Very few bars in Europe can claim an interior as genuinely magnificent as Operabaren. The room was designed in 1905 and has been maintained with a fidelity that makes it feel frozen in the best possible way. The ceilings are almost embarrassingly ornate. The mirrors multiply the candlelight into something approaching magic. You sit down and immediately feel like you have stepped into a film.
The cocktail list is built around classics done correctly. The bartenders here know their craft — a Dry Martini arrives as cold as it should be, the garnish precisely expressed, the glass perfectly proportioned. The wine list runs deep with Champagne, and the spirits shelf holds bottles you won't find in most Stockholm bars. We recommend arriving early to secure a corner banquette before the post-opera crowd arrives. If you are visiting Stockholm for the first time, this is the bar you take a date to.
Operabaren connects to the Operakällaren restaurant, one of Sweden's most distinguished dining rooms, so the kitchen produces bar snacks of a standard that matches the setting. Order the bleak roe toast if it is on the menu — it is the best single bite in the building. For more of Stockholm's cocktail scene, the Stockholm cocktail bars guide covers 12 venues across the city.
