Café Saturnus — Restaurant in Stockholm

Found this place through a blog searching for great brunch places that were open during week. I don't know if their usual chef was away on a Monday, but everything was wrong. I'm giving a one star because I was greeted politely and with a huge smile, but things went really bad when I got my food. I ordered the Norwegian benedicts and what I got was two old pieces of bread that my knife couldn't cut through with 2 poor pieces of brownish lettuce, smoked salmon that didn't taste anything and the worst hollandaise I tasted in my life. Oh there was also a solo asparagus that was decorating that sad dish. So blend they simply shouldn't have put in on since we're not in the season anyway. My latte was water only, couldn't taste the coffee. The only thing that was good was the freshly pressed blood orange juice. That was a costly juice I have to say!

I wouldn't have wrote such a bad review if when I left and complained about the quality of the ingredients and the craft of the coffee, the server that wasn't the one that served me in the first place went properly all out contradictory, telling me how they never have any complaint and that it was impossible the bread wasn't nice since they are a bakery. Which is pure bad customer listening and he is (and the chef) are the reason I'm leaving this bad review.

If maybe someone had offered to redo my coffee or offer a pastry since the counter was full of them, and maybe the one bread the chef used wasn't indeed good... then maybe this review wouldn't had appear here. But it simply doesn't change the fact that I clearly didn't get the same experience as other, maybe more regular customers in this cafe.

I clearly don't recommend...

Café Saturnus is one of those rare places that grows on you — like sourdough, slowly and deeply. My first visit? Honestly, I was a bit confused. Who’s doing what, and how does it all work? I had a lunch — it was nice, but I wasn’t yet under the spell.

Then I returned. I tried the baked goods. Ah… now we’re talking. The pastry was so good I nearly forgave a certain nearby “French-style” hotel for charging me extra for a mediocre cappuccino. In fact, I took Saturnus’ cappuccino one morning and walked into that hotel with it in hand — unapologetically. Told the story to the owner here, and we both had a laugh.

That’s what makes this place special. Not just the legendary pastries (which should, frankly, come with traffic control warnings for the queue they deserve), or the genuinely good cider they serve — but the soul of the café itself. Run by a husband-and-wife duo, it has the warmth of something personal, not performative. On my second and third visit, they recognized me, greeted me with a kind smile, and made me feel like I was part of the story, not just a footnote in a busy day.

This is where you come for coffee and end up staying for connection. It’s a place for breakfast, for lunch, or simply for feeling human again in a city that can sometimes be a little too perfect.

Thank you for reminding me what hospitality tastes like. I’ll be back — and next time, I’m bringing a...

Post renovation review: The rumors are true, they’ve ruined the place. The massive kanelbullar are gone. The variety of eggs are gone. The breakfast burrito is history and this especially made me want to cry. The banana pancakes are no more, and no ruben either!

Their top notch barista is also gone, replaced by some ignorant fool who tried to push a latte on me when I order a large cappuccino, saying “they are the same, it’s just got more milk.” Talk about professionalism.

One of the best things about this place was that I didn’t have to wait until noon to get food. They opened at 9 and I could get a heavenly plate of eggs Benedict before the hangover 20 something crowd got there. Now brunch only starts at 11, and they don’t make exceptions. And their weekend breakfast menu jumped from 195sek to 315sek which almost made me faint at the door. So expect to be paying for their glammed up new decor when you get here: it’s all over the prices.

They’ve made the place into another shiny, fancy place without any character. It’s too polished and perfect. A dime in a dozen - like Stockholm needed one more of those. The previous version had gusto, persona and it made a lasting impression on everyone I took there. And there was absolutely nothing wrong with the place!

Another prime example of “Don’t fix it if it...