I usually buy things from the supermarket, and this is the basic skill for any backpacker to survive in a new country. You will always find something to eat in your budget. In Stockholm there’s COOP supermarket in many places (usually in the subway stations) and hemkop (in the basement of Ahlens department store) They are big so it’s hard to miss.
1. Supermarket-COOP or Hemkop
Bread and pastries are delicious in Stockholm (and all Nordic countries I went except for Iceland). In the supermarket 3 bread/pastries were for only 20kr (10kr for one, $1).
It’s so delicious! You can even find small bun at 5 for 12kr. ($0.3). You can eat it with caviar (which looks like toothpaste, and its sold at around 28kr.)
In general, a pastry should cost around 10kr. That is about $1.2 and for me that’s enough to feed me for breakfast.
The advantage of taking pastry/bread with you for lunch is that you can eat in the park or anywhere beautiful. You eat whenever you are hungry.
Again, supermarket is the place to go. You will find salad and hot food such as lasagne or pasta or grilled meat there. Usually it’s charged by per 100 grams (I think it was around 10kr for per 100 grams).
And you can get grilled chicken. The whole chicken was only for 49.95kr ($7) and it is delicious 🙂 you can get half chicken there too.
2. Dagens Ratt (Today’s Special)
Surprisingly lunch deals in Stockholm are widely available and affordable. Just walk around the city (before you get too hungry) and you will find several deals. Usually the range falls at 65-99kr. ($8 to $12).
I will give you examples.
3. Lunch Buffet
Slightly different from Dagens Ratt, you will find buffet deals in Asian restaurants at around 90 to 100kr. ($10 to $12)
It is good for value although it won’t taste anything Swedish… well, but you will find variety of food and you can eat as much as you can.
I recommend Nooshi! I ate a lot of sushi there!
4. Fastfood
I didn’t have a chance to try Sweden’s answer to Mcdonald’s, MAX. During my research I know you can get a burger deal for 59kr ($8) and use its toilet and internet for free. And there are also miniburger which costs only 15kr ($2).
But if you don’t find MAX, you can still find fastfood at affordable prices. For example Sub of The Day is for 35kr ($4.5). And in Burgerking a toastie is for 14kr ($2). So it is definitely affordable.
5. Hotorshallen Market
One thing I doubted during my research was the popularity of Hotorshallen Hall/Market. For me it wasn’t anything special except it was clean. Very clean. And toilets were free (I think so).
And the fish soup there seems to be a hit. It is for 90kr ($12)and you may ask for a refill for one more time. Bread and salad is complementary.
Even so, I didn’t think it was that cheap..
And there’s also Kebab available. But again it is not cheap. In fact, I don’t think food in Hotorshallen market was cheap at all.
So my overall suggestion is that you buy food from supermarket for your breakfast and dinner. And for lunch everyday (or at least for once) you can try Dagens Ratt or lunchbuffet. It is actually good in value as you don’t need to pay service tax or tip, and you only pay the price you see 🙂
Traveling Mega
