Eating Stockholm - Pubologi

While wandering through Gamla Stan (Old Town) on Monday afternoon, we were on the lookout for interesting places to go back for dinner when Pubologi caught our eye. At first we thought it was a wine bar but, the menu told us it was so much more. Sort of a Swedish take on the gastropub influenced a bit by Spanish tapas bars.

Pubologi is a cozy, inviting restaurant with one large community table, four two-seaters and a small four seat bar in the window. We arrived at 7:00 pm without a reservation. Pubologi was busy but, we were told it was no problem and got the last two seats in the window. We quite enjoyed sitting in the window watching the world walk by on this warm spring evening.

All seats are bar height and at each seat you have a lit drawer containing a menu, napkins and silverware. Very clever.
The menu at Pubologi consists of what they call half plates. They suggest two for a main course and three as a main and starter. Our waiter told us if we were super hungry we should go for the burger. Matt and I decided to share a five plates and a dessert. The waiter suggested since we were sharing that he bring one course at a time out, which made for a nice leisurely pace.

We started with an order of fried pork rinds and mayo. I could have taken home a grocery bag of those pork rinds and been one happy girl. Crunchy, salty and not too greasy, they were a little bit of pork heaven. Surprisingly good dipped in the mayo. A little gift from the kitchen was gazpacho which you drank right from the tiny bottle it was served in. I have not had gazpacho as good as that since I stayed above a restaurant in Spain.

Our second plate was our fish course. Hjälmaren - Smoked and baked pike perch from Hjälmaren under paper leaves of carrot and beet. Served with new potato, burned leek and velouté of blue mussels and nettles. The smoke on the perch was just wonderful but, to me the star of the show was that velouté. I ended up getting every last drop with some bread.

Next we had the Carne Cruda - Tartar of veal from Upplandsbonden. Served with anchovy mayonnaise, deep fried capers, brioche croutons and Bottarga (dried roe slices). Ok, I want to thank whomever thought up deep fried capers right now because, hello brilliant! This was a very light tartar featuring a dark pink veal. Really though a lot of the flavor here came from the anchovies, capers and roe.

Then came some cute as could be 4" sausages. Salsiccia Trinità- Chef Buchet's sausages made from: Veal flavored with truffles. Served with pistachios and port wine reduction. Ox flavored with apple, tarragon and Liss-Ellas mustard. Served with mini pickles and onion rings. Lamb flavored with bell peppers, garlic and lemon. Served with roasted bell pepper dressing. All with suitable breads, Dijon mustard and Heinz chili sauce. All of the sausages were good but the ox really stole the show.

There were five cheeses available that evening. We couldn't chose one so went for the whole cheese plate which was served with pear marmalade. The best of the group was the Corsican sheep's cheese with herbs.

We were totally full at this point but still wanted a sweet so we ordered the Ocumate - Cream of Ocumare chocolate with caramelized nut mix, lightly salted carmel ice cream, caramelized butter and acidic milk foam. It is named after the Venezuelan cocoa used in it. It also came in a cute little jar. We just loved the combination of salty and sweet.

I can't stress enough what a fun evening we had. Our waiter was attentive, really knew the menu and seemed to enjoy explaining each course to us, even if we had to help figure out the correct words in English from time to time (from now on I'm ordering a ball of ice cream). From start to finish our dinner took almost three and a half hours but we never once felt like we were taking too long. That seems to be the case a lot when eating out in Europe, they want you to sit and enjoy the meal as long as you like. Plus at 10:40 pm the sun still hadn't set!

Stockholm is an expensive city and this meal cost us about $210 which also included two beers, threes glasses of wine and a coffee. We didn't feel it was over-priced at all.

Pubologi is in the Gamla Stan district of Stockholm. They always have eight beers on tap which change as each keg runs out. They are happy to let to taste and will even bring you samples of things they think you may like. They also have a good wine list plus, the walls are full of bottles of wine you can chose from. They also hard ciders and alcohol.

Interestingly enough we discover the owners of Pubologi also own another restaurant that was on our list to try called Djuert (the Animal). After our good experience here I think we will try that one. I wish we were here a little later when they opened their summer BBQ place called Svinet (The Pig) which is grilled pig done in their courtyard.

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