Restaurant Barobao

Back from vacation and I thought I would start with a restaurant recommendation. This time it is a restaurant in the Rival Hotel's neighbourhood called Barobao. It is a little hard to describe the restaurant with a few short words, but I would say perhaps trendy Tawainese/Japanese/Swedish fusion "fast-food" ecologically friendly eatery in a Nordic industrial setting comes close.

Bao (or Baozi) is a steamed, filled Chinese bun and from where the restaurant gets its name. But there is more than just different baos on the menu! In fact the evening menu (which you can view on their website linked above) is made up of smaller dishes and the idea is that you order at least three for a meal, more depending if you are still hungry. The lunch menu can also be found on their website.

And lunch is what I was there to try (in the search of good local places for hotel guests to lunch). Lunch at Barobao changes daily and you have 4 choices: bao with protein (meat, fish) or without (vegetarian) and bowl with protein or without. I chose the bowl with protein. A wonderful dish with chicken, sticky rice, poached egg and different Asian slaws. Very good! Check their Instagram page for pics of lunch specials and more.

Barobao is located on the street Hornsgatan, just a couple of blocks from the hotel. There has sprung up quite a few fun & relaxed eateries on that stretch of Hornsgatan besides Barobao, like Kalf & Hansen, Gamla Amsterdam (my visit) and Falafelbaren. For dessert you can visit Lakritsroten (for all things licorice) and 18 Smaker (ice cream parlor, though closed in the winter months). Great for our guests. Click here for other restaurant recommendations.

Barobao is not a large restaurant and they do not accept table reservations. You order your dishes at the counter and they call your number when it is ready (hence my "fast-food" description earlier). It is popular! I got there as they were opening at 11:30 for lunch and there was a little crowd of hungry guests waiting at the door in the snow.