Brasserie Astoria — Restaurant in Stockholm

Editing a previous 5 star review…

In the last week, I’ve had two meals at Astoria. Both experiences have been disappointing.

I used to come regularly to Astoria when I lived in Stockholm. I’d have dinner or lunch / brunch once or twice a week back then. Service used to be friendly, and the team would do their best to be helpful.

Things have changed for the worse in my opinion. First, we came for dinner w no reservation, and the person who greeted us at the door told us to go upstairs to be seated. All good so far. When we arrived, it took the host 5 minutes to show up but rather than acknowledging the wait, he kind of berated us because “my colleague gave you an already booked table”. While the place remained half empty the whole time, he sat us at the bar and told us this was the only available option in a pretty rude way (we like the bar, so we didn’t mind, but the vibe was just off). No smile. Not once.

Then we came back for Sunday brunch. Turns out they don’t offer it during summer. That’s okay. But once seated, we saw brunch menu items show up and asked about those. The answer was that there was an Amex offer ongoing and these folks had a different menu. Again, why not. But here’s the thing: They knew we were interested in that menu The whole room was having that special meal (in particular their famous chicken sandwich), and it would have been so easy to make us happy by telling us : “hey, it’s not technically available but if you really wanted one, we could make this happen”. This costs nothing. But makes customers feel welcome and valued vs making them feel less than those claiming a special offer.

Food was okay. Service okay-ish once seated, although the whole experience felt cold.

The only warm person was the lady greeting guests at the door.

After probably several dozen visits, this was our last meal here. This isn’t a cheap place. If service is borderless hostile, there’s no point. Quite a performance to create this kind of atmosphere...

A well oiled machine!

Friday 16th of May 2025 9:20 pm during a busy service I didn’t expect them to answer the phone, but they did! And I was fortunate to get a bar table for one. Overlooking the open kitchen, close to the grill.

Reception was great, and even though I was alone I was taken great care of. The staff was friendly and very attentive to details. They took their time, and never felt rushed.

Energy in the kitchen was great, and I just sat and watched the whole service go by for two hours. They seemed to have a great time and the team was really in sync, impressive to see! I made sure to acknowledge them from afar with a simple gesture at the end, and it was well received with a smile.

The waiters were very smooth too. One of them was going to deliver a small birthday celebration to a smaller table behind me, but saw there were plates to clean, so he quickly put the plate down and put out the candle behind a corner. And then continued afterwards. The guests had no idea.

I was served by several waiters and even managers during the night, but it felt like they were all in sync. Quite impressive, how busy the service was.

Behind me was a big table, of maybe 14 young adults. And they were taken good care of.

So big or small, they do deliver!

It was not the first time for me to visit, and it will not be the last.

Keep it up! 🔥

PS: the only reason the food was not a 5. I had Chick & Chips before several times (it’s a classic on the menu), and this time there was two things that could improve from previous iterations. 1) the orange Astoria hot sauce was more diluted this time and not as sticky, concentrated and spicy as usual which I prefer. The old one just had more flavor! 2) Only one of the three thinly sliced vegetables had a slight pickle on it (the yellow one), the celeriac and the carrot was very mild. Together with the sweet sauce and the fatty Fourme d’Ambert cheese and deep fried chicken, they could...

Good food Strange/mis communicate service

Seating chaos

Main seating Upon entering the restaurant we mentioned the name of our reservation at the reception, and was told to proceed to the second floor to be led by other staff.

Once on the second floor, we were met by a blank-faced receptionist and needed to mention the name of the reservation again. The seating was not smooth due to the lack of communication and collaboration within the staff.

Seating at "the bar" After eating, we were told the time of our reservation was up and we needed to return the table. We were told by the serving waitress (A) that she would arrange for us to move to sit at the bar, as we still had an unfinished drink. We were then signalled by a waitress to follow her, so we got up, picked out coats and bags and started moving, but then immediately lost track of the waitress. So we were lost in the middle of a busy restaurant as we did not know the way. No one tried to ask if we needed help.

We asked another waitress (B) for help and where the bar was, etc. She just said there is a bar but all the seats are taken, "you will not have any seats", without further instructions or help.

Confused even further and abandoned, and inevitably standing in some corridor. One of us also got bumped into by another member of staff (C).

We tried to go back to ask the serving waitress (A) who was at a distance, but the previously answering waitress (B) would not let us. So we asked the latter (B) again for help. She seemed impatient and nonchalant, and said there are two bars, one mini bar here, one downstairs, but there are no seats. In the end, very confused and very embarrassed, still holding our coats and bags and the drink, we had to stand still in the hallway to finish the drink, and just left the restaurant by ourselves afterwards. No one greeted us or asked if we needed any...