Bar Centro — Restaurant in Göteborgs Stad

From the reviews I was expecting something out of the ordinary - and we did indeed get extraordinarily awful service. The guy at the counter didn't speak Swedish, but rather than make it clear so that we could switch to English (which would not have been a problem for any of us), he mumbled inaudibly and made communication impossible. We ordered something but weren't sure exactly what was included as he made different indications. The cappuccino was good, but the sandwich was supposed to contain cheddar - instead it only had some butter and a bit of pepper. I eventually took up the courage to ask what had happened to the cheddar advertised on the sign, and at that point I realised that the guy preferred English, as he asked me if we had already eaten the sandwich. I told him that we'd indeed taken a couple of bites. Apparently this voided our warranty, so we weren't entitled to any compensation or even an apology. He didn't seem to care at all and it took him a while to even understand that there was supposed to be cheese (as advertised) on the sandwich. We will certainly NOT be returning.

Oh, and of course, they...

New management this week, with Asian inspiration on the menu. This is hands down the best new eatery I've visited in a long time. Excellent food where lots of thought has gone in to blend of textures and flavours. I had the vegetarian four-course dinner, and each course came packed with flavour. The wine list is spectacular and quite modern, but most importantly, the wine pairings are so tight that the wine constitutes an ingredient in the food. As a token of exactly how serious they are about pairings, the menu yesterday listed only three wines in the pairing, since the wine that should accompany the desert had not been delivered yet. I was given a matching wine with the desert in any case, and one that certainty worked although wine and food didn't elevate each other as much as they could, together with an apology. Eat here! And if you can't, at least have a...

Cappuccino and sweets! We stopped here by chance, and of the small coffee shops in Göteborg, Bar Centro suddenly became our favourite. The coffees (single cap with lactose free milk and a double cap with regular milk) were among the best we've ever had - the Italian roast coffee was just right for us. The sweets, that we didn't plan to buy, but just had to try after seeing them, were a very pleasant surprise! The barista said they were Sicilian style sweets, and the combination of taste and textures was very nice. (See pictures - one is a small filled filo-dough-like pastry and the other is a wrapped nut-caramel flake filled with chocolate or pistachio creme.)

We were so glad to find this quirky gem of a coffee shop that we went back right after breakfast the next day :-) (Yes, you can...