Hagabions Café
“Betraying oneself.”
Ah shit, here we go again. Hagabions Café is an old friend. What used to be one of Gothenburgs most famous fully vegetarian (and vegan friendly) places in a cool atmosphere - it’s in an old cinema, that still operates! - has taken quite the downhill ride in recent years. I haven’t been here for two years, so it was worth checking out again.
Hagabions Café is quite popular and located not too far from Järntorget, so it’s usually buzzing. I mean, the place looks really good, has nice decor and just shouts “hipster” in the best way possible.
But since it’s usually buzzing, you can nowadays not really get a table anymore by just showing up. Reservations required, and even if you reserve a table, you might sit in the bar in the basement. That is cool in itself, but definitely less cosy. So, the place runs great!
Previously, this place was run as a fully vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurant. They used to do food rescue and adapt the food on a daily basis, so it was always a nice little surprise. The latter is still happening, as far as I know. However, the former not. Hagabions Café decided roughly three years ago to put meat on the menu. Quite the betrayal to their community, but well, not the worst that can happen.
What is the worst though is, that with that change, the kitchen changed and focus clearly went away from making good vegan(-friendly) dishes, so quality took a massive stumble.
Now, two years after my last visit, it was time again. Noisy as can be, so you can barely talk to your friends, but why would you want that in a restaurant? The menu this evening had two vegan options, hummus with aubergine and some salad, and as a second alternative some Indian inspired curry with tofu instead of paneer on rice. I don’t trust Indian food from Swedes (or Indian restaurants in Sweden), so it was Hummus for me.
Coming quite fast, the Hummus plate was quite satisfying. Nothing to really complain, but it’s just hummus (definitely not self-made), some 4 tiny pieces of nice aubergine and some salad with a bit of bread. Difficult to mess up. And for that, 170 SEK. Quite outrageous in fact. In any case, whatever my company had with the Indian inspired curry looked horrible, so I dodged a bullet.
But well, food is acceptable. However, the service got really bad as well. Staff is unfriendly, not seeing you, downright talking down to you. It’s clear that they are not trained to do waiting at all and this might be a legacy issue with how alternative this place used to be run. The staff that does the table service also needs to tend to the bar at the same time, so no wonder they are pissed the entire evening.
So yeah, Hagabions Café is still incredibly crowded, and while I enjoy the atmosphere, it’s clear that it feeds of the well-earned reputation from many years ago. By now it’s just a shadow of itself. Acceptable enough though if you like to live your life dangerously.
Price:
Vegan dish (1 or 2 on the menu): 170-180 SEK
The Verdict
Well, it got better from last time after they changed their menu, but it’s still not good. Atmosphere is nice, but way too noisy, so you cant talk really and will get a sore throat. The food has more vegan variety again, but clearly it’s no priority anymore, so the quality is so so and the price is outrageous for the offer. Service took a massive dip as well.
Yeah, it’s just not worth it anymore. Just go to another place and keep the good memories of Hagabions Café if you have any.
2/5 Leaves
Pro
Nice atmosphere
Cool location
Con
Kitchen has become fairly average
Rather expensive for the offer
Bad service
Very noisy
(They started to serve meat dishes)
Location
Linnégatan 21
Opening Hours
Mo-Th: 17:00 - 23:00
Fr: 11:30 - 01:00
Sa: 12:30 - 01:00
Su: 12:30 - 23:00
