Lyran

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A kitchen that follows the seasons

Lyran Matbar on Simrishamnsgatan in Malmö runs on a simple but demanding principle: the menu follows what arrives each day from the people who grow, catch, or craft it. Every menu comes printed with a list of ingredients and the producers behind them — rapeseed shoots and leek from Bokeslund Farm, fine beets and tomatoes from Bröderna Andersson, red odontites from Lindegrens. The sourcing is not a footnote; it is the point.

That commitment has earned Lyran a "Very fine level" distinction from the White Guide, which singles out the kitchen's ability to create vegetable dishes with both attitude and genuine umami depth.

Upstairs, downstairs, always relaxed

The room offers a choice: the ground-floor bar, where you can watch the cooks at work, or the more intimate basement space below. Neither is precious. The atmosphere throughout is one of relaxed cosiness — the kind of place where the food is serious but the evening is not stiff.

Seating runs in two sittings per evening (first at 17:00 or 17:30, second at 20:00 or 20:30), each lasting two and a half hours. Parties are capped at six, keeping the scale human.

Three menus, one kitchen

The New Nordic menu comes in three versions: a vegetarian option (with eggs, butter, and dairy), a pescatarian alternative that swaps one or two vegetable dishes for fish or shellfish, and a mixed menu for omnivores. Vegans are accommodated with 24 hours' notice. Each version runs to seven or eight servings — snacks, small to medium dishes, and a dessert — at 700 SEK per person.

Dishes that have drawn particular attention include a crispbread appetiser layered with fresh cheese, Ingrid Marie apples, nasturtiums, and harissa cream — bold flavours, real heat. An open lasagna of chanterelles and Slovenian truffle under a thin sheet of pasta and peppery olive oil delivers the kind of umami that lingers. A dessert of sea buckthorn sorbet, burnt white chocolate, and liquorice reads simply on paper but lands with extraordinary balance.

Wines to match

The wine list leans natural, chosen by chef Jörgen Lloyd to work alongside his flavour compositions rather than compete with them. A pairing of five wines is available (650 SEK, or 750 SEK with champagne), as is a non-alcoholic pairing of five homemade drinks (300 SEK). One pairing that drew particular praise: scallops in a frothy butter sauce with bergamot and capers alongside a xarel-lo from Els Vinyerons — fruity, slightly oxidised, with a bitterness that mirrors the bergamot precisely.

Lyran is a cashless restaurant.