Nestled in a residential area of the ultra-pleasant Norrebro neighborhood, Café Aegir from the outside looks like nothing more than blue awnings on a corner spot, parked bikes ringing the front door with really no suggestion of what might exist inside. Through the weathered wood door, the space opens up like a European living room, wooden tables lining the space before terminating in a small square of a bar. Café Aegir is no doubt set up as a neighborhood spot to congregate, relax and casually smoke a pack or three, and the footprint reflects that.
Blue carpet underfoot, wood paneling runs the length of the space, from the front room where the bar is located to the room just right of the front door that serves as overflow seating on busy nights. Tucked away in this ancillary area is a mural that cries out for an explanation that I sadly did not receive, one man asking a lord or king for something while the sword he carries casually lifts up a woman’s dress. Someone planned, sketched, approved and ultimately painted this design and there is no doubt a colorful story behind the thought process.
Underscoring Café Aegir’s dive bar credibility is the surprising affordable beer selection, no small feat in a city not known for its inexpensive cost of living. The bar itself is small, a ring at the end of the front room with a handful of liquor bottles and ample cooler space for a relatively wide variety of domestic beer. Local soccer flags hang from the ceiling and it is hard to imagine Café Aegir not smelling like smoke as every table on this reviewer’s visit partook in a handful of cigarettes, unlikely the first such time in the dive bar’s existence.