Fika Swedish Kitchen, Manly

Mention Swedish food and most people think of Ikea meatballs, but there's much more to this Nordic cuisine than that. Cinnamon buns for instance, fresh-baked scrolls rolled up tightly with a crunchy trail of butter and cinanmon. And gravlax cured salmon. And chokladboll chocolate balls. It's all good!

This is the review I wrote for Time Out Sydney on Fika Swedish Kitchen which opened only a couple of months ago in Manly. It's no longer winter now, but the deliciousness of the food still holds. And anytime is a good time for a cinnamon bun!


Fika Swedish Kitchen


Even in the depths of winter, Fika Swedish Kitchen is a burst of Scandinavian sunshine. This bright and chirpy café is a design lesson in Nordic minimalism, perked up with cheerful splashes of patriotic yellow and blue. Barely a month old (Fika opened in the last week of May) Fika has already proven a hit with Swedish expats, all cosied up with mugs of Oboy hot chocolate or bottles of Rekorderlig and Two Elk cider.


Stockholm South black tea with rose petals, cornflower, orange, marigold, papaya and vanilla $3

Wrap your hands around a giant cup of Swedish tea – blends with names like Stockholm South, Nordic Forest and Polaris – and settle in among the lemon-yellow cushions. You’ll have to order and pay at the register, but your food will be brought to you when it’s ready.


Freshly squeezed orange juice $4

Rock up early enough for breakfast and you can get into the semolina porridge with caramelised apple or the Swedish breakfast tray that includes a breakfast bun, muesli, boiled egg and freshly squeezed orange juice.


Homemade Swedish meatballs with potato mash, onion gravy and lingon $18

At lunch the menu shifts to more traditional fare. Did someone say meatballs? You betcha. These house-made meatballs are sweet with onion, and deliciously soft and juicy in the middle. You can get a modest serving of these with mash, onion gravy and lingonberry jam or go for the sandwich option with beetroot relish on Sonoma bread.


Gravlax cured salmon creamed dill potato and mustard and dill hoymastar sauce $18

The cured salmon option also presents a plate-versus-sandwich dilemma, but the flying fish roe, crisp lettuce leaf and mashed egg combo on bread easily beats boiled potatoes and mustard, in our opinion.


Gravlax cured salmon with mashed egg sandwich on Sonoma bread $15


Skagen prawn and crayfish mayonnaise mix with dill sandwich on Sonoma bread $15

The surprise hit of the blackboard menu is the skagen prawn sandwich mixed through with mayo, dill and salty little bursts of bright orange fish roe.


Rhubarb and raspberry crumble with vanilla whip $8

Desserts are all house-made, from a rustic wedge of apple pie to a fine rhubarb and raspberry crumble.


Kladdkaka chocolate cake with vanilla whip $8

Chocoholics should head straight for the kladdkaka, a traditional Swedish chocolate cake that has the texture of a rich and squidgy brownie. It’s hard to pass up the cinnamon buns too – petite buttery scrolls rolled up with cinnamon sugar.


Cinnamon buns $4 each


Chokladboll Swedish chocolate ball $3




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Fika Swedish Kitchen
5 Market Lane, Manly, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9976 5099

Opening hours:
Open daily 7am - 5pm

This article appeared in the August 2013 issue of Time Out Sydney in my monthly Food & Drink column Eat This! [Read online] 

Read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews


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