Explore Stockholm Old Town

If you're celebrating, then you've come to the right place. Sweden's most opulent restaurant sits within the historic Royal Opera House, and the sumptuous, high-ceilinged room comes bedecked with glittering chandeliers, huge paintings and original carved and gilded oak panelling dating back to 1895. Conversely, the place is run by a young team and comes with cool music and modern international cooking that might include the likes of mallard with burnt apple and trevisano or langoustine with hazelnut, vanilla, white truffle and brown butter vinaigrette. The accompanying wine list is remarkable.

After more than a decade at their former address, chef-owners Adam and Albin moved to a handsome 19th-century building beside the opera and opposite the Swedish parliament. The interior features a seductive dark-wood panelled lounge with a curated art collection and a light, spacious dining room boasting an impressive wine cellar. Both the ‘Seasonal’ and shorter ‘Selection’ menus feature highly accomplished dishes cooked over open flames, such as squid with Noir de Bigorre lardo, white icicle radish, coriander blossom and green cardamom jus or blue-shelled lobster with fig, turnip and saffron.

The magnificent, imposing Grand Hôtel is the home for this decadent restaurant, where rich flavours and impeccable Nordic seafood reign supreme. The tasting menu takes you through a roll-call of high-end fish and shellfish, whether it’s sweet langoustine, milky raw shrimp or Oscietra caviar, the ultimate premium ingredient. Each one is treated with great skill by the chefs, with Japanese influences like wasabi, yuzu and chawanmushi making an appearance. It all comes at a price, but the luxuriousness of the produce is undeniable.

Your experience at Celeste starts the moment enter the back garden, ring the bell and are whisked up in the lift to the 8th floor – where you’ll be served a welcome drink on the terrace to a bird’s eye view of the city. Next you head inside for snacks in the bar, before being shown through to your table by the open kitchen. Both the cooking and the décor change with the seasons and there’s precision and balance in every dish, such as the grilled lobster with tomato, grapes and charcoal cream. To accompany, you can choose a wine, cocktail or soft drink at each course.

The net-curtained windows give little away, but once inside you’ll find an elegant room that’s a perfect match for this chic neighbourhood. The chefs work with calm efficiency in the open kitchen and service is attentive and perfectly paced. The detailed cooking has a classic French base but combines modern techniques and international flavours to create stunningly flavoured dishes such as ‘scallop, white truffle, white chocolate, carnaroli risotto’ or ‘roe deer, blood, black garlic, Tellicherry pepper’. Acidity also plays a key role, being employed in harmonious ways to really lighten the dis

Head past the bustle of the floors below and up to the third level of this beautiful city centre townhouse, where you’ll find this discreet, intimate restaurant that exudes tranquillity. Start with an aperitif in the lounge, where the kitchen serves delicious snacks such as vendace unagi or smoked reindeer tartare with trout roe, then move on to enjoy a range of modern dishes that see Swedish produce prepared using Japanese techniques and flavours. You might come across langoustine with Hokkaido pumpkin and aged beurre blanc or raw milk flan with kalvdans and autumn fruit.

Offering one of the city’s most unique dining experiences, Niklas Ekstedt eschews electricity and does all of his cooking over fire. Your visit opens with a tour of the kitchen, where the culinary philosophy is explained and you are presented with their signature oyster snack which is cooked in a cone over flames. Various smoking techniques continue to be applied to other top Scandinavian produce, with different flavours introduced to the grill to add an extra dimension, as with the juniper-smoked reindeer saddle with beetroot sauce and marrow. Everything is enhanced by the affable service tea