Eating Reindeer in Stockholm Worth It?

Eating Reindeer in Stockholm
Interested in enjoying some Rudolph on a trip to Stockholm? You’re in luck because lots of restaurants offer the experience of eating reindeer in Stockholm, so you don’t have to go to Santa’s house to find it.
So if you’re game., expect to shell out some cash as pretty much everyplace charges a minimum of 250 Swedish kroners ($36 US or €29) for reindeer steak. I had to seriously contemplate this expenditure but given my love of eating as many different animals as possible, I had to give it a go.

Be Wary of Tourist Traps in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan

We decided to give a place called Restaurang C C, in the Gamla Stan (old quarter) a try because they boast that their specialty is wild game. In fact, there are only about 7 main dishes on the menu, including boar steak, regular ole’ deer and wild salmon for fish eaters. Vegans need not apply.

Unfortunately, this place was a mistake and given that the restaurant’s street sign has a reindeer pictured, should have been a dead giveaway to steer clear. Another giveaway that something will be probably be terrible is when they proclaim something like “best sandwich in town!” When a business declares best in the city, it is usually a crappy tourist ripoff.

Eating Reindeer in Stockholm
Like most restaurants in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (old quarter), Restaurang C C is nicely decored and quaint inside, but given that the weather was shockingly lovely, we chose to eat outside. The experience was terrible from the get go, the service was snail paced and we were given no bread. Usually a few pieces of fresh bread are pretty stock standard in an upscale priced restaurant.

Reindeer Steak

The reindeer steak was served in 2 small mignons, accompanied by boiled potatoes, the most common side dish in Sweden, so a serious lack of imagination here. Normally I eat steak medium rare, but I asked that they serve the reindeer the way it normally comes, which they said was medium well. If you prefer your steak medium rare, I suggest you ask for your reindeer to be cooked that way, rather than trust the chef like I naively did. But obviously they do not fully trust their reindeer meat anyway, yet another bad sign.

Recommendations for where to Eat Reindeer in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan

The food was decent, but for the money it should have been great. It was also not a large portion of food. If you want to try reindeer in Stockholm, I would suggest giving Slingerbulten or a restaurant called Movitz a go, both in the Gamla Stan as well. They both serve reindeer steak and we had fantastic experiences at these two restaurants- though we both ate cheaper non-reindeer options at these two establishments. Ultimately, Restaurang C C is a gimmick that needs to try a little harder, as they weren’t exactly hopping with business.

Author

  • Alex&Bell

    Alex and Bell originally met while solo traveling after finishing university in 2002, in Brugge, Belgium. Alex grew up in the USA and Bell hails from Australia. During our nearly 20 year marriage we've lived around the world, including spending six years living in the Netherlands and Ireland. We have traveled to nearly 70 countries and enjoy giving readers authentic and quality travel tips. Alex is an award winning travel journalist and travel planner, who also freelances for other outlets. Bell is an award winning PhD scientist who currently works for a non-profit lung cancer advocacy research organization called Lungevity. Happy travels and if you have any questions leave a comment or drop an email!

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