Restaurant Symbios

Last week, I had the opportunity to try a relatively new restaurant called Symbios with my colleagues in Les Clefs d'Or Sweden. I had been hearing some good buzz about Symbios so I was eager to try it out. Located in the cool SoFo district, Symbios is close to many other restaurants and bars. In fact, Symbios took over the location from a popular bar called Pet Sounds. While many locals mourn the closing on Pet Sounds Bar, I think that Symbios is a great replacement. On a side note for you music aficionados: Pet Sounds, one of the last vinyl record stores in Stockholm, is still open and located across the street.

The interior of the restaurant is nice. Very Nordic... casual and stylish, with stone floors, large windows and an open kitchen. The service is also casual but with knowledgeable staff. I would describe the cuisine as a fusion of Nordic minimalism and rustic French. For the past few years, the trend in Stockholm restaurants has been medium-sized dishes which diners can order, mixing and matching, depending on how hungry they are. Symbios, however, is bucking the trend and going back to classic menu format of snacks, appetizers, main courses and desserts.

Snacks: grilled blue mussels.

We started with a round of snacks to the table: pickled vegetables, grilled blue mussels and pâté. For an appetizer, I chose the scallops with unripe currants and almond milk. My colleague chose the squid en papillote which had a very creative presentation. For the main course, I chose the duck confit with salt baked beets and endives. When it was time for dessert, I was pretty full... but I still managed the apple sorbet, which was the perfect way to the end the meal. All in all, a delicious dinner and Symbios is definitely a great addition to the SoFo neighborhood.

Appetizer: squid en papillote

Symbios is on the street Skånegatan which, during the summertime, is a pedestrian street and the restaurants here all have outdoor seating as well. It is about a 20 minute walk from the Hotel Rival. Otherwise, you can take the subway from nearby Slussen, two stops on green line to Skanstull and exit to Blekingegatan. After that it is just a 5-7 minute walk. Click here to read about other restaurant visits.

Main: duck confit with samt baked beets and endives