Sweden
10
tartares
StockholmÅre
Best: Glashuset — 10.0/10
01THE RANKING
Every steak tartare, in order.
Ranked from the definitive to the frankly regrettable. Open any entry for the full review.
- #1 Glashuset Stockholm, Sweden·New-school råbiff A parmesan blizzard over sweet beet and sharp dijonnaise, served in a listed glass box on the water. The benchmark. 10.0 /10
- #2 Werséns Åre, Sweden·Village-square brasserie The menu promises 'classic sides' and keeps its word — a brasserie tartare of total conviction on Åre's village square. 9.2 /10
- #3 Tranan Stockholm, Sweden·Since 1929 Ninety-seven years of rehearsal on one plate: truffle cream, shaved parmesan, raw mushrooms and the crunch of roasted almonds. 8.9 /10
- #4 Broms Stockholm, Sweden·All-day bistro Östermalm's second living room holds a black belt in råbiff — sugar snaps and pickled silver onion give it snap the classics forgot. 8.7 /10
- #5 Bisous le Bistro Stockholm, Sweden·Cognac and Gruyère Hung topside in cognac mayonnaise under aged Gruyère — a Paris bistro's råbiff, built from the same pantry as its pepper steak and onion soup. 8.6 /10
- #6 Toro Toro St Julian's, Malta·Pan-Latin high-rise Truffle, chipotle emulsion and sun-dried tomato on the 11th floor of a Zaha Hadid tower — the most fun a tartare had all year. 8.4 /10
- #7 Teatergrillen Stockholm, Sweden·French orthodoxy Capers, cornichons, onion, parsley, yolk — the full French catechism, recited where Bergman kept a table. 8.1 /10
- #8 Gondolen Stockholm, Sweden·Hand-cut veal, 33 m up The only hand-cut tartare on this list, and the only one that isn't beef. Veal, tarragon and capers by the fistful, suspended above Slussen. 8.0 /10
- #9 Strandvägen 1 Stockholm, Sweden·Lingonberry and Västerbotten The most Swedish tartare on this list — thyme-pickled lingonberries and Västerbotten mayonnaise, eaten over the water at Nybroviken. 7.9 /10
- #10 Franzl Zell am See, Austria·Viennese at 1,900 m Beef tatar in the imperial Viennese manner at 1,900 metres, with thirty three-thousanders staring through the glass. 7.8 /10
- #11 Aleks y Filip Stockholm, Sweden·Spanish signature Gochujang, Payoyo cheese and tarragon béchamel — the bravest tartare in Stockholm, signed with the house's own name. 7.6 /10
- #12 Santini St Julian's, Malta·Sicilian marina Sicilian polish above the Portomaso masts — competent beef that lately prefers riding a fettuccine Alfredo to standing alone. 7.2 /10
- #13 Sturehof Stockholm, Sweden·Institution since 1897 The 1897 seafood institution treats its tartare like a side quest — Dijon-forward, peppery, proper, slightly on autopilot. 6.9 /10
- #14 Peperino St Julian's, Malta·Pizzeria moonlighting Order the pizza. The tartare is what happens when a wood-fired oven gets asked a raw question. 6.6 /10
- #15 Caviar & Bull St Julian's, Malta·Caviar theatre Black Angus, cured yolk, sturgeon caviar and crispy cones — a tartare dressed for the opera that forgets to sing. 6.4 /10
- #16 Terrazzo Munxar, Gozo, Malta·Gozitan misfire The finest view on this list, wrapped around its least coherent plate: sausage, cheese and beef, none of them on speaking terms. 2.9 /10
- #17 La Vela Pietà, Malta·Seafood house, off duty Eighteen euros for cold beef and an apology. The four-word menu description was the most generous thing about it. 2.5 /10
- #18 Era Ora Steakhouse St Julian's, Malta·Three tartares, no answers Era Ora serves three beef tartares and won't say what's in this one. Its author's own recipe suggests passion fruit, soy and ginger — which explains a great deal and rescues nothing. 2.1 /10
02THE ATLAS
Where the beef has been.
Three countries. Six cities. One recurring order.
Malta
7
tartares
St Julian'sMunxar, GozoPietà
Best: Toro Toro — 8.4/10
Austria
1
tartares
Zell am See
Best: Franzl — 7.8/10
03THE GUIDES
Everything else worth knowing.
What the dish actually is, whether it is safe to eat, and how to make a proper one at home.
01
What is steak tartare?
The definition, the ingredients, and why the story about horsemen and saddles is nonsense.
Read the guide 02Is it safe to eat?
The real risks, why whole muscle beats mince, and who should skip it entirely.
Read the guide 03How to make it
The cut, the knife, the dressing — and the four mistakes that turn tartare into paste.
Read the guide04THE METHOD
Five things a tartare must answer for.
No stars, no sponsors, no second chances. Every plate is interrogated on the same five counts.
01
The Cut
Hand-chopped or machine-minced? Texture is destiny. A proper tartare has bite, not paste.
02
The Seasoning
Acid, salt, heat, allium. Balance decides whether the beef sings or just sits there.
03
The Yolk
Raw, cured or whipped into an emulsion — the yolk is the sauce. It must gild every bite.
04
The Sides
Fries, toast, chips or bread: the vehicle matters. Soggy sides sink even great beef.
05
The Room
A tartare tastes different at a zinc bar in Stockholm than on a terrace above the Med. The room counts.
05COMMON QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Where is the best steak tartare in Stockholm?
Glashuset is the best steak tartare in Stockholm on this ranking, scoring 10.0/10. Its råbiff is bound in sharp dijonnaise with yellow beet, capers and roasted onion, then buried under shaved parmesan.
Where is the best steak tartare in Malta?
Toro Toro in St Julian's takes the Maltese crown at 8.4/10, with a pan-Latin tartare of truffle, chipotle emulsion and sun-dried tomato served on the eleventh floor of the Mercury Tower.
How is each steak tartare scored?
Every plate is judged on the same five criteria — the cut, the seasoning, the yolk, the sides and the room — and given a single score out of ten. No restaurant pays for placement and no visit is announced in advance.
What is steak tartare?
Steak tartare is raw beef, chopped or minced, seasoned and served cold — usually with egg yolk, alliums, something acidic such as capers or cornichons, and bread or fries. In Sweden it appears on menus as råbiff, in Austria and Germany as Beef Tatar.
06ABOUT
One dish, ordered everywhere.
Some people collect vinyl. I order the steak tartare. Always, everywhere — fine dining room or mountain hut — because no dish exposes a kitchen faster: it's just raw beef, a blade, seasoning and nerve. There is nowhere to hide.
This site is my running scoreboard. It began in Stockholm, detoured through the Alps, and got a suntan in Malta. It will grow every time a menu says the magic words.
All opinions are entirely my own. No restaurant paid for placement — some of them may wish they could.
✳FEEDBACK
Been somewhere better?
Tell me where the tartare is worth the trip — or where I got one wrong. I read every message.