Vassa Eggen is an interesting place: great location, generously-sized bar, intimately-lit dining room that is spacious yet personal, and clearly very serious about their meat. Its a popular place, and at first glance understandably so. My expectation was that this could be a great Humlegarden-area steak joint, one that could become "a regular" for us.
It won't. Here's why:
First, the minor irritants: I ordered a Belvedere Martini. They don't have Belvedere vodka (the first place I've been to in Stockholm that didn't). In fact, they apparently only had Grey Goose. Seriously? Then the waiter: look, I know its "a thing" for men here to have beards. Fine. But three days of scruff, where you look like you've been sleeping rough? Then the stained shirt, and alcohol on his breath. I mean, come on... Smarten up. Its not exactly 7-Eleven.
Then, the major irritants: you get exactly one choice of side if you order a steak under SEK 500. Really? That's outrageous. Then, if you want a special aged cut (SEK 600 and above), it takes...wait for it...an hour. Yup, an hour. To cook a freaking steak. We ordered two flank steaks, and got... Three slices of beef each. And the worst? We ordered them medium and medium-rare. We got medium and medium-well. That is absolutely inexcusable. If Snygging wasn't starving, I would have definitely sent them back.
So here are the positives: the meat, despite being the wrong temperature, was delicious. The "cone snacks" were delicious (we had the lojrom, lobster, & foie gras). The fries were delicious.
And here is the negative: its ridiculously expensive. SEK 2000 for 5 little snacks, three slices of meat each, a little cone of fries, a modest wine (SEK 700 though), and a martini? And, as I left, I understood how they can support that: the room was thick with business guys, and I am positive they were all there on an expense account. Good grief, even Peter Luger's isn't that expensive...
If you want great steak and lots of choices of cuts in Stockholm, go to AG. read more