I live right around the corner from this place and have been going here for over ten years. I can say without hesitation that I have never...NEVER...come away from Café Rival feeling satisfied.
The atmosphere and location are fantastic, among the best in the whole city, without a doubt. But that is where the good stuff ends.
Their lattes are bland, nothing to write home about.
Their baristas range from robotic and disengaged to downright rude. But then, that is traditional Swedish service. You want friendly, you'll have to find a place with a more international and modern approach.
Their buns and other desserts are dry and uninteresting.
Here is a description of my last visit to Rival: The place was empty when we arrived because it was early morning and they had just opened. We both ordered our usual, the breakfast scones plate, with two scones, Greek (or Turkish?) yogurt with a bit of honey and walnuts, a hard-boiled egg, Kalles caviar, a coffee and a juice. We have ordered this breakfast a dozen times in the past few years and it never comes out the same and I don't think Rival has the slightest clue what a scone actually is. A year or two ago, we got these flat, dark brown triangular things that took up half the plate and were absolutely dreadful. This time, though, both of our scones were the size and shape one would expect, but they were burned black on the top! I couldn't believe that these got by both the cook and the waitress! Somebody should have said, "hold on a second! These are burned!" But since we had already been waiting 15 minutes, perhaps they realized that getting something...anything...out to us was more important than the quality of the food. Besides, our daughter had already eaten up her pancakes, which arrived ten minutes before our scones (what table-waiting school taught them that trick??). Not only were they burned, but no clotted cream came with them and there was not even any butter. I had to go ask for butter and when they finally brought some, it was two pats of Bregott wrapped in foil. What the?? Oh, then there was the yogurt. Yes, I like a bit of Greek yogurt with walnuts and honey, but this was ridiculous! The bowl was huge and there was enough yogurt for three or four people! Who made THAT decision? And the walnuts were bitter. Where do they get these people? This is obviously not a normal kitchen team.
Oh, and we ordered a small glass of milk for our daughter. It was about two, maybe three deciliters worth of milk. The price? 10kr! When you consider that a full liter of milk costs less than that, you can see where they make their money.
Finally, EVERYTHING is overpriced. I suppose they must pay for the location, because the quality of their food and kitchen staff cannot cost that much.
In short, if you want a great atmosphere and want to mingle with Stockholm elites, check out Rival. If, however, you want good food, good coffee, and good service at a fair price, look elsewhere. read more