Saturday, 13 October 2018
At the first glance Budapest is full of organic health (food) shops, Bio Bolt in Hungarian, however, most
of them predominantly deal in pills and powders. So unless dietary supplements (including super foods, plant-based milk alternatives, flours, nuts and other ingredients to prep up your cereals) are what you're looking for or the shop (like the recently opened Bio Egészség Biobolt
behind the Synagogue) is on your track anyway, it's much easier to stick to one of the many
branches of the German DM chemist's chain for travel supplies like organic dry goods, fruit juices, vegan alternatives, eco detergents and natural bodycare. Check for organic labels as (especially for cosmetics and toiletry products) there's increased green-washing in conventional product lines which also are available here. The DM own brands "DM Bio" (food) and "Alverde" (body care) are both good value and safe if your budget is tight or you're in a hurry.
Food souvenirs
What you won't find there are typical food souvenirs from Hungary: paprika, salami and wine. To buy these you need to find a proper biobolt or farmers' market, and these aren't as easy to find as one might expect.
A reliable source is BioABC, a small, yet well assorted organic supermarket in Belváros,
located between Astoria and Kálvin tér. They have only a small selection of wines (above the fridges), the salami is tucked away in a separate fridge in the right-most corner next to the shop's window front, and you can choose from several types of Hungarian paprika powder. Apart from this they stock local fresh produce, dairy products, sweets and cookies, preserves as well as natural body care, both of local origin as well as imported goods, in short all daily necessities. Bring your own containers for buying loose-weight dry goods.
A second option is the
Mennyország Szíve Bio Bolt a few steps from the Keleti Palyaudvar train station. Here you can also have a coffee, breakfast or vegan lunch just after arrival or before departing. However, the place is closed on weekends as well as public holidays which is why I cannot give an account of the quality of neither the food nor the range of goods sold here.
For high-end Hungarian wines pay a visit to
Cultivini Wine Cellars and Tasting
in
Belváros (5th district). The place is very upmarket, with the opportunity for wine tasting, and specializes in Hungarian wines. If you ask for organic and natural wines the sommeliers will competently advise and answer questions, but you have to be bold on your interest in organic wines as they will point you to conventionally produced wines in the course of the discussion if you aren't firm.
Books, coffee and tea
The classical bookstore you know from French movies does still exist -- and has adapted to modern times by becoming a cafe and co-working space
in Erzsébetváros: The English language bookstore cum cafe
Massolit does not only sell hand-picked English literature, a few tourist books, a small selection of stationary and fairly-traded coffee drinks or organic tea, but also offers quiches and cakes for both, a breakfast or the casual snack in between. While the milk for the coffee is organic (though not certified), the origin of the ingredients of the bakery items isn't easy to tell, for a good reason: Both, the bagels, cakes and quiches are hand-made by friends of the shop owner from the neighbourhood who earn an additional income this way. While some of them will certainly use eggs or milk from a properly working local farmer, conventional supermarket supply is also part of the game. If you want to stay here for work buy a co-working card, take a seat in the pleasant backyard or at some of the wooden tables inside. Water and wifi is for free but note that the place is closed on Mondays.
More to try
When I asked locals about where to buy organic fruit I was directed to the Fény utcai piac marketplace near Széll Kálmán tér.
Unfortunately, none of the market stalls showed signs of the key words "bio" or "öko", or of any organic labels or certificates. Since I don't speak Hungarian (and the command of foreign languages among the farmers was limited, too), the topic was too difficult to handle -- let me know if you're able to find out more. On weekends there are two dedicated organic or at least partially organic farmers' markets, pay a visit -- I'm glad if you'd share your experience with me.
Closed
References on the web do often exist longer than shops and venues themselves. The following places I found abandoned when I stepped by.
2018-10-13 15:00:01
[Budapest, organic, wine, grocery, market, supermarkets, vegetarian, vegan, zero_waste, lunch, breakfast, coffee, tea, books]
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Friday, 21 September 2018
Astonishingly many of the artisanal ice-cream parlours in town present their products in the hygienically correct way for the storage of unadultered natural ice-cream, and the city seems to be a heaven for vegan ice-cream lovers. However, and this is the bad news, there seems to be no such thing as fully (bio-)organic ice-cream. But there are places using organic milk.
One of them is a major tourist spot next to Szent István (St. Stephen's) cathedral. With the impressive queue in front of
Gelarto Rosa on hot summer days there's often no need to watch out for the art nouveau-styled rose sign priding the entrance (see image) -- you simply can't miss the place. All dairy flavours here are made from organic milk, and there are fruity, vegan flavours, too, though without the promise on the use of organic fruit. Your dish of ice-cream is skillfully made into a rose which helps justifying the hefty price:
A small rose made of two flavours comes at 700 Ft., the medium one with three flavours at 800 Ft., and a large rose with four flavours and three rows of petals at 900 Ft.
If you don't insist on dairy ice-cream you may skip the queue and walk around the corner along Szent István tér. Only a fews steps away you'll find a second branch dubbed
Gelarto Rosa Bistro -- vegan hedonism. It is in fact a small bistro with outdoor seating serving vegan bowls, sandwiches and desserts predominantly made from organically produced (though not necessarily certified) ingredients from local farmers as well as Italian-style coffee. On summer days however you will rarely notice the food since the focus is on ice-cream roses. As in the older shop around the corner, first queue at the cash counter, specify the size of your ice-cream and pay upfront, then move on to the ice-cream desk and order the flavours. Here you'll find predominantly vegan sorbets, although you might spot one, at maximum two dairy flavours, too, and the queue is significantly shorter than the one around the corner. With food and coffee orders you will be served (after having paid at the cash desk) at your table.
For a much less touristy place head for the Buda side of the Danube river:
Kedves Krém ("lovable cream") in
Víziváros, a few corners from Széll Kálmán tér is a lovely neighbourhood ice-cream parlour cum cafe most frequented by locals.
The creamy, all-natural dairy ice-cream here comes at 270 Ft. the scoop. With clearly accentuated flavours and stored in deep, steel-covered containers used by only the most serious artisanal ice-cream makers this is definitely the best ice-cream I had in Budapest. Unfortunately I couldn't get a confirmation for whether all ingredients were organic, most likely most of them, first of all milk and cream are sourced from local farms working according to organic principles. If you speak Hungarian and are able to inquire in depth, let me know about it.
2018-09-21 20:00:00
[Budapest, organic, vegan, ice-cream, cafe, eatery, coffee, snacks, lunch]
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Saturday, 30 June 2018
Cities with major universities have had organic shops long before the arrival of the big organic supermarkets, and Göttingen doesn't make an exception:
Probably the eldest still existing organic cafe in town is
Café Inti,
serving tapas, sandwiches and small dishes with a Bolivian touch to it, or at least what a students' cafe is offering as such: good and filling due to proper organic ingredients, but far from any ambition for authenticity. The "Inti-Tasche" for example isn't a corn tortilla wrap but a plain white ciabatta-type roll filled with Italian-style antipasti. Needless to say that they offer Italian-style fairly traded coffee drinks and yummy cakes, and what's even better: They serve breakfast until 2pm. A welcoming place all day around if you like places with a liberal collegiate atmosphere whereof there are quite a number in the city.
Another one of them is
Dabis Kaffeestube, an alternative cultural hotspot and meeting place a few steps longer East. Among others, this cafe cum tea room serves
organic cakes from Das Backhaus.
If all you want is a coffee shot head for the city's only organic coffee roasters', the
Contigo. This fair-trade shop cum cafe also sells colourful gifts, fashion items, organic coffee and chocolates.
A fully organic dinner restaurant I wasn't able to spot during my shorter than one-day stay, but
lokal neun, directly located at the market place Am Wochenmarkt serves organic burgers and steaks, and is a pleasant place to enjoy a summer evening outside.
2018-06-30 13:00:03
[Goettingen, organic, fair, coffee, tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, cafe, restaurant, gifts]
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Monday, 08 January 2018
An inner-city district to be developed from scratch is the most exciting thing in the life of city planners, and Hamburg's Hafencity with its recently opened Elbphilharmonie concert hall is Europe's biggest inner-city development in modern times. When finished it will consist of ten often quite different neighbourhoods, with many sustainability aspects considered.
If you have the time take part in one of the guided tours (free of charge) or pay a visit to the Sustainability Pavillion Osaka 9. The latter houses a small fair-trade cafe bar dubbed Die kleine Elbfaire where you can have a coffee or soft drink and buy pre-packaged fairly traded sweets.
With its name drawing from the similarity of the words "fair" and "Fähre" ("ferry") the little coffee bar is a spin-off of
Elbfaire, a fair-trade lunch cafe and meeting place with a pleasant backyard run by the ecumenical association of 17 Hamburg-based churches. On weekdays you can come here for an organic vegetarian lunch between
12 am and 14:30 pm, or step by for a fairly traded organic coffee drink together with home-made organic cakes.
Another organic lunch option is the self-service day cafe of the nearby Alnatura supermarket.
Not organic
When looking for healthy organic food in the Hafencity you may be guided to
Greenlovers, a lunch restaurant serving soups, stews, bowls and salads using predominantly locally sourced ingredients. Unfortunately the promising name is misleading since the place does not have an organic agenda. However, I was assured that tofu and eggs always were organic, and if you dare to ask you may occasionally find one or another organic vegetable used in the dishes. There's a second branch near the townhall with longer opening hours, keeping open Monday through Saturday until 7 pm.
2018-01-08 12:30:00
[Hamburg, Hafencity, organic, fair, vegetarian, eatery, cafe, lunch, supermarkets, coffee]
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Sunday, 20 August 2017
As you might have noticed from the restaurant reviews Stockholm is full of small-scale local food chains -- the majority of them with two or three branches when counting in the day-open cafes covered by this post.
Day-open cafes
When entering Stockholm C train station through the main entrance and immediately descending to the basement you'll notice the bright green signature colour of the Coop supermarket store (which, by the way, should be able to provide you with sufficient organic food for your trip). With its entrance in your back you'll easily discover a branch of the city's first and so far only fair-trade coffee chain
Barista. Fine when you're on the go, but they also have a real cafe in Söder. Coffee and milk are organic as is the yogurt you may have for breakfast and the majority of all ingredients used in salads, sandwiches and scones. Their aim is to have a fully organic store cupboard in the very near future but do not promise anything for fresh produce. If you stay in Stockholm for a while you may consider a customer card which entitles you for a ten percent discount on your purchase and an Ethiopian school child for a free meal.
If you're looking for a place to work alongside a tasty coffee drink (made with organic milk if not plain) head
for the
Johan&Nyström coffee roaster's bar and co-working space in Kungsholmen. You can rent a working place
or meeting room by the
hour, day or month, and enjoy organic
juice or iced tea. Not all the coffees and teas you may want to buy for use at home are organic, and you have to ask about the ingredients of the (absolutely tasty)
toasted sandwiches and pastries. Note that the place accepts
cards only.
There are two more Johan&Nyström cafes in town, one near Mariatorget (shop, class room, coffee and tea bar) and a coffee house in Östermalm. The latter will offer co-working space and meeting rooms starting autumn 2017.
Note that the opening hours given below apply in summer. In the dark season many shops including these open later and close earlier.
If you walk or cycle along Folkungagatan in Söder you might pay attention to a shop window filled with bicycles.
Bicycle shops aren't an attraction on its own right in bicycle-friendly Stockholm, but you may want to have a closer look at this one, as Café Le Mond isn't just a bicycle (repair) shop, but a cyclist cafe offering partially organic breakfast, soups, salads and sandwiches. On Tuesdays and Fridays there's a breakfast buffet (cyclists are entitled a discount), and on weekends you can have brunch.
On weekdays between 11am and 2pm there's free coffee with your meal.
Since I could not make it inside, I'm happy to hear about your experience.
In and around museums
If you're on a tourist's track you may find relieve in that an organic coffee drink at Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen is easy to have -- not at the museum's cafe bar itself, but at the entrance to
Arkitektur - och designcentrum next door. Here you find Café Blom, a cosy self-service cafe with a serene outdoor terrace accessible without a ticket to the museum. Bread and pancakes, most lemonades and some of the ingredients of the tasty and nourishing salads or sandwiches are organic but stay away from shrimps, mayonnaise, chicken and meat products.
For an all organic coffee or lunch break head for Fotografiska cafe inside the museum of photographic art. Unlike the museum's restaurant it is however not accessible without a ticket to the exhibition.
Bakeries
Arriving early at Stockholm C and fancy a 100 percent organic breakfast? Take the short walk to
Café Genuin, a somewhat hidden organic bakery. For later on the day
lunch sandwiches, wraps and salads
are available, too, and of course a coffee or soft drink, roll or fancy pastry.
In the heart of Gamla Stan you'll find Naturbageriet Sattva, a holistic, predominantly vegan organic bakery, not using refined sugar. Step by for a soft drink, decent coffee (with organic cow's milk if you like) and a tasty cinnamon roll (kanelsnurra), but scan the organic labels on the pre-packaged beverages as not all of them are organic. In summer they also offer pre-packaged vegan organic ice-cream. Seating is limited, especially when the weather disallows for outdoor tables on the street.
Djurgärden
When the weather is nice the island of Djurgärden is humming with locals and tourists alike, and all places covered in this section keep open only when a steady stream of visitors can be predicted.
In winter all of them are closed, and opening hours outside the light summer season quite restricted. Places inside the theme parks require the purchase of a ticket.
On the water-facing promenade inside Gröna Lund entertainment park the Boardwalk Café offers organic and fairly traded coffee drinks and tea on the go. Note that the cinnamon roll adverted as a package with the coffee is neither of both. The opening hours match those of the entertainment park.
Inside Skansen outdoor museum you'll find a self-service Koloni outdoor cafe covered by the eateries and restaurants section. Note that the opening hours of this predominantly organic place are more restricted than those of the museum itself.
Open to all tour goers on Djurgården is decidedly sustainable
Rosendals Trädgårdskafé. Unfortunately I couldn't make it there during their opening hours, so no review here (yet). Note that the place accepts cards only.
Arlanda airport
Waiting for a flight is tedious, and having an overpriced coffee at an uninspiring airport coffee bar an efficient way to kill the time. Fortunately Arlanda allows you to do this with a better conscience, with tea brewed from an organic tea bag or an organic, fairly traded coffee drink served with organic milk in a real ceramic cup instead of a one-way plastic or cardboard one. To do so
on international terminal 5 watch out for the Lavazza sign presiding over an otherwise boring place dubbed Food market. They also offer 0.2l tetrapaks with organic orange or pear juice.
There are also two Johan & Nyström coffee bars at terminals 2 and 4.
2017-08-20 10:00:03
[Stockholm, organic, coffee, breakfast, lunch, snacks, fair, cafe, Arlanda, airports, trainstation]
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