Bröd & Salt — Specialty Store in Norrmalm, Stockholm

This is a Bröd & Salt branch on Kungsgatan in Norrmalm, a café-bakery where you order at the counter and then find a table. The room is large and bright, with a long counter of pastries and coffee, and the seating is comfortable enough that people settle in with laptops or a book rather than eating standing up.

The cinnamon bun is the thing to get first: fresh, well made, and the item that gives the shop its reason to exist. The almond bun is the other pastry worth your money, sweet and soft with almond paste running through it. Coffee is brewed to a decent standard, and if a cup arrives lukewarm the staff will brew a fresh one when you point it out. For something savoury, pizza is sold by the slice and makes a simple lunch with a coffee; salads are the lighter option.

Some products are sold by weight, which lets you buy a few pastries rather than a whole box. You order at the till, and the queue can stall when only one register is open.

Prices sit high, and the salads in particular feel expensive for their size. Come early on a weekday for the calmest service and the freshest trays; Sunday opens later at 8 am but still runs to 7 pm, useful if you want a late-afternoon coffee.

It suits a traveler who wants a proper sit-down breakfast near Hötorget, a place to study or wait out a rain shower, or a quick fika between sights. If you want a bun on the go with no table service to worry about, this is more room than you need.