Sweden is a good country to be vegan in, even though traditionally thoughts of meatballs and pickled herrings come to mind when thinking of the land of Vikings and IKEA. Gothenburg is situated on the west coast and is Sweden’s second biggest city. It is full of vegan and vegetarian restaurants ranging from brunch and fika (coffee and cake) to plant based gastronomy places.
One of my favourite vegan restaurants in Gothenburg is Sayur and even though it has only been open a few months, the food is unbelievably good. The couple who own this plant based Indonesian warung (Indonesian for restaurant) used to have one in Bali and have come to Sweden to introduce great Indonesian food. They believe that eating plant based helps not only the planet but also gives you more energy and keeps you feeling young. They want to show how good plant based vegan food can taste and they truly succeed.
Sayur is situated in the trendy area of Linnegatan, down a quiet side street. The food is Indonesian-based and full of homemade tempeh and tofu with plenty of flavour.
Sayur has a very simple three dish menu and all items are vegan. The dishes are a rice dish with tempeh/salad/tofu/noodles/sweetcorn fritter, soup dish (with sides for example, tempeh, sweetcorn fritter and/or rice) and a salad (with an amazing peanut and soya sauce dressing). My favourite is definitely the salad which is full of tempeh, tofu, rice cakes and peanut/soya sauce dressing.
Every week the dishes have slightly different components so you never get bored. The soup changes the most every week. One week the soup can be a creamy coconut soup filled with tofu, tempeh, mushrooms and bok choi including sides of rice and tempeh. The next week the soup can be mushroom and filled with noodles.
The drinks are Indonesian coffee (of course with Oatly) and soft drinks including Tehbotol, which is a sweetened jasmine tea that is surprisingly nice and refreshing. If you prefer something stronger they also have beer.
Sayur has become one of my favourite places and when I go with friends or my boyfriend we end up sharing a selection of dishes because it’s too difficult to decide which dish to get.
The cost of the salad and soup are 85SEK and the rice dish is 90SEK (cheap for Sweden) and with good portion sizes you can’t go wrong. Sayur is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30/12:00 to 6:00pm so it is a great place for an authentic Indonesian lunch or early dinner. I go to Sayur almost once a week so if you see me in there say hello.
About the author: Dr Suzy Jones is a passionate vegan traveller, trying to show people that finding vegan food whilst travelling or at home is easier than one thinks. If she is not travelling then you can find her behind a telescope or in the gym/CrossFit box, proving that vegans can be strong and healthy.
The opinions expressed in this write up are solely those of the author, and not of HappyCow or the restaurant.
