Tag Archives: brunch

Brunch at Hotel Baltic

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Last year Hotel Baltic in Høruphav was reopened under Silje Brenna and Jonas Mikkelsen. The pair already run other restaurants, including the Michelin-star owning Hotel Frederiksminde in Præstø so we’ve been looking forward to trying it out. We finally managed a visit for Sunday brunch on Mother’s Day.

New item by Michael Carøe Fenech-Andersen / Google Photos

Sunday brunch at Hotel Baltic is served family-style in the bistro overlooking the harbour. We were first to arrive (a bit before opening time of 10:00) and were warmly welcomed in and shown to our table. On sitting down we were offered juice, tea and coffee (all included in the price).

Once the drinks were in place, the food started arriving. The food arrives at the table on shared platters. We first got a muesli and yoghurt bowl each. This was then followed by cold dishes such as cold cuts, cheeses, salmon and prawns, then hot dishes of liver pate and bacon as well as scrambled eggs and sausages. The final offering was pancakes.Throughout all this there was delicious homemade bread and butter, both of which were replenished as needed. I particularly loved the  prawns with lemon mayonnaise and, surprisingly (as I was very sceptical on seeing it) the scrambled eggs.

Reading those items you might think it doesn’t sound like it’s different to any other brunch in town. However, on tasting the food it is clear that the quality of the items is significantly better. This is also reflected in the fact that the source of the ingredients is told to you as the food is brought to the table. They are clearly proud of their suppliers, and they should be.

The brunch costs 245 DKK (or 125 DKK for children under 12), including tea, coffee and juice, which was a very fair price for the amount of food and the quality. The brunch is served on Sundays from 10:00-12:00 and you should plan to spend two hours there. If planning to go we would recommend you book or at least phone ahead as, although not full when we visited, the place is not that big. The staff was very friendly and attentive.

The bistro is kid-friendly but since the experience is cozy it can be a challenge combining the “slow-food” with energetic kids. We were lucky to have one kid sleeping and the other one happy for a run just outside in the grass for a while and a trip down to look at boats. If we didn’t have two small kids on our hands we would definitely try out the evening menu in the restaurant based on what we experienced for brunch. Maybe for our next kid-free evening!

Castillo & Co: Revisited

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Around one year ago we visited Castillo & Co and said we would probably not visit again. However, around a month ago Muzeyde, the owner, commented on the blog admitting that there were some teething problems in the beginning and that we should give it a second try. We agreed.

IMG_20160531_173654Have things improved? We would say: Absolutely! In the past month we first tried the evening buffet and I really liked the salads selection. On the day we visited everything looked fresh, colourful, and tasty.

The fact that my least favourite dish (a curry pasta) was one of Michael’s favourites and his least favourite (a meaty pasta dish) was my favourite also shows that the food has improved.

Besides the salads there is also other warm food, such as ribs (my guilty pleasure) and other warm meat dishes. The dishes, although maybe not all labelled, are mostly labelled at least with what meat is in them.

Castillo & Co, Borgen Sønderborg

Then earlier this week we also tried out the a’ la carte menu. Michael tried the tenderloin, I tried the beef sandwich and my mother, who was visiting, tried the chicken burger. The plates were all empty by the end of the meal, and the food was enjoyed by all (including our young son tasting all our food). The prices are also very competitive when compared to the cafes in town and we like the value for money you get here.

Castillo & Co buffet restaurant Sønderborg

Finally, we sent my mother ‘incognito’ to try the brunch buffet. She liked the food and had very good service. In fact, the service has been great on all visits. We thought it could be because they knew who we were, but they also served an older non-Danish speaking woman with a smile and very friendly service. My mum particularly liked the ice-tea.

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So our experience of Castillo & Co has changed significantly from our visit one year ago to today. To the question of if we would visit again, we would say: Very likely. The convenience and the buffets, especially, are excellent for meals out with children where you want to be sure they would like something on offer rather than you order one dish that they refuse. There are plenty of high chairs as well if you need one, although do be warned that they have no harnesses, so if you have an escape artist do take this into consideration.

Disclaimer: Castillo & Co offered us gift cards for food for three meals to try out the different selections on offer.

Brunch at Brøggeriet

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Last year we started a ‘survey’ of weekend brunch places in the area. Having Michael’s mum visiting on Sunday we decided to expand on this list by trying out Brøggeriet’s brunch. We arrived at Broggeriet close to opening time at 10am so it was absolutely no issue to find a table. It being a very warm day the tables outside were also available so we opted for one of those.

As part of the brunch, coffee or tea are included. The coffee comes black, with continuous top-ups. I was the only one having tea on our table. You get a sachet of earl grey tea and a glass of hot water. I wasn’t offered a selection of tea, so not sure whether other teas were available. However, milk was provided when asked. There were no extra top ups for tea (though may be available if asked).

The brunch was, of course, set up inside the restaurant itself so while the tea and coffee were being prepared we went for our first look. The brunch area is set up in two: a warm area with sausages, eggs, a quiche, grilled tomatoes and pancakes and a cold area with cheese and cured meats, fish, fruit and yoghurt. Oh…and cake! The variety here was bigger than what we saw at Cafe Figo.

None of us had anything negative to say about the food, except that the yoghurt was quite warm (but tasted good), having been on the table for a while. The day being very warm, this is to be expected. I was not impressed with the quiche, but then I rarely am in Denmark, but Michael liked it.

Going to the highlights I would say that the selection of fruit was good, I liked the pancakes (though there were different kinds… the small thick ones at the start and the thin big ones at the end) and the 2 cakes on offer (a cheesecake and an almond/marzipan cake) were absolutely gorgeous! The cheeses on offer were also quite varied and tasted good.

Verdict: At 109 DKK including coffee/tea, the price is cheaper than Cafe Figo and the same as the buffet at Ib Rehne Cairo (although that one also offers free juice). The selection was good and the quality very decent. Would try it again, but not before trying the Ib Rehne Cairo full buffet to see what that is about.

Brunch at Cafe Figo

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A few weeks ago Michael and I started our quest for testing out brunch options in town. The next opportunity came up when one of my friends suggested we do something together over the weekend. Managing the previous plans of all the girls meant that we opted for a Sunday brunch. Selecting the place was a bit harder, but we opted for the latest Sunday brunch buffet in town at Cafe Figo, since none of us had been there before.

Unlike most of the other places, Cafe Figo wasn’t super busy. This meant that even if we hadn’t booked a table, they would have easily found space for our table of 7. This could be as this buffet is quite new and is not advertised at all on their website, so people probably are not as aware of it as they are of the others. There is, in fact, very little information out there about what this brunch consists of, so will try to give a bit of details here.

The selection here is not super huge. On the day we were there (which I expect to be common) there was: Salmon and prawns, Cheeses, Eggs and bacon and liver pate, yoghurt, muesli and jam, some fruit, cinnamon rolls and pancakes (with maple syrup and honey) and bread. The buffet area is quite small, but items were regularly replenished when finished.

My favourites item from the buffet was the salmon. In fact, I opted for a second helping of this, rather than to taste the cheese. For those who know me (and my cheese cravings), this is probably quite strange. The prawns that were served next to the salmon were also really good. The bread was surprisingly (and, maybe, unexpectedly, for some reason?) fresh. The sweet stuff was OK, and was the yoghurt and jam.

Verdict: Not a very wide selection of food, but some of the items (salmon and prawns) were very good. Other items were OK, but nothing to write home about. One of the main downsides of this buffet is probably its price. At 115DKK per person, this is more expensive than the others close by and, unlike the others, doesn’t include any drinks. This could possibly explain why the cafe was quite empty.