Lund is one of the lesser-known wonders of Sweden. It’s not a town where you’ll probably spend a whole week, but you should definitely visit it, even from Copenhagen, for a lazy and semi-highbrow day. But if you’re here, where should you eat?
And without offending anyone, this won’t be a high-class restaurant review article. In fact, I’ll share with you why we didn’t even check out any of the restaurants in Lund. But despite that, we still had a wonderful day and some wonderful food memories. So visit Lund, and don’t worry too much about what to eat!
Two Bakeries
Let me start with the two bakeries we tried right after arriving in Lund by train. Part of the reason was simply that we were hungry. But we also wanted to try the famous Swedish pastry scene. And let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint.
Manzz Bageri
This one just happened to be on our way from the train station into old town Lund. The pastries in the window looked incredibly appealing, so I couldn’t help stepping in.
And I’m glad I did. Mannz Bageri felt like a very sympathetic little bakery right from the first moment. Fresh pastries, good-looking breads, and an honest bakery smell that made me impossible to walk out empty-handed.
I tried a cardamom bun and a vanilla-chocolate filled puff pastry. Both were very good, and at that moment, especially because we were hungry after the train ride, they felt exactly right. The cardamom bun was a little different from what I usually expect, with more of a powdered-sugar feeling on top instead of that shiny glazed surface, but it worked.
If an average bakery is a 5, I would put Mannz somewhere between 6 and 7. Definitely better than average, definitely a good stop, but not the kind of life-changing pastry experience that makes you rethink your entire bakery ranking system. For a first bite in Lund, though, it was a very pleasant beginning.
Broder Jakobs
And then came Broder Jakobs.
This one was found a little later, and you could already feel from the outside that something serious was happening here. There was a line standing outside on the street, which is usually a good sign when it comes to bakeries. People don’t wait for average buns.
And honestly, this was on a completely different level. If Mannz was a solid 6 or 7, Broder Jakobs was somewhere around 10. In Scandinavia, next to Andersen Bakery in Copenhagen, this is one of the best bakery experiences I’ve had so far.
The cardamom bun was simply wonderful. Not the same style as Andersen, but on the same level of quality. Extremely soft, almost melting in your mouth, but still with a little structure on the outside, just as it should be. Browned and slightly toasted on the surface, but inside still soft, rich, and full of flavor.
Tip: If you're into cardamom buns, check out my article about where to find the best one in Copenhagen.
I also tried a coconut pastry that was apparently made with coconut, butter, and chocolate. I’m not even sure how to describe it properly, except that it melted in my mouth and made me very happy. Soft, buttery, coconutty, sweet in the best possible way. One of those pastries where you take the first bite and immediately know that yes, this was a very good decision.
We also tried a few other pastries, including one with a soft, creamy base and whole nuts on top, and another coconut-based one with a fruity cream and chocolate. The contrast of textures was what made them so enjoyable: soft and creamy below, crunchy and nutty above, with everything coming together in a way that felt much more interesting than a regular sweet snack.
So if you only have time for one bakery in Lund, I would choose Broder Jakobs. Mannz was good, no question. But Broder Jakobs was the one that turned Swedish pastry from “let’s try something” into one of the food highlights of our whole day.
The Restaurant Scene in Lund
After a long walking day in old town Lund, we became hungry somewhere in the middle of the afternoon. Wandering along the atmospheric streets, we passed by dozens of restaurants, but none of them felt that inviting.
First, we didn’t want to spend much. This might have been just our mood that day, but the reason we came here was to see the town, not to spend hours at a white-tablecloth restaurant.
Second, as much as I love international cuisine, somehow the many Italian and Indian restaurants didn’t really match our mood that day. We wanted something that paired with the atmosphere of a walking day in this centuries-old town. Probably something Swedish. But if that wasn’t possible, then at least something that didn’t feel like it came from the other side of the world.
Bantorgets Kiosk
This is how we found Bantorgets Ölkiosk, right next to the train station. The name comes from Bantorget, the square beside Lund Central Station, and the place really fits its location: easy, casual, and perfect when you don’t want a long restaurant meal.
It wasn’t Swedish at all, but more like a German beer garden dropped into the middle of Lund. There was one kiosk in the center where you ordered, and a food truck at the back where you picked up the food.
Obviously, this wasn’t Michelin-style dining. But that was exactly the point. The bratwurst and currywurst — that classic German street-food dish with sausage and curry sauce — were just the type of food we wanted to eat on a day like this. Simple, filling, a little greasy in the right way, and much more fitting to our mood than a proper sit-down restaurant.
But the real highlight was the atmosphere. Bantorgets Kiosk is basically a garden, with lots of open-air seating all around. People were chatting, drinking beer, and grabbing food. Someone was playing darts on the wall of the kiosk, two kids were playing ping-pong, and the whole place had a relaxed summer feeling.
So no, this was not the Swedish food experience we had imagined earlier that day. But somehow it was exactly the right ending to our food experience in Lund.
A Small Taste of Medieval Food
And I almost forgot one of the most unusual food experiences we had in Lund. During Lund’s History Days, there was also a chance to try a small portion of medieval-style Swedish food.
It was made with kale, red onion, butter, and havrekross — cracked oats, or steel-cut oats, as the package explained. Nothing fancy, nothing over-seasoned, and definitely not the kind of food that tries to impress you with strong modern flavors.
At first bite, it was mostly interesting. Very creamy, very simple, and honestly, it felt like it could have used a little more salt – in reality it lacked any salt. But once I got the idea of it, and started tasting it as food from another time, it became surprisingly enjoyable.
The kale, the oats, the butter, the onion — everything was humble, earthy, and soft. Not a dish I would probably order every week, but as a tiny edible window into the past, it was a wonderful little surprise. And if this was the kind of food people ate in medieval times, their lives might not have been as bland as we usually imagine today.
