that matched whatever meat we had served on a smoked oak platter. I won hands down with the steak and that was due to it’s medium rare perfection. The chicken and salmon were but I still won.
As for dessert. Waffle stack. Need I say more? Nat you win here.
Quick Tip: it’s the place to beautiful people watch. Seriously, is this what the whole of Sweden is like?

On Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and … hmmm… where’s Rudolph?
Oh that’s right, he’s in my belly. Sorry Santa. I left you cookies all these years, it was only a matter of time…
Tonight I noshed on Reindeer sausage, conveniently shaped like, well, a little red reindeer nose. I also snacked on some salmon and mash, although I was a bit less impressed with the flavour combinations than I was during my last visit (which, in all honesty, I had completely forgotten ever having). Fika is novelty dining, and certainly worth a visit with an adventurous food eating friend who likes to taste the cuisine of crushed childhood chimera. Mmmm… crunchy!
My belly truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!