Vassa Eggen

Vassa Eggen is an interesting place: great location, generously-​sized bar, intimately-​lit dining room that is spacious yet personal, and clearly very serious about their meat. Its a popular place, and at first glance understandably so. My expectation was that this could be a great Humlegarden-​area steak joint, one that could become «a regular» for us.
It won’t. Here’s why:
First, the minor irritants: I ordered a Belvedere Martini. They don’t have Belvedere vodka (the first place I’ve been to in Stockholm that didn’t). In fact, they apparently only had Grey Goose. Seriously? Then the waiter: look, I know its «a thing» for men here to have beards. Fine. But three days of scruff, where you look like you’ve been sleeping rough? Then the stained shirt, and alcohol on his breath. I mean, come on… Smarten up. Its not exactly 7-​Eleven.
Then, the major irritants: you get exactly one choice of side if you order a steak under SEK 500. Really? That’s outrageous. Then, if you want a special aged cut (SEK 600 and above), it takes… wait for it… an hour. Yup, an hour. To cook a freaking steak. We ordered two flank steaks, and got… Three slices of beef each. And the worst? We ordered them medium and medium-​rare. We got medium and medium-​well. That is absolutely inexcusable. If Snygging wasn’t starving, I would have definitely sent them back.
So here are the positives: the meat, despite being the wrong temperature, was delicious. The «cone snacks» were delicious (we had the lojrom, lobster, & foie gras). The fries were delicious.
And here is the negative: its ridiculously expensive. SEK 2000 for 5 little snacks, three slices of meat each, a little cone of fries, a modest wine (SEK 700 though), and a martini? And, as I left, I understood how they can support that: the room was thick with business guys, and I am positive they were all there on an expense account. Good grief, even Peter Luger’s isn’t that expensive…
If you want great steak and lots of choices of cuts in Stockholm, go to AG.

Perfect service and cool atmosphere. A nice place to start off your after work. Prices are a bit steep, but the food is high quality. I went with t-​bone from the tenderizing fridge, which was one of a kind.

Wir waren gestern in diesem schönen Resteraunt. Das Essen war sehr gut leider aber die Portionen bei 2 Gerichten etwas wenig. Ansonsten gibt es hier nur positives zu berichten. Gerne wieder. Die Qualität der verschiedenen Steaks war vorzüglich.

This is my favorite steakhouse in Stockholm, and is also a great place for drinks. The location is top-​notch (you’re a stone’s throw from Stureplan), the food is excellent, and the service is good.
First — make reservations. There aren’t many «good» restaurants in Stockholm that save free tables for walk-​ins, so keep that in mind.
I always order the Nebraska beef there. The serve the meat cut-​up and in a cast iron skillet with a whole garlic and three sauces. If other people in your party order the same meat, they’ll put it all together — in a larger skillet which you will share, so don’t be surprised. The only time they will split the meat is if you ask yours to be prepared in a significantly different way than how the chef usually does it (which is medium rare).
A single person serving of the beef will cost you 395 SEK, which is pretty par for the course in Stockholm, especially since it comes with a side.
The meat is always well seasoned, tender, and simply delicious. Don’t be shy with the garlic — it’s been grilled so the cloves are sweet and amazing together with the meat. I usually pick a side of fries. These fries are really well done, and they’ll bring you more if you ask them (for free!). You can also choose from many other sides, like a beetroot salad, or a tomato salad.
I also enjoy the appetizers which are always prepared well and great for sharing with others in your party, but I have to dock a star from this review because I think they tend to be a bit on the pricey side, even for Stockholm.
They have a pretty extensive wine list too, and the waiters are usually pretty good about recommending a suitable wine with your meal.
The atmosphere is lively — depending on where you sit, it can be a bit hard to hear the others in your party. The décor and artwork is pretty fun too!
If you don’t want to eat but want to enjoy a drink at the bar, they have a pretty open bar area. This place is packed on Fridays after work, so be prepared to squeeze in!

Went out for dinner with a colleague and friend. Had booked in advance because a Friday evening is a busy evening at even a moderately popular restaurant in downtown Stockholm. This restaurant is more than moderately popular, hence a reservation is an absolute necessity in order to score a table during the weekend. V.E. is a modern style restaurant with contemporary art on the walls and a very busy environment with music in the background. Slightly noisy, but not to such an extent that it being too loud. The first part of the establishment is a fairly large bar area, usually packed to the brim with people either just going out for a drink or two or perhaps scoring a dinner table. Past the bar is the restuarant area, mostly separated by the three meter long bar area and the floor-​to-​ceiling high wine-​fridge. Very clever in my opinion!
V.E. is a steak house establishment, but don’t be fooled by that. It’s very up-​scale, with prices that follow in the same direction. For a Swedish restaurant it is fairly expensive, although the service is very good without being intrusive or over the top. They do their job perfectly, and table-​side serving is usually very nice.
I started out with a cocktail called «Smokey’s» and if you, like me, like to stay well away from sickly sweet cocktails, this is an excellent choice. However you make a drink taste like you’ve actually slightly smoked the drink over charcoal without actually doing it, they did a very fine job! Also, note that no whisky with a smoky nature was used. Impressed! I followed this up with a main course of charcoal-​grilled lamb skewer, served with potatoes dauphonaise, red wine reduction and spicy tomato consommé. Packed with flavour, savory, and excellent in every way. Did my own wine-​pairing with a Spanish Temranillo that suited the lamb very well. Followed up with a chocolate gâteau and cherry x2. Utterly divine. Being a chocolate junkie I know a good chocolate dessert from a bad one. This was just perfect! Rich, succulent and a perfect way to end the meal. Rest assured, I left happy, full, and with a desire to come back and try something else, and that’s always a good outcome from a customer. The only downside is that it’s perhaps a bit over-​priced, but not to the extent that I wouldn’t go back. Don’t however go in there with a mindset of not spending a bit of cash, altohugh if you spend it — it’ll be worth it. At least once.

If you have a gluten allergy and find yourself in Stockholm looking for a fancy steakhouse to celebrate — I don’t think you could do much better than this place. They are very accommodating to celiacs and even had delicious gluten free bread on hand (without us asking in advance).
The food is a little pricey when factoring in the USD exchange rate, but I imagine this is on par with similar nice restaurants in Stockholm. I opted for the brisket, which was surprisingly tender and delicious. While the barbecue sauce had me coming back for more, the cole slaw was really disappointing and the french fries were way WAY too greasy. My wife had the skirt steak and it was tender and delicious as well with all gluten free sides.
Servers were extremely friendly and attentive and the ambiance was great with lights all on pulleys and a nice modern sophisticated feel.