Lola A. Åkerström profiles Hägerstalunds Bibi House – an unlikely Moroccan restaurant in Stockholm.
They say looks can be deceiving (yes, I know, cliché) and this Moroccan restaurant in Stockholm set in an old manor farmhouse exemplifies this.
Hidden away in Kista’s suburbs located north of the city center, you head a couple kilometers out into farm country until you reach the property which dates back to the late 1600s. The manor looks like it stepped straight off the pages of a paranormal thriller.
All photos shot with a smartphone by the author who regrets not having her full frame camera with her.
Had I known what I was walking into, I would have brought my full frame camera and a wide angle lens with me.
The area around the restaurant is the Hansta nature reserve with burial grounds and rune stones from the Viking age. For centuries, the property was a sprawling farm and some of its buildings were rumored to have been built on old burial grounds; many of which are still in the area and protected. A working farm until the early 1900s, it was used as a military training facility and officers’ quarters. When the military no longer had use for it by 1970, it stood isolated for many years.
Today, its new reincarnation channels North African cuisine as the restaurant Hägerstalunds Bibi House.
During the day, it serves a lunch buffet with a selection of lamb, chicken, and vegetarian options, and in the evenings, it turns into a cozy intimate affair with Moroccan tagines and casseroles, classic salads such as tabbouli and fattosh, and chargrilled meats and fish, all washed down with mint tea.
But what makes Hägerstalunds Bibi House extra special is that it has also woven interior décor from the old manor house into its overall ambiance. Borderline gaudy, there are colorful ceiling mosaics and murals, glass chandeliers, 19th century style furniture and plush sofas, faux gold-gilded floral vases, and other accents that leave you wondering if you’ve wandered into a private house museum instead. But alas, it’s a Moroccan restaurant in Stockholm – albeit the most unique one I’ve visited in town.
As with many old properties, there are always spook stories including a black silhouette of a rider on a horse rumored to haunt the grounds.
For a unique culinary experience in the most unlikely of settings, Hägerstalunds Bibi House is definitely worth visiting during your next trip.
Address – Hägerstalunds Gård 7, 164 74 Kista
