...hello, on the spur of the moment (and some nice tickets, yes right) we have decided to pay a visit to Malmö over Christmas, found a place to stay & all... but how are things for restaurants around that time of year, 24th in particular? I assume I have to book ahead, sure, but how can I find out if they're actually open... some advice, anybody?

As I spend Christmas with the family rather than in restaurants, I don't have any good suggestions. As a rule, half of Malmö's restaurants seem to be closed on an ordinary Sunday and this being the 24th it will be even more closed but I'm sure you'll find somewhere as long as you are prepared to eat Christmas buffet as that's what the kitchens are geared up to due to popular demand.

Malmö being Sweden's most international city, there will also be places open around the Möllevångstorget square I guess as there are plenty here who do not celebrate Christmas at all. I'll think about it for some time and try to get back to you with something more concrete. The restaurant booking database crashed on me when I put 24th in...

Thanks a lot; that's quite helpful already. (And no, we're not worried about getting "only" Christmas buffet.)

If you find "something more concrete" would still be great of course, but even just knowing that Möllevångstorget is the most likely place for such things in general gives me a handle and a starting point!

(I'll keep y'all posted about how things turn out; never know who else could do with information like that.)
:)

OK, an update...having thought long and hard about Möllevången places in more particulars, I decided to call a popular "local style" restaurant and lo and behold, it is open as follows:

Christmas Eve (the big day in Sweden): 11.00-16.00
Christmas Day 11.00-01.00 (party time :)))

It is called Nyhavn (after the Copenhagen canal area where boats from Malmö landed before the bridge was built) and is not hard to find in the square.

Then I decided to call one of my favourites (not on my Malmö page yet but I will add it) and is also open on Christmas Day after 17.00. It is called Två Krögare (but locally known as "Bullen" if you need to ask for directions, as it used to be the Red Bull - or similar - pub ages ago). They've got nice food and a typically Swedish expensive but still good variety of international beers and cheerful staff/cosiness. You find them in Storgatan 35 which is just around the corner from the pedestrian Södra Förstadsgatan in the more downtown city centre.

I can also guess that Sir Tobys in Davidshallsgatan 21 will be open but that's a guess and it's a sports pub where people go for football on TV so I don't know much about their food.