Farang

First stop on my first visit to Stockholm. Recommended by my friend who has lived in the city forever and he nailed. We did not do the full courses but went with the a la care menu as we had a couple of kids with us. Must have tried 10 different dishes and all were spot on. My wife especially liked the papaya salad with soft shell crabs.
Three adults, three young teens came to a little over $ 200.
Service was excellent.

We really enjoyed the tasting menu! Portions were well sized, and tasted of Thailand! Our favorite dish was the red curry, which was creamy and smooth. Everything tasted good though! Restaurant was big with a New Yorky vibe, service was nice! Will go again!

I travel every week for business, and eat at a lot restaurants globally. This is one of the best, and most memorable meals I’ve ever eaten. The food, wine, and service were top notch. I will be back!

I love this place. Asian fusion place run by fins. It has a great setting and the food is just out of this world. Service is good and interesting. I think that it is run by some gourmet chefs from Finland.

We have been to Farang twice within two weeks and several times since they opened up.
Last time, last week, we wonder if the chefs were temporary as the quality of dishes were lower than earlier times.
We ordered 6 dishes to be shared, by four, as we do in Asia.
The best was Crispy Pork and the worst was Duck in Jungle Curry.
The Jungle Curry was forgotten and we got it finally after two reminders about 30 minutes after the rest of the dishes were served!
The Jungle Curry had not the same taste as it had 2 weeks earlier. It just tastes Fish Sauce!
I guess that the kitchen had dropped the whole bottle of fish sauce into our dish as they were in a hurry to serve the late or forgotten duck.
We informed them of our opinion and asked for their opinion and then we canceled the order which was accepted.
In general Farang’s strong points has been to bring forward tastes and aroma of herbs and Spices but this time it was too much soy sauce and too much fish sauce in several dishes ordered.
We had, I guess, to high expectations.

This was one of the best meals I’ve had this year. The second tasting menu (I forget the name, but it is the one with a more pan Asian as opposed to only Thai inspired menu), was absolutely amazing! Every dish was stunning. The dishes were all unique, not too spicy but smacked full of flavour.
I would say that it is a pretty big menu, so come starving or straight from a big work out session.
The venue is New Yorkishly stylish, but with a scandy interior design touch.
My only possible complaint is that the acoustics aren’t great. It is a little hard to talk in a group of 5 – 6 ppl. I’d imagine it’s not a problem if you are only 2 or a larger group where you mostly speak to the people next to you.
Highly recommended at any rate!

Had a great lunch. Staff was friendly and explained tasting menu easily. Family style but you order what you like and they bring that amount of portions on one dish. Food was delicious! Pumpkin curry was my favorite!

The morning glory tofu dish was amazing, highly recommend it! Soft shell crab was divine.
We had a great service and the interior was also nice. Not too noisy.
All in all it was great. Waiting for the bill now though, I’m sure it will also be kind of great.

Went for the tasting menu a while ago and although the food was _​really_​good I personally think that the service and ambiance wasn’t quite there. If your paying 700+ SEK for your food you want to be pampered and be there for a while right? Sadly for us the service was so quick and efficient (rushed) that we had ended all the dishes in less than 90 minutes from arrival. (Even the times when we tried to take longer time with the food they put the next dish on the table so there was no point in stalling.) Additionally, we had a small table for two and to be able to speak to each other we could either scream or lean unnaturally over the table, which is quite difficult with three dishes currently on it. All in all, good food but I want to have a good time and relax when I go out and I could not say that was the case here.

In my top 3 list of high standard Asian fusion. Not cheap but the amazing interior and excellent service makes it all worth it. The food is obviously top notch.

This place would have been a solid 4 stars if they didn’t call what they served rendang with roti. Really? Roti is toast cut into strips? Thats kind of a slap in the face of every guest who walks into farang. Maybe this place isn’t really meant for the discerning foodie.
We had the tasting menu for dinner and overall it was quite good. Everything was a tiny bit on the salty side. A lot of the bold flavors worked really well together, others… not too much.
We really enjoyed the softshell crab dish. The greasiness of the crab was a perfect contrast to the tart sharpness of the green mango and mint. The crispy pork was fantastic and excellently portioned, too much of that dish would have been too much. It came with palm sugar and chilli vinegar and I would recommend trying the pork with a bit of both, it was like two different dishes. Wonderful!
Then came the Thai Roti bread (but no, it was toast, cut into strips, because apparently guests who pay thousands of kronor to eat at farang are idiots who haven’t eaten thai roti before and are so gullible that they will look at the bread and think, wow! look how colonialism effected thailand! They adopted our bread and toasted it and called it «ROTI»! Amazing!) The rendang curry was overly salted and frankly, the veal cheek would have worked better in it than it did in the tom kha.
The soft tofu dish that followed was good and all the contrasting textures made it a treat for the mouth. The veal cheek tom kha was excellent as well but the veal was a little too heavy for what I expect from a good tom kha.
The Hola Hola 10 desert was fantastic and bright and even though I was absolutely stuffed by the time desert came around, it was a perfect end to the meal.
The timing of the food was good and once we started eating it was well timed so we never spent more than a few minutes for the next dish. Overall service was good, but not particularly attentive after the food, we waited almost 15 minutes for the bill after we waited 5 minutes to catch someone’s eye to ask for it. Also, apparently sparkling water is extra, which feels so petty since a lot of much smaller places now-​a days have bubbly water on tap for free. Like, oh, we’re charging you 850sek per head for dinner, but we charge extra for water from the soda-​stream. Lol! Charge an extra 5 sek for the food and no one will even know farang. Small things like that are what distinguish between pricey and classy and pricey and not-​so-​classy.
Overall, a good experience marred by one really awful, sub-​par dish.

My husband and I visited Farang restaurant on 14^th of November. The start of the evening was great. The food was absolutely fantastic, the flavors amazing, and the service quite impeccable. We had a terrific evening, which unfortunately had a less-​than-​terrific ending. My husband’s jacket was stolen from the unmanned cloack-​room, which was a disappointment, especially since the staff didn’t offer any help on the spot. However, they did contact us later and updated us that they plan to change the cloack room set-​up so that this doesn’t happen again, and warn guests about the chance of having a jacket taken. They also offered to compensate us with a free meal.

Great restaurant, good service and perfect food. The varmrökt lax for starter is amazing.

Incredibly friendly, attentive and helpful waitstaff. Tasting menu is a perfect flow of flavors and size from start to finish. You definitely get to try a bit of everything and leave quite full. Cocktails and non alcoholic drinks were equally fantastic. Venue is much larger than it seems from the outside or what you’d expect from a Stockholm restaurant. Look forward to returning and trying a meal off the tasting menu.

Good, but not great. South-​east Asian food in Scandinavian design. An unusually large restaurant, but no empty tables the Wednesday that we were there. We didn’t consume their tasting menu with sufficient speed. That caused them logistical problems which they informed us of, but then solved.

We five girls were here yesterday evening. Very interesting combination of ingredients with the food but still with good taste.
We selected from a la cart menu and started with 5 pieces «Cha Plu Blad med Varmrökt Lax» which was a right delicious choice to begin with. Second, we picked «Gös– och Laxsashimi» which wasnt the best of the dishes imo. A lot of chili taste to me. «Sallad på färsk Bananblomma, Grillad Bläckfisk» was the third taste and i must say the sallad was so good that everyone wanted to get the last bits of it and the fish which was very nicely grilled. Then we wanted to continue with «Softshell crab» but even though we have already chosen «Anka i Djungelcurry» and «Gul Curry, Pumpa & Thaibasilika», we were suggested to change it to a veal dish which i dont remember the name. I didnt think it was the right combination and i am sure the crabs would have tasted better (i mean look at the pictures!) so dont listen to waitress for suggestions all the time ;) We finished our dinner with «Phanangan Bounty”(super tasty!!!) and «Siam Choco”(very interesting taste with pepper icecream which was nice to try) with some generous amounth of rooibos and yasmin tea. Just one thing was that all the warm dishes came at once and till we go through the first and second one, the third one was already sort of cold.
So overall everyone was very pleased with the food and their wine suggestions. We will definitely come back here to enjoy more dishes.

Early lunch with wife and 7 months baby. We could place the stroller next to our table and were offered a high seat for our daughter. Perfectly heated baby food. Baby changing station in the rest room. Definitely baby friendly.
My wife, a vegetarian, had the banana blossom salad for starter and I had the salmon sashimi, Vietnamese style. The salad was very nice with a fresh taste. Sashimi was delicious, reminded me of a vinegar and Szechuan pepper cucumber dish we sometimes eat at home. Round and not too aciduous. Liked the small flowers and spices on top of it.
I had the coconut cream poached green curry as main and my wife had the vegetarian option of the same, the cod replaced with tofu. My wife thought it was made with perfect heat, I think it could have been a bit more spicy. It was good, but a little boring compared to the other dishes and to other mains I’ve had here before.
The sweet Alsace Pinot Gris was great with both starters and mains.
The desert was very pleasant with its mix of sweet, sour and salt, soft and crunchy: ‘Bo Phut’, lime leaf ice cream, palm sugar cake, lime, salted caramel.
After desert we had a nice green tea to round off the lunch.
A great lunch, but for the pretty steep price (total of 830 SEK for two persons three course lunch, glass of wine and tea) I would have expected that little extra, in both service and the main course.
I’ll definitely come back again!

Farang is the first opening in Stockholm for the the mini-​restaurant empire in Helsinki consisting of Farang, Gaijin and Bouelvard Social. I have been a huge fan of their restaurants in Helsinki so it was some excitment I was heading to Farang in Stockholm. The concept is the same as the original in Helsinki so focus on southeast Asian food and the idea is sharing the dishes among everyone at the table.
Entering the bar looks very nice and we were very quickly shown to our seats so even though it was fairly full they could handle it. The atmosphere is nice, the nice scent of Asian food immediatley came toward you once entering. It was however a pleasant smell and I right away recalled being in Asia. The design is sleek, the room may be a bit dark but it creates a nice cozy atmosphere. Really liked the open kitchen — like to be able to see the food being prepared and it keeps the chefs on their toes.
Started of with some cocktails, very tasty and innovative cocktails so in that sense reminds me of the original Farang. Be aware though they do not skimp on the alcohol so could really feel that it was full of alcohol.
The food was however the main reason we went here and having heard mixed things about the set menus we went for the a la carte instead. Since we were three we decided to get a variety of dishes to share. As a ‘light’ starter we went for the Cha Plu leaf wrapped pork and minced beef. It came with a sweet chili dip sauce and proved to be a delightful and fresh starter that really got us ready for the mains.
We did not have to wait long for the mains, actually we were not done with the starter before the first main arrived. We had actually specifically asked that they slow down the pace of the food — asking them not to bring everything at once since we wanted to eat things while they were hot. Totally failure as everything arrived at once and no real excuse given when we said that we specifically asked to have some time between the dishes (and really got the feeling that if we would have insisted they would just have brought the dishes out to the kitchen and kept them warm there). The food was however great — we ordered the veal cheaks ‘SEREMBAN’, the beef short ribs and the crispy pork and palm sugar ‘caramel’
My favorite was without a doubt the beef short ribs that were served with a black rice vinegar and a fresh thai salad. They were incredibly tender and flavorful and alone good enough to warrant a visit. The Veal cheaks had been slow cooked in an aromatic chili-​stock served with a mint and bean sprouts. It was also very tender and tasted great but a more heavy in taste compared to the fresh and light flavors of the ribs. The pork was the same as I had in Farang in Helsinki and there it was my favorite but here it was the least favorite, still a very good dish and I would have been happy with it in any other restaurant but here it just paled in comparison with the other dishes.
After the mains we were actually ready to burst (think Mr Creosote in Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life) but still could not stop ourselves from trying the caramelized fried banana and the palm sugar caramel — both were decent but not really worth ordering. Should be noted that I am in general not that fond of Asian desserts so these were well-​executed but not my style.
We followed up with ordering the tea, great selection from Swedish micro coffee roaster Johan & Nyström who are also aiming at providing high-​quality tea. It is served in the Chemex coffee maker, a very nice display and show so in addition to tasting great it also looks great.
Weird note is also that it is difficult to find the toilets, if coming from the restaurant area it is on your right, down a corridor with a not very clearly marked door.
Service faltered a bit again at the end, took like 20 minutes to get the staff to stop talking to each other and actually bring the bill around. In general the service was attentive to start with but then failures like the pace the food came at and the inability to pay attention to when someone wants to pay was really annoying. Perhaps just start-​up issues but still not acceptable so service was a weak 3 and food 5 so overall rating is a 4.

It is not that often that Finish chefs take their restaurant concept abroad with success, so visiting the newly opened Farang in Stockholm was almost a matter of national pride. There is off course nothing Finnish about Farang, which is a compliment as the concept is South-​East Asian food fine dining style.
On the food: There were two options for the food, either select one of the tasting menus (from 7 to 9 dishes) or select individual dishes to share between your party from the a la carte. We felt hungry and greedy to try several things but ended up selecting the a la carte as there were three of us. We shared a starter, three mains and two desserts and that was way too much food for us. We are not huge eaters anyway so we should have known better, but what can you do when you are food-​curious. As a starter we had minced beef and pork wrapped in a Cha Plu leaf with a sweet chili sauce dip. A great start to the dinner with meat rolled to kebab style sticks full of authentic Asian tastes, fresh coriander and chili; and the food came fast to calm down our growling tummies. We were not even done with the first dish when our mains started arriving to the table: braised veal cheeks with a chili broth and mint sprout salad, crispy pork with palm sugar caramel and boneless beef short ribs with with rice vinegar and a fresh Thai salad. The mains made the starter pale in comparison and it was hard to stop eating. Some of us were doing breathing exercises to get the food down. The veal cheeks and ribs were excellent meat and cooked nice and tender. We were not that impressed with the pork, but might just be because the other dishes were so good. The pork was actually the only dish we had tried before at Farang in Helsinki and our expectations for the dish were high. It was good this time around as well, but not great. For dessert we shared caramelized banana and palm sugar caramel. Both dishes were good, but not great. I am a sucker for the deep fried banana and ice cream that is a regular at many Thai restaurants and these fine dishes could just not compete with the wonderfully unhealthy king of Asian desserts.
On the drinks: Farang takes a lot of pride in its fresh drinks menu. Coming from London’s great cocktail scene I was not that impressed by the drinks but perhaps the comparison is not fair. The drinks were quite strong hiding the taste of the fresh ingredients (what am I complaining about, I’m from Finland) and the presentation was not that impressive. I have a recollection of the drinks being better in the Helsinki Farang. There was also a nice selection of Asian beers that brought back the memories of backpacking holidays and days at the beach. I prefer my Thai food with a light beer, so I went with a small bottle of Singha instead of wine. The Helsinki Farang and sister restaurants Gaijin and Boulevard Social are known though for their ability to pair wines with foods from Asia and the Middle East, so my anticipation is that the wine pairings have a potential of being very good. For dessert we ordered tea which came in an impressive glass Chemex jar. The tea selection was great (from Johan & Nyström) however disappointingly not mentioned anywhere. Sometimes one wonders why restaurants don’t put more effort in tea and coffee as that is the last thing you have before you leave the place.
On the service: The service was very friendly. Farang had just received several good reviews that day in Swedish magazines so you could see the excitement in the staff. We got the feel that the staff were very proud of the place which is always a good sign. The food however came way too fast regardless of us pointing out to our waiter that we would like some pause between the dishes (we had read the reviews before going and the pace of the food arriving to the table was were most of the critique had come from). We also had trouble waiving the bill in the end even though the restaurant was staff packed. We could see waiters lingering around next to the open kitchen chatting, so we could not really understand the sudden disinterest. Regardless of this we left the restaurant happy, it was Friday and we were not in a hurry.