Restaurant Boqueria

I recently wrote about the opening of the new shopping center Mood Stockholm. This weekend I had the opportunity to try one of the restaurants located there: Boqueria.

Waiter station at center of restaurant

Boqueria is run by the same guys that have the popular steakhouse Vassa Eggen and is their variation of a Spanish tapas restaurant. I'm guessing that the name comes from the famous Boqueria indoor market in Barcelona and apparently the guys did a lot of research in Spain before opening the restaurant. Boqueria is split into two sections... a sunken bar area under a glass ceiling as well as the restaurant proper. According to our waiter, they will soon be adding an outdoor area with seating for 70 people (should be popular this summer!).

Open kitchen with counter seating

I must say that we really enjoyed our evening there! The tapas were delicious, with about 65 to choose from... costing between 15 and 95 SEK each. We ordered 7 tapas for the two of us and were satisfied, but you can always start with less and order more as you feel for it. It was nice to see both classic and new (for me) tapas on the menu. I also saw that they have several larger dishes, like paella and suckling pig, which are meant to be shared by 2 or more persons. An extra plus is the fact that the tables are all high so that you are on eye level with the waitstaff which makes for a relaxed and casual dining experience. We hadn't reserved a table so we ended up sitting at the counter around their open kitchen which was great! Fun to watch the chefs preparing your meal.

Sunken bar area under glass ceiling

This is definitely worth a visit, whether for dinner or just drinks and appetizers. Located in the downtown area, it is easy to get to from the Rival Hotel... either 4 stations on the subway (red line to Östermalmstorg, exit Stureplan) or a 7 minute taxi ride. Click here for other restaurant tips.