Tranan’s restaurant clientele is described by regulars as the personification of classic Swedish social life, and the downstairs bar upholds its reputation as a quintessential Stockholm watering-hole. The cellar-like basement manages to elude any suggestion of dinginess, remaining warm and full of life on almost any day of the week.

It’s also down-to-earth, from the simple wood and brown leather interior to the cocktail menu written in chalk on a blackboard above the bar. Its lack of pretentiousness also applies to the group who drink here, who consist largely of those who have eaten upstairs and whose legs, after several large glasses of wine, won’t carry them to nearby Storstad or Mården.

So if you trip down the stairs to this less obviously hip but in fact equally cool spot you’re promised a lazy but fun-loving evening. Others will travel quite a distance for the delights of Tranan’s unaffected environment, among them many professionals who drop in for a pick-me-up after meetings in surrounding Vasastan.

Later in the evening the crowd becomes more lively, the music begins to pump and the alcohol flows. There will be few surprises in terms of redecoration or change of vibe: this has been here for years and its popularity will ensure it continues in the same vein for some time to come.