Bergstrands Bageri — Specialty Store in Vasastan, Stockholm

Bergstrands Bageri is an independent bakery on Frejgatan in Vasastan, and the first thing you meet inside is a small room with a warm Scandinavian feel and a counter working through a steady line. It is cramped, and the line moves fast, so you are usually past the door sooner than you expect.

Start with the kanelbulle: soft, well spiced, and the thing to buy first. The crème brûlée croissant has a crackled sugar top over the pastry, and the kardemummabulla is soft with balanced cardamom. The semla, classic or saffron, comes with fluffy bread and a generous amount of almond paste. A slice of princess cake is flavourful without being overly sweet, and the pain au chocolat holds its own against French versions. The Västerbotten and jalapeño loaf is worth carrying home.

In summer there is homemade soft serve with toppings, including a salted caramel sauce, and the sandwiches run from avocado toast to a bread and soup set. Seating is a few tables inside and a few outside on the sidewalk, and on a sunny day they fill immediately. If you sit outside, watch the seagulls.

Expect Stockholm prices. A sandwich and an iced coffee came to 103 SEK, and the bread and soup set is on the steep side for what it is. The queue is worst on weekend mornings, so a weekday before the office crowd or a later afternoon slot is calmer. Buns travel well, so take a box away if the tables are full.

Two things to know: there are no customer toilets, and the interior gets hectic when the line backs up. The trade-off is a bakery built for the counter rather than the table, which still suits anyone chasing a proper kanelbulle and a coffee outside.