These Vikings have style.
People worldwide are fascinated by the Vikings – there are hit TV shows, films, and books inspired by the perceived culture of these ancient Nordic forefathers. This fascination is nothing new, either. In Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings, for example, the dwarves write in Ancient Norse, and the world over people engage with aspects of Viking culture without even realising it.
When people visit Stockholm they see the beautiful Medieval buildings in Gamla Stan, but there is little left of the Viking, Iron Age period, so we were thrilled when we heard about Aifur.
It’s the only Viking Tavern in the world, and it really is like time travel when you walk through those doors. The staff dress as Vikings, there are scaled-down long-boats hanging from the ceiling, and if you’re lucky you’ll get to see the employees play instruments typical to Viking life.
If you’ve ever wondered what Viking food would taste like, you should visit this place because they’ve really done their research, and they serve the kind of food you could imagine the Vikings tucking into. The food is area-specific and based on ingredients that would have been available in certain parts of the Viking world. For example, you can buy a starter of crayfish and shrimp soup with bauta bread, inspired by the Viking fisherman who would have eaten these kinds of ingredients in Greby, modern-day Grebbestad.
For the main course, you can eat all sorts of indulgent, outlandish and fascinating dishes too, such as a whole, honey-grilled chicken, and dessert is a similarly indulgent affair, with 6 Viking-style dishes to choose from. Some of the flavours might surprise you, such as cocoa beans to grapefruit you but the chefs have written about the ingredients on the menu, and it’s like a mini-history lesson just choosing what you’d like to eat.
Although Vikings are not exactly known for having eaten a lot of vegetables (or so we think with what knowledge we have), vegetarians do have a couple of options to choose from here. Although, we would advise calling ahead to ask about the menu if you are vegetarian. Vegans should definitely call ahead if you’re planning a visit, to ask if they can offer you anything vegan and Viking.
However, there’s no need to call ahead if you’re looking for mead, because they have mead from Russian, Poland Germany and Sweden, including 11 different varieties to choose from. You can also sample some ‘dragon milk’, which is milk flavoured with cranberries and port.
At the moment, this fascinating restaurant is only open on Fridays and Saturdays, but you can book a table on the website and they are hoping to open up on weekdays as soon as possible. You can find Aifur at Västerlånggatan 68, 111 29