We are lucky to live in the lovely Årsta, which is a fairly central suburb of Stockholm City proper.
Lucky not just because it’s central, and quiet, and has easy access to the city centre, and very green (well, most of Stockholm is very green, so it’s not that special), but because, among other things, it has really good neighborhood grub. By grub, I mean grub – no fancy Michelin-aspiring pretentiousness here. It’s simple and it’s very, very good.
And I am not exaggerating – we have the best delivered pizza I’ve had since living on The Hill in Saint Louis (its Italian neighborhood!), wonderful short-menu Chinese (mmmm Mamma Xu’s homemade dumplings…!), the best kebab in town (according to numerous accounts by envious people who don’t live near it and the newspapers, too), a nice old traditional Swedish restaurant which T says has good food (I haven’t tried it yet), and a fantastic-looking old konditorei (patisserie) which we have managed (so far!) to avoid (oh, the lure of sugar!) – though that resolve won’t last forever!
And then there is the corner cafe called Sallad & sånt (‘Salad & such’) – the masters of the monster lasagna.
And by monster lasagna, I am talking about nearly 1.5L of their very excellent, homemade lasagna – per serving! I am not kidding – they are approximately 10x12x12cm = ~1.44L (approximately, as in it varies a bit – I doubt they cut them with a ruler!). And considering the relative (lack of) height of the average lasagna you get at a cafe (or even a restaurant!), these are about twice as high.
Of course, had it been average lasagna, its size would not have mattered – but it’s really, really good, too! And also, really, really meaty. And they make it themselves, which is why it does not taste like it spent two years in deep-freeze before being delivered to a chain-cafe and microwaved for you there. No, it sits proudly in their refrigerated case (right next to its very slightly smaller counterpart, salmon lasagna), and stares at you, and you see it and fill with this atavistic hunger for it… and the rest is history. Or well, a very stuffed boyfriend.
As my friends all know, for a tiny person that I am, I can really eat with the best of them, and usually, if I am healthy and very hungry (we only go there if we are really hungry and prepared to seriously eat), I can more or less finish this lasagna. With effort. And then I need a walk because I sort of feel like a (very short) beached whale until I’ve walked it off. Today was not such a day (I think I just hadn’t worked the appetite up enough), so sadly some of the lasagna was unfinished.
And, that’s sort of sane. I am wondering if next time we can’t finish it, we should ask them to pack it up for us, or if we can maybe order one and share it (hard to contain the aforementioned meat-greed it wakes in us when we see it though…), because as you can see, it arrives on a huge plate literally piled with very fresh salad, and a nice-sized dish of dressing (we routinely get the garlic one, but we are garlic addicts so no surprise), and it’s… a lot of food. It’s probably a decent enough amount to feed a large viking of the 2-meter-tall variety that occur here and not leave him hungry.
I could go on, but there’s little enough that needs adding – if you are in Stockholm and very hungry and you like lasagna, you should try this place. Have I mentioned they have a very good selection of salads, proper (leaf) teas, and very good espresso and espresso drinks? No, I haven’t. I guess my brainpower is still low, due to being in a post-lasagna meat coma.
So whether you are vegan (they even do soy lattes, though honestly – ew!), vegetarian, pescatarian or a carnivore like me (mmm… lasagna… mmmm!), you should visit the place.
Oh, and the prices are reasonable. You can read the menu if you cilck the top photo to full size – sorry about the quality of pictures, but I only had my phone camera with me, and this begged to be written! And it’s just 5 min (very slow, stuffed-with-lasagna) walk from Valla Torg tram station. You know you want to!
Eat The Roses 
Time to migrate! … minus the soy lattes.
I don’t know about migrate (though I picked Sweden as the best of the places I’ve lived in), but you should definitely visit! Just – I don’t recommend November – April unless you own the right clothes. Come in May – October, and it’s gorgeous.
In Sept-Oct the cafes in town leave fleece blankets draped over the backs of their outdoor seats so the customers can wrap themselves. It’s like the leaves turning, cafes sprouting blankets – a sign of the turning season! :D
And yeah. Soy lattes, erk… but I can’t tell everyone what (not) to eat. Though I can certainly try!