Croquette – Gammelknas Cheese – Baerii Caviar
This is the most difficult post we will ever have to write. At first, the intention was to write a review… but fuck that, this is our story about Mutantur, a place that has followed us through the years.
Some restaurants you visit once and forget the moment the bill arrives. Mutantur is not one of them.
Since opening in 2017, it has managed that rare trick of being both familiar and surprising; always the same, always changing.
Grilled Stick Bread – Cultured Danish Butter
Chef Alexander Sjögren stamped his authority from the get-go with what looked like madness to both guests and the industry. The only available table bookings are between 17.00 and 17.30, after that it is drop-in only.
There is no lunch-service during the week, and the restaurant is always closed on weekends (except for one very special occasion in December, Grosshandlarlunch, aka Mutantur all-in).
Many thought it was suicide, but they were dead wrong.
By half past five the place is full, as it has been, almost every night for eight years. If you miss the early slot, you will find yourself on the waiting list, or later at the bar for a quick bite and a glass. Lucky ones might be able to snag a table later in the evening.
Fried Turbot Bites – Pickled Onion Mayonnaise – Pickled Cucumber – Café de Paris Butter
The restaurant is located half a flight of stairs below street level. While entering, you are greeted by the staff and the open kitchen.
The dining space is simple, with concrete floors, bricked walls, tables without linen, chairs without padding, and bar stools that are surprisingly comfortable. It looks quite modest and unpretentious, with a rustic and cosy feel.
Lobster – Toast – Browned Butter – Black Garlic – Yuzu
Now, the food is a story of its own.
The menu is vast, starting with a variety of bite-sized snacks, followed by a range of middle-sized mains and desserts. It is also important to acknowledge that about one-third of the menu is entirely vegetarian and/or vegan.
The menu is always evolving with new dishes and/or flavours, much to our chagrin sometimes when we have just paid a visit. FOMO is real!
However, some old favourites remain for years on the menu, like for example the browned butter-fried toast with grilled lobster, black garlic & yuzu.
To quote the restaurant; thousands have been served and thousands more may be served. Another old-time favourite is the dessert, Frozen Kornblomst, which has been featured almost since day one.
The snacks arrive to the table fast, and they are beautifully presented and full of flavour. For instance, the fried croquette with Gammelknas cheese, topped with caviar is pure indulgence at its finest.
The creamy cheesy centre wrapped in crispy coating and topped with Anna Dutch Baerii caviar, to add that extra little hit of salt is for sure a great start to any meal and sets the bar high for what is yet to come. If you are lucky, you might even be able to find Malmö’s most “expensive” falafel with truffle.
Another must try, to ease the transitioning from snacks to mains is the classic campfire grilled bread on a stick with cultured Danish butter. It is playful and riddled with childhood nostalgia.
Grilled Entrecôte – Pommes Frites – Lobster Hollandaise – Foie Gras Glazed Haricots Verts
The larger dishes can include for example, grilled entrecôte with French fries, lobster hollandaise, and foie gras-glazed haricots verts. Yes, you read that right, it is one dish altogether.
On some occasions, you can even find luxurious Danish open sandwiches (smörrebröd), like fried turbot bites with pickled onion mayonnaise, pickled cucumber and café de Paris butter.
You can also find Swedish classics with a twist, such as the Småland-style potato dumpling with caramelised onion and mushrooms, Spanish almonds and salted wild garlic berries, which is finished with an insanely delicious warm porcini cream.
Freshly fried mini doughnuts
The desserts are just as good and elaborate as the rest of the menu. A favourite of ours, is the donut-serving, which comes in various flavours such as raspberry, apple or cardamom, depending on what the season has to offer. The mini donuts are sometimes accompanied with a side-serving of ice cream as well.
Another rock n’ roll dessert is a mini puff pastry pizza suited for two or four, served in a miniature pizza box, because why not? Right now, it is flavoured with apple and crème pâtissière along with a pistachio ice cream and a browned butter caramel infused with yuzu. Insanely fun and indulgent!
Mutantur’s wine list stands apart, due to its broad and well-judged selection, running from modest bottles to heavy hitters, that can satisfy both casual drinkers and serious enthusiasts.
The staff know their bottles, and the wine list is put together with genuine care.
Another important thing to mention is that the mark-up is decent, which is a rare occurrence these days when restaurants compete to see how much pain their guests can take.
Needless to say, we have had our fair share of wines here, but the beautiful wines from George Wine Company remain an all-time favourite of ours. The Mutantur team even saved their last bottle they had just for us.
Once we even ended up with the 2018 Les Champs Brûlés Pinot Noir from Verzy; a still red from Champagne that we would never have chosen ourselves, but one we will remember.
Chef Alexander Sjögren dressed up for Grosshandlarlunch
The service at Mutantur is relaxed, yet attentive. It is genuine hospitality, whether you are a regular or walking in for the first time. The team stays humble and grounded and know exactly how to move around each other and make the place tick like clockwork without ever showing any effort.
There is an easy rhythm to it all, the kind that makes you feel instantly at ease.
Even during Covid, when the doors had to close early in the evening, the spirit of Mutantur never disappeared. Alex managed to keep the restaurant alive with his already early time slots, and by introducing pre-prepped full gourmet meal kits.
We will never forget our amazing nine-course menu for New Years Eve 2020. It was great fun to prepare, and a joy to experience a little piece of Mutantur at home during a time of uncertainty and self-isolation. It was a bright light in the tunnel, helping us just as we helped them.
As you probably can tell by now, we have spent many, many evenings at Mutantur over the last eight years, and there will for sure be many more to come.
For us, Mutantur has never been just a restaurant. Over the years, it has become our table away from home.
This is a place where we can go to celebrate, to have a laugh with family and friends or to forget a terrible day. Other times, we are just in the mood for some delicious food – or honestly too lazy to cook dinner.
We can walk in, leave our worries at the door, and sit down at our table where the chairs probably know us by name. Our pre-dinner drinks (champagne and white wine) will appear in front of us quicker than we can say that we need one, and we just know that we are in for a great evening.
Cutlery holder handcrafted by Alexander from oak
Mutantur is the kind of restaurant that reminds us why we love dining out. With the vast ever-changing menu, it still feels new and exciting every time. Alex and his team continue to surprise and spoil us with new dishes and flavours, though with the same warmth and charm that is Mutantur at its core.
We will forever appreciate and treasure what Mutantur has brought us over the years and will continue to bring us. The times as well as the food will change and evolve, as will we – and that is, after all, the point:
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
The times change, and we change with them.
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