Tag: vegetarian dining

Cookies Cream, Berlin

My Cookies Cream review on VegFusion.

Cookies Cream is a classy, high-end vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Berlin and it has been one of those interesting experiences we’ve had while travelling around Europe. With it’s exposed brick walls with interesting art pieces on them, it truly is an amazing place in an unusual way. It’s so underground and the place doesn’t even look like a restaurant until you are upstairs and facing a huge wall art saying “ficken” in the middle and American Express logo at the bottom right corner. Well, I’m guessing you know what “ficken” means in German.

The tricky part with Cookies Cream is finding it. Having the address in this situation won’t cut it Peoples and there are no flowers to follow —or breadcrumbs for that matter — like they have on their website. We knew that it would be difficult to find, we decided to have a test run during the day —actually it was John’s idea —and the exercise was well worth it. It really is tricky to find. To get there, you have to walk down a couple of alleyways with big dumpsters and wooden planks behind Westin Grand Hotel which makes you feel like you’re in a movie and you might be attacked by a villain any minute. I think it’s a loading dock for the hotel. Anyway, you walk until you see that huge, glamorous chandelier which is totally out of place, hanging from a concrete slab in the ceiling. You are then very close because it is now easy to spot the doors. It’s the one on the left with bulbs above it (see photo at the end of this post). Now, you need to hit that nondescript buzzer and wait for someone to open the door and take you upstairs to the restaurant.

Let’s talk about food now… Cookies Cream offers an innovative and contemporary menu. It may not be a big menu nevertheless it is an interesting one. We love the tasting menu option with wine pairing so we went for the Classic Menu. For 48 € per person, you get two starters, one main and a dessert and 32 € extra per person for wine pairing option. You might find the prices a little steep, however, this is pretty normal for a place like this.

Now, let me show you what we had:

Starter number 1: Seaweed caviar and ricotta cheese, bergamot, dill and buckwheat

Seaweed caviar and ricotta cheese, bergamot, dill and buckwheat

This is seriously the best vegetarian caviar I have ever tried in my life. Even the texture was like real caviar as if a Russian mob smuggled it into the country. Bergamot drops were extra refreshing.
Wine: Samuel Billard Le Grands Terroirs Chablis from France.

Starter number 2: Quail egg in brioche, port wine shallot, potato foam, truffle jus

Quail egg in brioche with port wine shallot, potato foam and truffle jus was quite a complex dish. Here you have a tangy and sweet port wine shallot with a rich, soft and creamy brioche on top. The interesting part of this dish a lightly cooked quail egg was hidden inside the brioche. The dish was finished off with a fluffy potato foam on top and truffle jus drizzled around it. Surprisingly, the whole ensemble looked a lot richer than it actually was. I loved it!
Wine: Geiger & Sohne Grauer Burgunder 2014 Franken, Germany

Main Course: Parmesan dumplings with crème of artichokes, tomatoes, tandoori herbs

The dumplings were soft and fluffy, sitting on a bed of crème of artichokes. There was an extra tandoori tomato sauce which came in a carafe. The sauce itself was very much like tomato rasam and wasn’t too overpowering. The whole dish was topped up with an interesting bouquet of herbs: fennel, mint, basil.
Wine: Chateau de Luc Corbieres Corbieres U. V. from Languedoc-Roussillon, France

Dessert: White bubble chocolate and pistachio, homemade cassis ice cream and mascarpone

And, we finished off with white chocolate and pistachio with homemade cassis ice cream and mascarpone as a dessert. It wasn’t a heavy dessert and the presentation was great.
Dessert Wine: Charles Hours Jurançon Uroulat 2012 from Sud-Ouest, France (south-west France)

Overall, the food at Cookies Cream is well presented, flavours are well balanced and wines are well matched. The service at Cookies Cream was great, too. Our English-spoken waitress, Stef was quite attentive, efficient and incredibly helpful. She even let us try an extra glass of dessert wine with no extra charge.

When you’re in Berlin, try Cookies Cream. You now even know how to get there…

Cookies Cream
55 Behrenstrasse
10117 Berlin, Mitte
Germany
Phone: +49 30 27 49 29 40
Website: www.cookiescream.com

Trdelnik

Street food from Prague: Trdelnik. Trdelnik is a cake and sweet pastry. It is made from rolled dough that is wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnut mix.

Trdelnik is sold on every corner of Prague. Just look for the sign (below).

Here’s a little video of Trdelnik.

 

Lehka Hlava (Clear Head) Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea Room, Prague

Lehka Hlava means easy head or clear head and is the sister restaurant of Maitre. We were told about Clear Head during our first and second visit to Maitre so we had to check it out.

Clear Head is tucked in on a little side street which is said to be the shortest street in Prague. The whole area has a renovated medieval charm to it. But, that’s outside. Inside, the décor is quite unique; it’s so colourful from the ceilings to the lamps. In certain areas you feel as if you have just stepped into a different galaxy.

The vibe is also different to Maitre I must say. It is more hip and edgy; mostly frequented by young people –naturally. But boy they do wicked gyros here. It was so good, I didn’t care about what my husband had there; I was busy enjoying my seitan gyros 🙂

Seitan Gyros with tzatziki, pita bread, cherry tomatoes and lettuce (above)

I have never had seitan gyros that soft before. It was an absolute triumph in the taste department as well as the texture. We tried to get the recipe unsuccessfully.

If you ever find yourselves in Prague, check this place out.
Lehka Hlava (Clear Head) Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea Room
Address: Borsov 2/280, Prague 1 – Old Town
Website

Maitrea Vegetarian Restaurant, Prague

Maitrea Vegetarian Restaurant, Prague

When we arrived in Prague train station, we needed a taxi straight away but the taxi situation was scary. The signs led us to a wrong spot and the real taxi rank had a long queue already. We rang the guy who rented us an apartment in Old Town Square (Thomas) and asked what to do. He sent us a taxi immediately and we helped two ladies from California to call their hotel for their own transportation by allowing them to use our phone. It was all sorted in the end, however, we couldn’t help but thinking where the hell are were?

When we got to the apartment, Thomas was waiting for us. We took over the keys to the apartment and after a brief orientation to the place we asked the ultimate question of vegetarian places to eat in Prague. The answer was brief: Maitrea. He said: “You can’t go wrong with Maitrea. Besides, it’s just around the corner.” And he showed us the exact location on our city map.

I did a little research around Czech food at the time of planning for this trip and was hoping to find some interesting Jewish vegetarian dishes around town. When you think about the number of Jews living in Prague, there’s bound to be some restaurants but we didn’t need any of that in the end. Because, Maitrea was enough and it really was “just around the corner” as we spotted the place when we were out and about for the first time.

The place looks like a dark cave decorated with Zen principles -check out the water feature video which was right next to our table. It is even darker downstairs (check out the photos taken downstairs) but it feels cozy because of it.

The menu at Maitrea is quite international. However, on our first night, we decided to try some original Czech dishes which have been vegetarianised. Here’s what we had on our first visit to Maitrea:

Czech special: Spicy goulash with vegetarian “meat” pieces, served with wholemeal dumplings/or baked potatoes 175 CZK The seitan in this dish was exquisite; the size, texture and flavour were like no other seitan I have ever had in my life. Apparently, they make their own.

Another Czech special: Traditional “Svíčková“ – vegetarian “meat” slices seitan with a tangy vegetable cream sauce, served with wholemeal dumplings, lime, whipped cream, and cranberries 170 CZK

The second time we visited Maitrea, we tried Paella a la Barcelona (it was by far the best vegetarian paella we have ever had!) and Meatless “chicken“and mushroom balls.

Paella a la Barcelona with sun-dried tomatoes, champignons, and shiitake mushrooms, onion, stir-fry sauce, vegetarian “chicken” pieces and parmesan. 175 CZK

Meatless “chicken“and mushroom balls with oven-roasted vegetables, basil pesto and homemade tofunnaise 175 CZK

Maitrea Vegetarian Restaurant
Týnská ulička 1064/6,
110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic

Maitrea has a complete spiritual center right next door with a bookstore. If you are interested in books and workshops in spirituality, you might like to check it out too. Their working hours are different to the restaurant, though.