Fem Små Hus

I have been to Fem Små Hus 4 times since my son and I stumbled across it while exploring Gamla Stan in 2001. It remains one of my favorite places in the world.
The food is classic Scandinavian fare prepared with innovative sauces and interesting embellishments that are simply scrumptious. The environment oozes with cozy charm. The dining areas are spread across five levels of barrel vaulted brick rooms. My favorite is the lowest level.
The waitstaff are knowledgeable and willing to offer advice when asked, but they are not pushy and will let you find your way through the extensive menu.
It was good to return for another great meal this week. Things haven’t changed much, and that is just fine with me.

The food is traditional & as good as any other restaurant. However, it is overpriced & the wait staff is snobbish. The interiors are beautiful but the outdoor seating is tiny & the tables are so close to each other, I could have eaten off the neighbouring table!

We picked the grilled wild salmon and the vegetarian dish. The salmon was a bit dry but the sorrel butter was delicious. The vegetarian dish was really tasty. We also ate the apple cake which was absolutely appetizing! The atmosphere of the location is a bit eerie, but I like that kind of stuff.

In the old part of Stockholm, which reminds me of old Montréal — cobblestone streets, lots of tourists. Touristy restaurants, lots of souvenir shops. This place tends to lean that way — but it has legit history. Getting to eat inside the original buildings from so long ago, is very cool — the restaurant is like a maze inside. We were down in the cellar area — very nice and quiet. The service was very polite, and the food was good. We both had the reindeer (we feel bad about it but we had to try an old skool meal). Cloud berries in our dessert — I’m not a fan of cloud berries. But they are supposedly as precious as truffles are. Check this place out for a meal in Gamla Stan!

Absolutely amazing! The décor, staff and food was absolutely stunning! I was pleasantly surprised as normally touristy restaurant are not that good. This one is however an exception!
I will definitely visit again when in Stockholm!

My husband and I had a magical dinner here on our visit to Stockholm. I had the Arctic char and he had the reindeer. Both were excellent and tasty. The waiters were very customer focused and super nice. This is a highly recommended spot to visit in the Gamla Stan.

Walk down these steps and you are in for a treat. Fem Sma Hus (the five houses) is not only a great place to eat and drink (and spend money) — but it is also in a fantastic location — filled with the ancient spirits of the culinary dead. In fact — chefs at this location have offered food to the public since the 1600s.
It is situated in the heart of Gamla Stan — Stockholm’s old city — right next to a famous statue of Saint George — which you can stroll past before dinner while you await your table — and then during the meal your can take a break to come back here and throw up like a Roman Patrician before you go back and eat some more.
In the summer there is an outdoor café in the front — but DON’T TAKE THE BAIT. The interior is so much more interesting and unique — if you miss it — you will cry — and I will slap you.
Fem Sma Hus spans the stone/​brick vaulted basements and wine cellars of five old houses built when your great great great great grandmother wasn’t even a glint in her great great grandfather’s eye. It is an amazing environment of ancientness and gastronomic deliciousity — mixed with Aqua Vit and a hundreds of bottles of fine wines.
This is where saintly foodies go when they die.
So — there are a number of prix fixe menus — which I recommend choosing from: (why try to reinvent the wheel when the chefs who know their fare and fodder have set you up so well).
The most famous menu here is the one named after one of the early pioneer food-​smiths in this spot; Anna Lindberg, who ran a tavern in the house above during the 17 century. This prix fixe menu includes Fem Sma Hus’s signature dish — which is veal fillet Anna Lindberg… served with morel sauce… potato gratin… and lots ‘o’ love. This goes for around seventy bucks for the five or so courses.
But I always buck the trend and pick the more expensive menu because its main course is Reindeer — and I love reindeer — (why eating reindeer is banned in the United States I will never understand; it is not an endangered food source — and it is deeee-​lishh!). The reindeer menu comes with the cloud-​berry dessert — although my favorite sweet here is the saffron pancake which accompanies the least expensive menu. If you want the yummy apple pie then its going to have to be the Anna Lindberg veal. All of the prix fixe menus come with sides and starters.
The Five Houses also serves a type of caviar that really makes you feel like a king — without having to over-​tax your subjects for it. And if you don’t eat fish-​eggs (silly you) then try the gravlax or the the raw salmon salad starter — both are great.
Each prix fixe menu comes with a special wine-​pairing — but you have to order it separately — SO BY THE GODS ORDER IT! (or you can ask one of the many professionally trained sommelier to help pick some good matches).
And if you have an ounce of room left in your over-​stuffed gullet after this amazing meal — fill in the edges with the after dinner cheese tray — it is chef-​selected-​delectability incarnate.
Det smakar bra
.

Beautiful medieval décor in a cellar. Excellent Swedish cuisine. Attentive service. In the heart of Old Town, so you can have a nice stroll after dinner. If you’re in Stockholm, you MUST dine here!!!

What a great find this was for us. We have had some very good meals whilst in Sweden, but this was by far the best. Started with elk carpaccio which was wonderful; served with a light horseradish sauce and apple compote, a brillant combination of flavors. Main course was grouse and again it was delicious. Desert was chocolate hazelnut cake with lingonberry; the flavors were wonderful and not overly sweet. Our waiter was charming and efficient. The night couldn’t have been better.

To me, this place is in the same genre as Clas på Hörnet, KB, and Ulla Winbladh. Someone explained to me that they had been serving food here since the 17^th century. The architecture of this cave (it’s all underground) is quite fun, like some organic 3D labyrinth. The service was very slow, but perhaps we hit the rush hour; they seemed to be working very hard. Finally, and most importantly, they served good food. I had marinated elk (gravad älg), lamb racks and a crème brulée, and they were all very tasty. The marinated elk was a pleasant surprise.

ambiance/​/​***
located in old town stockholm, the five houses is literally the aggregate of five establishments through a series of underground hallways into one restaurant
the front entrance is on the street level w/​a bar and waiting den
when your table is ready you will be led down a semi-​spiral staircase…
intrigued? depending on your luck or swedish skills you will either be seated in an area surrounded by the cold. harsh. winery-​esque stone walls or by warm. brightly lit dining rooms decorated with tapestries
service/​/​***
prior to seating, you will be led to a coat room to deposit your… coat
while the waitstaff spoke limited english, they were decently attentive
refilling our glasses and checking on us every so often, mostly through charades
food/​/​***
overpriced, but a fun experience to try reindeer and other traditional swedish cuisine
~*~
this place is more interesting for the layout and architecture than actual dining experience
i’d advise stopping by for a drink and poke your head for a quick look around instead

lousy restaurant. never trust a restaurant that’s advertised in city maps. OMG, so expensive but yet food are just so-​so.
i’d rather eat meatballs at ikea!

We ate here on our first night in Stockholm and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. We both choose prix fixe menus. Hubby had salmon and veal. I had Swedish roe and reindeer. The roe was amazing but the reindeer was very gamey. I loved the roe because it was a very clean and subtle tasting dish. My dessert was a berry crumble and hubby’s was strawberries with ice cream. I preferred the strawberries and ice cream over my crumble, but both were pretty good.
Wait staff very attentive and helpful. We sat outside which was very pleasant.

Our hotel recommended Fem Sma Hus as a wonderful place to eat in Stockholm, so we tried it, no so, wine list over priced and service was slow at best. Waiter had one small room with 6 tables, service uneven, not good for those prices. The food was good and so was presentation, but you need the total package, which are lacking.
Would not go back again.

This restaurant was recommended to me by one of Stockholm’s top Unilocalers and it fitted the bill perfectly. Fem Sma Hus translates as five small houses and it really is the perfect description of how this building is laid out. Five town house all interconnecting meaning that there are numerous rooms in which you can eat, each with its own individual character, lending itself a lovely ambiance but also making it easy to get lost in — trying to find the loos and the exit was a definite challenge!
I was seated in a downstairs area that felt like a cellar, with low curved ceilings that felt cosy as opposed to claustrophobic. I was dining alone this evening but the staff made me feel very comfortable and welcome which was a nice touch.
I was presented with a large bread basket and water on the table. There were three different types of bread, including the traditional Swedish crisp bread, and all were tasty. The menu focuses on typical Swedish cuisine which was just what I was looking for. They do set menu’s but there were things that I specifically wanted to try so this didn’t work out for me. It’s quite pricey, but pretty much everywhere in Sweden is!
For starter I went for the pickled herring four ways — herby, curried, tomato and apple, and fried. All were very tasty. A chunk of strong cheese was also served on the plate. An unusual combination, but all good as individual items. For main course, I couldn’t resist the reindeer. This came as three large pieces served with loganberries, greens, and a delightfully smooth mash potato. The sauce was rich and full of flavour and the loganberries were sharp enough to cut through the stronger flavours and refresh the palate. Overall, a really tasty dish.
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Stockholm and wanting to experience some traditional Swedish cuisine.

Ein tolles Restaurant im Stockholmer Stadtteil Gamlastan, das sich im Keller von 5 kleinen Häusern befindet. Das Essen ist überaus lecker, es gibt schwedische und internationale Gerichte. Ganz besonders zu empfehlen sind auch die Desserts. Auch der Service war zuvorkommend, so dass ich dieses Restaurant vorbehaltlos weiterempfehlen kann.

Loved this place, it looks a lot like you are going to eat in the dungeons, or maybe a wine cave. Only thing I can complain about is the temperature as is was very hot, of course Stockholm was having ver unseasonably hot weather and few places have air conditioning.
Food was great, I had the filet of reindeer and it was very good despite the «eating Rudolph» jokes from the rest of the group. Service was a bit spotty as there was only one server and it seemed busier than they expected. Kitchen staff brought out the food so it was served hot and promptly. Decent wine list and great prices. Dessert was the Lapland berry trio and was very good and light enought to fit well with the heavy main.
I highly recommend.

This restaurant serves traditional Swedish food, and does it very well. The name Fem Sma Hus translates to Five Small Houses, which is descriptive of how the restaurant is constructed – five «townhouses» joined together, going three stories below ground to form very intimate dining rooms.
My wife had a veal cutlet (she’s not an adventurous eater), and I chose the reindeer with lingonberry sauce, which was delicious. It had a taste similar to calf’s liver, but not as strong, and the consistency of veal. The appetizers included gravlax with crème fraîche, and was as good as I’ve ever eaten. Desserts were some type of sherbet and a combination of fresh berries, both simply wonderful in their simplicity, blending a mild sweetness with a natural tartness.
The restaurant was difficult to find, but well worth the effort. Prices were reasonable for Stockholm, which is a very expensive city. I vaguely recall spending about $ 250 for the two of us for dinner with a little wine, including gratuity.
If we go back to Stockholm, I’d definitely dine here again.

Very cool restaurant that you could probably play an epic game of hide n go seek. However, this is a formal but not too uptight kind of place.
«Renfilet med rotfruktspure, potatisknyte och lingonsky
Fillet of reindeer with root crop purée and lingonberry gravy»
It was an awesome piece of reindeer. Not gamey at all, almost like a lean piece of steak.
Menus had English on them, but don’t be an American douche bag.

Recommended by friends of ours, we went in 2004. (Thanks Unilocal,for adding Sweden to the list, and sorry I can’t provide any more recent info.)
If they still have reindeer on the menu, don’t feel too guilty about eating Rudolph, because he is tasty. Nice lingonberry compote to accompany, a decent dessert, wife liked her game bird (I forget what it was) and the atmosphere was top-​shelf (being in the interconnected basements of those old-​school houses.)
Det ar bra (my keyboard won’t let me type in Swedish even though I took a year of it at university. Skit-​bra!)

Exquisite, traditional and elegant restaurant, superb cuisine and a memorable dining experience.Recommended.

Wir waren mit einer Gruppe dort. Die Bedienung war tadellos, die Atmosphäre sehr schön und angenehm.
Abzüge gibt es dafür, dass die Toiletten in keiner Weise dem restlichen Niveau des Hauses entsprachen — ist mir aber tatsächlich einige Male in Stockholm aufgefallen.
Und das Essen war zwar gut, aber nicht so gut, wie ich es bei den durchaus gesalzenen Preisen erwartet habe. Es war sehr wenig gewürzt und die Portionen waren auch sehr klein.

Fem Sma Hus gehoert zu den 3 besten Restaurants in Stockholm, wobei ich nicht sagen kann, wer bei den hervorragenden Speisen an welcher Stelle steht. Also dann alle auf Platz 1: Fem Sma Hus, Stallmaesteragarden und Operakaellaren. Dafuer ist aber die «heimelige» Atmosphaere im Fem Sma Hus unuebertroffen (Vorsicht, wenn man durch die Haeuser geht, manche Tueren/​Durchgaenge sind auch fuer den Normalgrossen gefaehrlich, buecken und Kopf einziehen. :)
Ich habe von 1976 nbis 79 in Stockholm gelebt und gearbeitet, sprach schwedisch und hatte wohl deshalb kein Verstaendigungsproblem mit den Kellnern/​innen. Ich wurde bei meinem ersten Besuch auch nicht an einen Touristentisch gesetzt — den gab es vor ueber 30 Jahren auf jeden Fall nicht.