Restaurant AG — Restaurant in Stockholm

I am so sorry to give this one star but I’ve never ever payed so much for a meal and got so little in return. Where to start? We booked a table from 20:30, and you get 2 hours of booking. Ok, just about enough time. We get there at 20:30 and order our food around 20:45-20:50. Starters came fairly soon and were delicious. The waiter came around 9:40 to pickup the starter plates which gave a signal that the main meal was coming soon. But no. Asked 3 times why our food was taking so long, we were told it’s normal and it would be out any minute. Minutes passed, food was nowhere to be seen. Which was not the case for every single table around us. Even parties that came after us got their food and were well into their dinner. Food finally came at 10:10, 20 mins before our booking time was supposed to end. We were served plates that were just taken out of the dishwasher (they were warm and had steam on them, so they weren’t even wiped) and had bunch of fingerprints on them. Steak was fine but had so many tenders, sometimes it was impossible to chew it through so I had to spit it out. When I finished and looked at my plate I had so many tender pieces on my plate. Not something you’d expect from 550 SEK steak. Ordered 4 different types of steak and asked all of them to be medium rare, unfortunately they were all cooked differently. Some were more well and some were rare, and they were all well done on the ends. Staff seemed unengaged (not checking in, not paying attention to water level) and seemed that they were eager to get rid of us. For example when we were waiting for our food no one came to check up on us, but they were all over the table picking up plates and cutlery during our dinner. Even when I complained about the waiting time of the food they insisted that it is normal to wait one and a half hour for the steaks and never apologised or offered compensation. It just seemed like they were only interested in the card swiping at the end of the evening. Overall very, very disappointing experience. A restaurant that specialises in meat and charges hefty money for the overall experience cannot afford to make these kind of mistakes. Both in meat quality as well as service! If it was only one slip, you can make amends with it. But this chain of events leads me to believe things have taken wrong turn in this restaurant and the person or people managing it only care about profit. It gives a vibe that you as a customer need to feel grateful to have the opportunity to be there and spend all your money there, but you can’t complain about anything. I personally feel tricked for paying over 2500 SEK for this experience and not getting apology from the restaurant. I am sorry but there are plenty of other places in Stockholm to go, this will be a no-no from me...

Yes, they know their meat, and it tastes good — but just like you don’t buy a car only because the engine is well built and solid, so should you not laud this place until it has put a smile on your face. It didn’t for me.

The entrance to this abattoir-themed place could well be mistaken for a boxing outfit or a karate club in the outskirts of Budapest. Then there are the smart-a** waiters, greeting you and peppering their curt sentences with doses of regimental talk: “Have you been here before, ja?” and “You must vacate your table by 9 p.m., sharp!” All the while, you’ll want to know where they got their teeth whitened and why they don’t work for the Nobel Academy, given how clever they fancy themselves.

Once inside, you will notice that tables on Indian railway carriages are set farther apart than those in this place. Matters are not helped by the fact that the locals’ sense of introspection and inhibitions at close proximity are not very well developed. You can expect Jerker from the next table (who looks a bit like Stan Beeman from The Americans, only with a more dimpled face) to place his right elbow in your side plate and sporadically — and without warning — break into uncontrollable, machine-gun-style laughter. This, even though you are staring daggers at him and his Match.com plus-one. Which reminds me: for some reason, a lot of sultry-looking women in skirts dine with suited men in this place. Must be the meat!

When the smart-a** waiters come back, expect to be lectured at length about “Andalusian corn-fed marbling” vis-à-vis “Aberdeen Highlands grass-grazing tenderness,” and how a Uruguayan Malbec’s bouquet complements the former rather than the latter. All the information will be given matter-of-factly, with not the slightest hint of lightness or humour — and from faces that resemble those of doctors explaining the choice of chemotherapeutic agents available. If you haven’t laughed by then, I’m afraid you’ve lost your chance, as at 8:58 p.m. prompt, your bill will come — and then you will be evicted!

My honest advice if you want to have fun with your date: order a pizza, pop open a cheap bottle of wine, and — most importantly — lighten up and have a laugh. Just like Jerker, but in a...

Hands down the best steak I’ve eaten! The quality and how well executed this is done is unparalleled by any other grill house in Stockholm so far. It’s really pricey, but once you eat it you kind of understand why the price-tag is this high. Additionally, many of them are dairy cows, so the sustainability aspect of this is also really nice in consideration. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the meat, it had a slight crust and the fat had been perfectly rendered, and the temperature was just spot-on. I had really high expectations for AG, and honestly I feel like the steak even went beyond that.

If I had just had this steak by itself in a good environment, this would definitely would’ve been a five right off the bat. Unfortunately, some things kind of pegged it down. First of all I had the bone marrow starter, which should’ve been amazing but now and then it kind of got overshadowed by the amount of onion and bacon. I feel like bone marrow is so amazing, so you shouldn’t need more than some seasoning and herbs with a toast to get it where you want to be.

The other thing was the potato which was a bit dry and uninspiring, and the sauce seemed quite unnecessary with such a spectacular piece of meat. The meat was just so tender that it requires absolutely nothing else than the acidic salad to break up the fattiness in between bites (the salad btw was really nice to have on the side). Tomatoes were also quite amazing.

The last part that kind of brought down the mood a bit was all the families with kids that had iPads running children shows on the table, or Nintendo Switches flinging around. I’m a gamer myself, but all these screens kind of gave a McDonald’s vibe. If you’re paying over 3000 for a meal, that’s probably not what you want. Having that said, the interior design and staff were really kind and a bit laid back which made it a nice visit.

All in all, I think AG as expedited nails the steak-game, but I feel like some sides aren’t really on par with this...