Best Stockholm Restaurants in the White Guide 2016

While the Michelin Guide is very popular with travellers visiting a foreign city and searching for the best restaurants, the White Guide is another good tool for finding great restaurants in Sweden. In some ways it is even better than the Michelin Guide as it is Swedish critics that rate the restaurants in the White Guide (local knowledge in other words) and they test hundreds of restaurants throughout the country. You also get restaurants rated/awarded in several categories. The trouble is that the White Guide is published in Swedish which makes it a little difficult for non Swedish speaking visitors to access the information... but here is a break down of the Stockholm restaurants that nabbed the top awards and made the lists in this year's guide:

• Best restaurant in the category gastronomy (Årets Bästa Mästarklass - Gastronomi): Esperanto
• Newcomer of the year (Årets Stjärnskott): Imouto
• Pioneering restaurant of the year (Årets Banbrytare): Omakase Köttslöjd
• Best service experience (Årets Serviceupplevelse): Spritmuseum
• Seafood restaurant of the year (Årets Merroir Award): Sturehof

Sturehof (Årets Merroir Award), photo by Magnus Sandberg

These are the Stockholm restaurants that made the list of Swedish restaurants with the highest rating of International Master Class (number in paranthesis is their rank on the list of restaurants from all of Sweden):

• Esperanto (1)
• Frantzén (tied for 3rd)
• Gastrologik (tied for 3rd)
• Oaxen Krog (5)
• Operakällaren (9)
• Omakase Köttslöjd (11)
• Imouto (12)

And these are the Stockholm restaurants that made the list of Swedish restaurants with the rating of Master Class (number in paranthesis is their rank on the list of restaurants from all of Sweden):

• Ekstedt (tied for 13th)
• Mathias Dahlgren Matsalen (tied for 13th)
• Aloë (16)
• Mathias Dahlgren Matbaren (18)
• Spritmuseum (22)
• Volt (23)
• Shibumi (24)
• Lilla Ego (25)
• Punk Royale (26)
• Pubologi (29)
• Fotografiska (33)

While the White Guide for Sweden is in Swedish, they have published a White Guide Nordic in English which covers all of the Nordic region. For past White Guides or other restaurant guides and awards, click here!

Chef Sayan Isaksson.
The big winner this year with several restaurants on the lists (Esperanto, Imouto, Shibumi)
Photo by David Back