We're not sure how the Swedish penchant for baking came about (can you imagine rough-and-ready Vikings tucking into delicate pastries?), but that hasn't stopped them doing it extremely well. Swedish chef Daniel Karlsson came to the UK to explore British culture, but ended up opening his central London patisserie so that we could learn about his culture instead. Look out for pepparnötter (spiced almond biscuits) and chokladsnitt (chocolate biscuits with pearl sugar) to go with seriously strong black coffee.
Bleached wood, white tiles, exposed brick, neutral colours – Fika certainly lives up to the chic Scandi design stereotype. 'Fika' means 'coffee break', but has become synonymous with the experience of good food, good drink and good company, and that's what you'll find at this café, where a drinks list of Scandi beers, ciders and akvavit complements a short-but-sweet menu. Our pick: beetroot loaf with grilled goat cheese and the latest health craze to hit our shores, a birch tree water chaser (we've heard it's the new coconut water).
It's technically no longer run by Lisa, nor by a Scandi, but GM Hanna MacDowall (a Swede despite the name) is on hand to ensure Lisa's Kitchen remains an authentic Scandi sanctuary in the capital. Food is typical Nordic fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner but with a clear British influence, such as the 'Scandi breakfast': eggs, 'prins' sausages, avocado, 'vasterbotten' cheese, crispbreads and baguette. The Scandi cool carries over into their entertainment offering, which sees a weekly run of jazz, house band and jukebox nights.
The Scandinavians seem to love reclaimed spaces almost as much as hipsters, and the two combine at this Shoreditch restaurant, whose name means 'smoke' in Swedish. Built from the remnants of an old café, it specialises in the smoked meats and pickled vegetables of Northern Europe. Menu highlights include duck leg with bacon and lingonberry jam, and charcoal beet salad with goat's cheese, hazelnut and watercress. It's just opened its new bar, too.
The chefs at Curious Yellow Kafé wield their own-smoked fish, mayonnaise and dill to great effect, creating seafood mess (crayfish, prawns and XX), potato salad and enormous boards of smoked salmon. It's gone down so well in Hoxton that their minimalist chic café has become a beloved neighbourhood haunt, and it's had to open a deli a few doors up to accommodate its ever-growing clientele.
