Another café to introduce you to: A wonderful little hotspot in the heart of Altona, serving Swedish cake and other delicious baking goods, as well as breakfast and dinner, and, most importantly, coffee!

Saltkråkan “found its home” on Große Bergstraße, only a stone’s throw away from Altona station. Its interior – Scandinavian blue meets puristic white and mostly wooden furniture – reminds one strongly of an Ikea store. Coincidentally, that is also one of the places you pass by while making your way to the café coming from the train station. Playing in the background is Swedish music, almost inaudible though, so only people (like me *cough*) who really want to explore a place can hear it…only to realize you don’t understand a single word. Fun fact for you: a recording of an audiobook of Astrid Lindgren’s famous story ‘Vi på Saltkråkan’ (Google for the English title)  is played in the restrooms.

I ordered a special blend of coffee (Helle Röstung) and a slice of vegan chocolate cake for my trial run. Surprisingly enough, the Swedish not only produce the safest cars but also pretty damn good coffee and cake. The coffee was strong enough to stir some heated debates from my part. Yet although the friends I went with only had mango juice and a limo, they too brought up some pretty deep topics. (I guess we belong to these wanna-be intellectuals you find at every café.)

The waiters were super friendly so that we ended up having a little banter with one of them, teasing the (poor) guy with our questions about the chocolate ball’s ingredients (trying to keep it PG here..). It was pretty hilarious to be fair.

So, if you’re ever around Altona and in some more or less desperate need for a cuppa, or you just wanna listen to the audio recording on the loo, “Saltkråkan” is the place for you!

*fika means coffee break in Sweden…one more reason to love the Swedes

-Maria

Maria was listening to her coffee machine brewing another cup of golden brown delight while writing this article.