Cafe and restaurant in Swedish
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Swedish words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Swedish phrases in this lesson
- Ett bord för tvået BORD fur tvaw
- A table for two
- Menyn, tackmeh-NEWN tahk
- The menu, please
- Vad rekommenderar du?vad reh-ko-men-DEH-rar doo
- What do you recommend?
- Jag äter inte...yah EH-ter IN-teh
- I don't eat...
- Jag är allergisk mot...yah air a-LER-gisk moot
- I'm allergic to...
- Köttshurt
- Meat
- KycklingSHIK-ling
- Chicken
- Fiskfisk
- Fish
- Det är jättegottdeh air YET-eh-got
- It's delicious
- Skål!skawl
- Cheers
Stockholm restaurants book out quickly; reserve in advance for anything popular. Casual cafes and lunch spots seat themselves, usually with a laminated menu on the table. Walk in, find a table, someone will appear.
Swedish menus are often bilingual in tourist areas. Lunch menus (lunchmenyn) are the Swedish bargain: a full meal with salad, bread, drink, and coffee for a fraction of the dinner price. Lunch in Sweden is usually 11:30 to 14:00.
Köttbullar, meatballs, are the classic.
"Jätte-" is the Swedish intensifier prefix meaning very: jättegod (very tasty), jättebra (very good), jätteroligt (very fun). "Det var jättegott" (past tense) said after finishing is the natural compliment. Swedes understate as a rule; "jättegott" from a Swede is genuine praise.
Raise your glass, make eye contact with every person at the table, say skål, drink, then eye contact again before putting the glass down. Swedish skål etiquette is identical to Danish: the eye contact rule matters, especially at dinner with snaps.