Benne
“Appetite comes with eating”
Update April 2024:
Benne stopped having vegan options, so the only menu item is Slow Tomato where you have to omit cheese. Even the garlic toast is now with butter instead of margarine. Sadly, now a place to avoid as a vegan.
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Benne started off with the idea of bringing good pasta to people without overcharging for it. They have a concept purely based around pasta in a fast-paced setting without fancy seating or special lunch/dinner prices. By now they already have four places, three in Gothenburg and one in Mölndal and keep getting more popular.
By now I have been to all three Gothenburg locations and they are all pretty much the same, so no need to worry that the quality is different elsewhere.
The menu greets you with only a few choices, but that’s all you need. For vegans, there is the Slow Tomato (a simple pasta al napoletana) where you need to ask not to put cheese on top and a vegan meat sauce, Hipster Juice, which consists of pretty much the same as Slow Tomato with added minced soy and topped with vegan sour cream. If you are extra hungry, you are open to choose the extra hungry option, which increases the portion size.
All that for 50 SEK respectively 85 SEK for the base version. A very good price! Ordered at the bar, you can sit down and wait for your pasta to arrive. Usually it only takes them between 10-15 minutes to bring your order, depending how busy it is, and oh boy can it get busy.
Once the pasta arrives, you are greeted with hand-made pasta, fresh from the day and your sauce of choice with it. Pro tip: add some of their self-made chili oil conveniently located on each table or to buy from their shop to take home. It really adds an extra depth to the dish.
The pasta itself is usually cooked to perfection and the sauce has all the flavour profiles you might want from a tomato sauce. Sweetness, acidity, earthiness from the herbs and a dash of fruit. Very nice all in all!
There is not that much more to say in the end. The pasta is great, it’s cheap and you get the food fast. The places tend to crowd up fast during lunch or dinner times though, so be aware of that as they don’t take any reservations. Personally, I love Benne and their concept, I just wish there was more than tomato sauce as an option. That way you can’t go too often.
Price:
Pasta with Tomato sauce: 50 SEK
Pasta with vegan meat sauce: 85 SEK
Extra large portion: +15 SEK
The Verdict
Fantastic pasta that usually doesn’t disappoint. Sometimes it might be too busy though and that can be stress inducing for everyone, but the staff tries to make it work. Unfortunately there are only tomato based sauces for vegans, so you can’t come here too often. Unless you really like tomato sauce of course.
Great place with limited variety!
1/5 Leaves
Pro
Very good handmade pasta
Very cheap
Fast service, even when the place is crowded
Con
Often crowded
Little space to sit
Only two vegan options, both tomato based
Location
Friggagatan 12
Långängen 7
Skanstorget 3
Opening Hours
Mo-Fr: 11:00 - 21:00
Sa-Su: 12:00 - 21:00
