I found this place while trying to look for something unique in Uppsala that we don't already have in Stockholm--one also with a comfortable price tag for our family member's sake. When starting my search I noticed that there was more info on Trip Advisor for Uppsala than on Yelp. I thought I might look to there instead for inspiration (GASP! Yes... guilty.) MISTAKE! This place was rated as the fourth best in all of Uppsala... WTF!? Total let down. Did they get all their friends to help bump up the rating? Because, that is impossible. Completely. Totally. Impossible! We walked past like a bajillion better places on our way to this one!
For starters, we walk up to what is supposed to be an old english pub, but it's inside a modern building with huge frosted windows. Going inside, the whole place was ridiculously small and covered in "English" decor head-to-toe that made it feel even smaller. I think this commercial space was originally probably meant to be a tiny retail boutique and not a restaurant. It looked pretty awkward. Imagine if someone would have tried to recreate a fake english pub, shrunk it down in size and then placed it inside of a contemporary shopping mall structure. This is exactly what you would get. A totally disingenuous presentation! I thought we were going to a real old-style english pub! It's not like Uppsala is lacking appropriate old buildings to put it in!? This just looks like they were scrimping on the rent! Gahhhh! =P
Half the menu is limited to deep fried items and the other half is made up of mostly indian food. Normally, that would sound somewhat appealing if your in the mood for either of those things, but this was a weird mash up to me. I didn't come to an "English pub" to eat Indian food (despite the cultural association). One dish would have been ok just for kicks... but half the menu? Gordon Ramsay would throw a hissy fit. You go to a pub for casual pub food! Right? When I asked the waiter what they liked best, they froze and said it was "really hard to choose." That also worried me. It's a small menu! How hard could it be?! They eventually pointed out some indian dish, but we just really didn't trust ordering indian food from a non-indian restaurant. We went with the "homemade onion rings" and the "curly fries" to share, along with a few burgers. The homemade onion rings were actually pretty delicious! The "curly fries" looked a lot like soggy potato chips--and tasted like it too, unfortunately. Despite the claim that everything is "100% HOMEMADE * 100% FRESH" on the menu, the sauces were bad pre-made ones and came from a large plastic vat (one that I think we actually saw being carried into the restaurant!). The burgers were also a bit dry and well done (when we had asked for medium.) Plus, who puts prosciutto instead of bacon on a hot burger? It was like eating stringy never ending slime that you couldn't fully bite through. On the upside, I did notice a large drink menu and selection of interesting beers that probably keep the student crowd happy.
The place was booked up, so much that we had to sit outside (not that it's hard to book up considering I could spit across the length of the place.) That was fine until we realized that the outdoor seating is situated below the vent from the kitchen. HOLY FRIED FOOD! I got so ill from the smell!!! Especially, after having downed a bunch of appetizers from the fried side of the menu! The oil smell was on my hair, up my nose and in my stomach.... I couldn't escape it. I literally ran a few meters down the street just to take a breath of fresh air! I felt so nauseous. Yuck-town!
In summary, sit inside... get a beer and the onion rings. Go somewhere else to eat. And, don't always believe Trip Advisor! I feel bad for not liking it here, the waitstaff really were quite pleasant. I hope they move and improve this place, but it definitely does not deserve the title of the 4th (let alone the 40th) best restaurant in Uppsala today. read more