Brunch in Copenhagen

My family loves dining out. We spend most weekends eating, eating a lot! This weekend we went to Huks Fluks in Copenhagen, a bistro with a french soul. Great dishes and helpfull staff. Me and my mom had the brunch plate. It was small but the food was great. International guests are dining there aswell.

On sunday we had brunch at one of our favorite brunch places, Marriott in Copenhagen. Enjoy an authentic Danish brunch with American flair. The brunch has all your heart desires; seafood, meat, fruit, cakes, champagne... It is probably the biggest brunch in Copenhagen! At their private signature venue you can celebrate with smaller parties. It is possible to sit outside in the summertime- great view to the waterfront and Islands Brygge. International guests and Danish aswell as International a-lists are dining here. Brunch on saturdays and sundays from 12. 250 kr. per person. It is worth all the money, just call them before and make sure you get a window seat.

Pictures: 1-2: Huks Fluks. 3-4: Terrano restaurant at Marriott. 5: The private room for smaller parties at Marriott. The pics are kindly borrowed from Marriott's website, except the one that is obviously my own.

Café Norden, Copenhagen

The first two floors belong to the café

One of my favorite cafés in Copenhagen is Café Norden. It has a great location in the heart of the city close to many tourist attractions and with a view to Amagertorv, Storkespringvandet, Højbro Plads and the famous shopping street Strøget. It's a beautiful old building and the area itself is the oldest part of Copenhagen (12th century). Enjoy a nice brunch or one of the fantastic cakes (try the carrot cake with vanilla cream) on one of the two floors. I prefer one of the window seats with soft cushions on the second floor. The café also has tables outside, which is great when the sun is shining and you can look at all the people passing by- or be seen ;-) Café Norden is not cheap. I guess you pay for the trendy location, but you do get some big plates and I always enjoy eating there.

King George, 20 Hamelech George Street

The beautiful bar with its color changing wall/ceiling.

Young, trendy, up-tempo, CHEAP... A few words to describe HaMelech Georg (King Georg) a resto bar in the center of Tel Aviv. You can eat a lot of food for no money, so be sure to go there on an empty stomach. They have a lot of pasta dishes, burger, chicken wings, schnitzel, steak, carpaccio... My favorite starter is portobello mushrooms with goat cheese, nuts and olive oil (20 nis). I normally have Pasta Fungi or Pasta Curry for the main dish (25-35 nis). It only happened once that I had space enough in my stomach for dessert. King Georg is open doing day and night time. There is happy hour between 4 and 7. Take advantage of it and get a free beer, glass of wine or cocktail and cheaper prices on food. There is always a line outside, but most of the time it goes a lot faster if you wanna sit in the bar. The music is getting louder and louder as it's getting darker outside, if you come late you'll have to yell in order to have a conversation. They often have a dj on the balcony in the evening.

The dj.

Pic from telaviv4fun

Spring/summer break!

The owner of the fresh fruit stand on Ben Gurion decided to open a frozen yoghurt shop last year. And what a success! Tamara is beautifully and trendy designed. The cool blue and white colors drag you in during the hot summer in Tel Aviv. I particularly like the swings used as chairs and a girl with a polka dot dress painted on the wall. The concept is simple yet a great idea; you choose your own toppings of fresh fruit, muesli, chocolate etc. on the frozen yoghurt in a cup. The service is always friendly, even when there is crowded. I never had to stand in a line with more than three people during daytime. Expect a long line in the warm evenings.

Opening hours: sun-thu: 08:30-01:00 am. Fri: 08:30 till sabbath. Sat: after sabbath till 01:00 am.
Address: 96 Ben yehuda Tel Aviv
Phone: 03-5234449

Chocolate culture

Pic from http://www.thenibble.com/

Wow! I'm totally amazed by this place and I'm not the only one. People magazine saluted it in one of its issues. Max Brenner is an Israeli chocolate chain with stores located in Australia, Israel, the United States, the Philippines and Singapore. The stores have a layout similar to regular cafes. The interior design is cozy and decorated with cool art and chocolate from floor to ceiling. Pipes along the ceiling are painted dark brown to convey the idea that they carry chocolate. They specialize in chocolate drinks and desserts- all over the top and well done. Commonly found sweets include fondues, waffles and cookies. My fav. is the Montana milkshake. It's a chocolate milkshake with vanilla ice and melted chocolate on top of it. They serve "real food" but what's the fun of going there if you only eat a chicken salad? You can get anything from hot coco to chocolate pizza- I think I found heaven on earth. There is no real Max Brenner. He’s a concept. Max Brenner was founded in 1996 in Ra'anana, Israel by Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner. The company distributes products to prestigious hotels and gourmet stores around the world including British Airways and Harrods in London.

Too see more log on to http://www.maxbrenner.com/

Chocolate Trivia

• The Aztecs considered chocolate an aphrodisiac and subsequently all chocolate based foods were strictly forbidden to women.
• Ironically, according to several studies, chocolate is the number one food craved by women.
• Chocolate contains the same mood lifting chemical, phenylethylamie, produced by the brain when you fall in love.
• Chocolate is an excellent source of vitamin E and a good source of phosphorous, calcium and iron.
• There is no proof that chocolate causes or aggravates acne. Nor that it causes tooth decay. In fact, there are indications that the cocoa butter in the chocolate coats the teeth and may help plaque from forming.
• Research at the University of California has found that chocolate carries high levels of chemicals known as phenolics, or antioxidants like those found in red wine, and may help lower the risk of heart disease.
• White chocolate is not true chocolate because it contains no cocoa solids. Instead, it's usually a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin and vanilla, hence it's sweetness.
• Chocolate should be stored, tightly wrapped, in a cool, dry place. If stored at warm temperatures, chocolate will develop a pale grey "bloom" caused when the cocoa butter rises to the surface. Under ideal conditions, dark chocolate can be stored for 10 years. However, because of the milk solids in both milk chocolate and white chocolate, the shouldn't be stored for longer than 9 months. Taken from www.ninemsn.com.au