Little Göteborg

Photo by Johan Hornestam

Sooki Song’s new to charming Göteborg, rival city to Stockholm, but luckily her friends and fiancee are not. Ms. Song tells us (with a little help from the natives) what there is to do in Sweden’s second-largest city.

Suki Song Bio

Brief bio, occupation: I’m Sooki Song, graphic designer. I’ve worked on projects for NARS Cosmetics, Rebecca Taylor and Saja. After living and working in Seoul and New York, I’m currently working for production company Kokokaka here in Göteborg. http://www.lesplurge.com

Length of time in city: 3 months. My fiancée, Johan, and I left beloved New York City to be in his hometown.

Eat & Drink

Favorite high-end restaurant:

Sjömagasinet
Klippans Kulturreservat, Adolf Edelsvärdsgata 5
I haven’t had the chance to go yet, but all our Swedish friends recommend it! Johan says, “It’s run by a very famous Swedish Chef named Leif Mannerström, and has the freshest seafood dishes in a beautiful historic setting right by the water.”

Best deal restaurant:

Smaka
Vasaplatsen 3
Not only is it a good deal, but it has the best köttbullar (meatballs) in town!

Best street food:

Creperiet
Linnegatan 32
This is the one and only creperie in Göteborg, and thankfully, it was jättebra (great)! It’s a very popular spot for late-night drinking, but the crepes are so good, you have to go back during the daytime to try them.

Favorite cafe:

Da Matteo
Viktoriapassagen, Södra larmgatan 14
This small cafe is in a small cozy alley that has a few boutiques. It maybe small in size, but they have a lot of outdoor tables spread out in the alley way. They’re also known to have the best coffee in town.

Best place to work on a laptop with free wi-fi:

Lorensbergsgatan, in front of Hästens Store. When we moved here we didn’t know any wi-fi places so we just borrowed Johan’s mom’s car and drove around town to see if we could find some open wi-fi’s and eventually found this place. You’re allowed to park there for only 10 minutes, and often than not, the two 10 minute parking spaces are taken.

Favorite bar:

Lokal
Kyrkogatan 11
I haven’t been to many bars here, but this is my favorite. The scene is very hip, but when you go in, it has a nice, cozy feeling to it; there’s a sofa and coffee table right in the front side of the entrance window area, and when you sit there it feels like you are in a friend’s living room. I liked their orange lamps, too.

Read

Best bookstore:

Konst Museum
Götaplatsen/Avenyn
This is mainly for art, photography and architecture books.

Best magazine stand:

Press Stop
Drottninggatan 58
Everybody recommended this place, so I went and checked it out. They didn’t have Theme, though. What’s up with that?

Shop

Best boutique:

Filipa K
Victoriapassagen, Södra Larmgatan 12. This is actually right next to Da Matteo. I have yet to purchase any Filipa K clothing, but I really like the style and the storefront. Perhaps it’s because of the little alleyway it’s in.

Sightsee

Favorite art space/gallery/museum:

Unfortunately, I have not yet been to any art space/gallery/museum. But here are a few that my friends recommend.

The Röhsska Museum of Design and Decorative Arts
Vasagatan 37-39

400 15 Göteborg


The Hasselblad Center
It’s an art gallery for photography funded by, you guessed it, the famous (among professional photographers) camera company. They have an Annual Hasselblad Award and this year photographer Nan Goldwin got it. It’s situated within the Museum of Art Gotaplatsen, Göteborg.

Best touristy thing to do:

Taking walks around the Haga area. It’s got cobblestone streets, cozy cafes, and lots of antique stores. There’s this one antique store called BeBop that has really beautiful Scandinavian dishes, lights, and furniture from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. I always want to take everything home!

Only local does or knows about:

Fyragott
4 Gott, Brunnsgatan 1
I would have to say taking your children/niece/nephew to a candy store on Saturdays. They are not allowed to have candy during the week except on Saturdays. The best thing is, when you grow up, it’s candy day everyday.

Favorite outdoor space:

Göteborg Botanical Garden
Carl Skottsbergs Gata 22 A

The must-see thing in your city:

Statue of Poseidon on Avenyn, famous for the diminutive scale of his private part. The water he’s in must be very, very cold.

Events

Best events in each season?

My friend Christoffer says that during the winter, the best thing to do is to bake some Lussekatter and drink julmust (a Christmas drink) or glögg (hot wine punch), then light up a ton of candles bought from Ikea.
During the summer, you should go to Marstrand and pick up some freshly baked goods at Bergs Konditori. Then take a dip, sunbathe, or take a leisurely walk around the island. End the day with a nice barbecue with friends.

Tips

Best website for local info:

http://www.ilovegoteborg.se

Credits:
I would like to thank… Sara Wennerblom Arén, Christoffer Brattin and Mikael Olsson. And last but not least, min älskling Johan Hörnestam for most of the photos you see here.