Smorgas Chef
“It's absolutely worth trying the Swedish meatballs (I'm not sure what lingonberries are but they go along great).”
“The herring itself is firm, flavorful and melts in the mouth and the spaces are excellent.”
“Eat Scandinavian food in the middle of a Scandinavian culture center surrounded by gifts imported from…”
Smorgas Chef
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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What an odd and peculiar decor, eclectic textures, jarring chair colors, Christmas lights, ethereal polka dots, very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland that married an Ikea and had a restaurant baby
Restaurant Week Summah '16
Chilled Cucumber Soup – Perfect for a summer day! I love how forward the cucumber was, nice to meet you! The light green cucumber and avocado puree was great texture wise, but I thought it was a little too sweet and a touch too much cream. The star is the red onions which give you a great acidic contrast POP to the creamy green soup.
Swedish Meatballs – Wow. These meatballs weren't playing around. The flavor of the farm-pork and pasture-raised beef is so authentic and fresh. The sauce, creamy and fortified with beef stock and finished with flour, was the perfect marriage for these meatballs. The chive mashed potatoes were delicious, the pickled cabbage ok. And normally, I dislike the cranberry-turkey combo, but the lingonberry sauce was beautiful with the meatballs; they have a distinct sweetness unlike any other berries I've had before.
Flourless Chocolate Cake – Heavenly. I could eat a pound, two pounds, of THIS. The hazelnut ice cream with the cake was a fantastic finish to the meal!
Smorgas Chef is barely recognizable from the outside and the front entrance opens to the gift shop awkwardly placed contiguously in front of the restaurant (open floor – see last picture). Besides the layout and vibe, I absolutely loved the focus of "fresh, unprocessed, and sustainable ingredients" (from the business); everything tasted authentic and true. Very unique place, can't wait to come back and try more of the delicious Scandinavian/Swedish food!
This is my go to spot for Swedish meatballs. The decor of the dining room is great, it's kind of romantic that you could bring a date here. Although last time I came, there were 3 families who gathered together with kids. So this place is suitable for all occasions. There's a gift shop to the left when you walk into the building. The gift shop sells Swedish brand chocolates, fruit jam and some decorative or household items. Onto the dining experience. Their menu carries a variety of Swedish dishes. Their drink menu has the loganberry juice that I like. I highly recommend getting the Swedish meatballs…can you tell that I am a huge fan (Swedish meatballs mentioned at the beginning and here)? :). I ordered a fish dish that came with a delicious sauce that was not too over the top or creamy, it complimented the fish really well. The portion of the food here is great and all the dishes are very reasonably priced. The kitchen/bar is located at the back of the dining room, you could see all them putting together the delicious dishes. Service here is great. I highly recommend coming here if you liked Swedish food.
We came for NYRW on Sunday. The restaurant locates in the Scandinavia building where six national flags Mark the sign. You can find some interesting gift stuff in the front and back.
The fixed menu is well prepared, by tease and portion. I love my salad, with grilled pepper, sweet pea, which is well seasoned and tossed. The chilled cucumber soup is OK, with limited cucumber flavor. The main ingredient is avocado actually. My salmon is perfectly cook, sitting on a handful of grilled snow peas. Someone please prepare these snow pea carefully, where many of them were not peeled to remove the end and hard fiber on side. The meatball is juicy and flavorful, without too much fat. Impressive. The desert we had were OK, and both cake are a little dry.
These is a place you can find drinks in Sunday lunch, which is illegal in NJ. I also like the place as a whole, open, bright, and simple decorations. The bathroom is a harsh. You need to go down two floors to wash you hand.
Since there are almost no Scandinavian restaurants in NYC I thought I would give Smorgas Chef a try. The space is clean, quiet and nice looking. We went on Sunday so they only had a brunch menu which was limited but they had the Smorgasbord for $20 which I wanted to try. It was a nice assortment of typical Scandinavian items. The smoked salmon was very good. The meatballs, 2 small ones, were OK but not much better than Ikea. The 2 types of herring tasted exactly like the herring sold at IKEA. The beet and cucumber salads were very good. The Jansson's potato was excellent. I just get the feeling like this is a high end cafeteria. They advertise on the menu about the farm upstate where they get most of their ingredients but I am not sure about some of the items if they even make them in house.
The sparkling lingenberry drink was very good with real fruit in the drink.
I would come back again and try the lunch or dinner menu since it is a nice looking space and some parts of the meal were very good.
We walked past this place too many times thinking it was a shop front and it was. You are seated in a cafe style restaurant that feels your in q department store. No ambiance and you feel like the more noise you make the worse the atmosphere gets. With 25 tables and only 3 used it's difficult to be excited about our brunch.
To our surprise though the food was really decent. The trio Benedict was delicious with dill in the hollandaise sauce giving it a kick. side of waffles was great too. Swish meat balls was also light and fluffy and full of flavor.
The $10 mimosas we ended up blowing $60 a person on brunch with no booze and feeling we were prosecuted for being loud we won't go back. It was great food but with all the options in NYC no need to compromise unfortunately.
Had lunch here today. Was impressed by the nice setup for the dining area which seemed a tad on the more formal side. Towards the back, there is a bar where I took a seat as I waited for my pick up order. I was about ten minutes early, but was offered water as I waited which I found really considerate/nice. Within the time range they said it would be ready, it was and I was on my way! Friendly staff, beautiful setup, and the burger I enjoyed later in the office was delicious. I instructed for a medium as that is the rarest they will go, so personally it was a tad too well done for me, but no problem just personal preference. Next time I plan to be a little more adventurous when I have more time to kill and really have a "Scandanavian" experience.
We each ordered the Swedish Meatballs and had the Smorgasbord to share. The meatballs were incredible and the Smorgasbord really had a little bit of everything (didn't like everything but a good tasting plate for Scandinavian virgins!). It's incredibly filling and reasonably priced and one of the few Scandinavian options in the city, especially if you don't want to go to an Aquavit price-range establishment. I also got their Rice Wine Bloody Mary which I highly recommend! It's incredible! And we shared the marzipan cake afterwards.
I docked a star mostly for the food coma that happened after. We have a pretty impressive appetite and gut volume. And this amount of food is easy for us usually. But I'm not sure if it's a Smorgas Chef thing or a Nordic food thing. (Maybe it's like how subpar Chinese restaurants put in gallons of MSG and you're thirsty for a day and a half!) But approximately 15 minutes after eating, I died – food coma times indigestion times food sweats. It was awful.
PS. Came back for the Gravlaks sandwich – it was meh. I stand by the three stars.
This restaurant never disappoints. I was craving a Norwegian eggs Benedict and came here. As always, there was no wait. As always, the hostess was very friendly. And as always, the ambiance was great – quiet, calm and serene, a nice escape from the outside noise on the streets of New York.
I tried their chilled cucumber soup as an appetizer. It's a perfect summer soup because it's poured cold and is refreshing thanks to the dill and avocado purée.
This was my fourth visit to the restaurant and, each time, I'm impressed by this relatively lesser-known gem with delicious farm-to-table food and friendly service. Bravo!