Fika @ The Royal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden

During the hot days, you will see people socializing and taking coffee breaks under the sun. But during the cold days, most people will look for a warm and cozy interior for their coffee breaks. 

Since the weather was good, we decided to take a short fika outside The Royal Palace.

Inside the peaceful Palace's square, you will encounter a cafe truck selling a wide variety of delicious sandwiches and homemade pastries. 

The colorful food selections was accompanied by a relaxing outdoor seating and a beautiful view of The Royal Palace.

You can't say that you have visited Sweden without trying the humble cinnamon bun. The cinnamon bun was big, rich and studded with sweet icing - a perfect match for a cup of black coffee.

The Swedish apple pie was slightly different from the usual English style we know. The apples were held together by a softer dough instead of a crusty base. It was indeed a lovely pie with a different twist. 

When I arrived in Stockholm, my dad taught me a new word called "Fika", which means to drink coffee/tea/squash, accompanied by something sweet such as cinnamon rolls. This is similar to our Malaysian way of "Yam Cha",  except that our version of Fika is usually cheaper and involves something savory. 

Thuy Ta Garden @ Hanoi, Vietnam (Old Quater)

Our trip would not be complete without cupping the famous Vietnamese coffee, also knowns as Ca Phe. Coffee plants were first introduced by the French missionaries back in 1857. Today, Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil.

Thuy Ta Garden is situated right next to the Hoan Kiem Lake. This restaurant offered an extensive menu, ranging from pho to pasta and pancake to ice cream. 

Thuy Ta Garden is a very popular place for the locals and tourists to hang out and chit chat. 

Special filtered black coffee (60,000 VND ~ RM8.80) -  For many years people have been letting water run through coffee grounds to extract the flavors instead of leaving the coffee to steep in the water. Watching the water sipping through the filter can be a very therapeutic experience. This cup of special black coffee had a strong hint of chocolate, thanks to the vegetable oil used during the roasting process.

Ca Phe Den Phin (45,000 VND ~ RM6.6) - Perhaps one of the reason why coffee is so popular around the world is due to its sheer versatility. The ice coffee was less strong compared to the hot coffee. It also had a clearer texture, making it extremely refreshing. 

Verdict: SOMEWHAT SMITTEN

Thuy Ta Garden
Address: 1 Le Thai To Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Phone: 04 3828 8148
Operating Hours: 6am-11pm

Huize van Wely @ Bangsar Shopping Complex

Surroundings - Located on the 2nd floor of Bangsar Shopping Complex, HvW is situated near the Apple Store. The setting is rather classy with dark furnitures filling up the open space. With limited obstruction, this is an ideal spot to vegetate and do some people watching.

Menu - The menu largely comprises of sandwiches, salads, soups, cakes, pastries, cookies and chocolates. Prices are rather steep ranging from RM8.50 to RM90. According to the waitstaff, the pastries are flown in fresh from Holland. It is made with quality ingredients, using tradition techniques dating back to 1922. The end result : balanced, high quality and of course expensive products.

The du Hammam (RM15/pot) - Japanese Green Tea with scent of rose, green dates and red fruits. This was recommended by the waitstaff and frankly it was quite tasteless. I could only taste the green tea, where did the rose, green dates and red fruits go?

Egg Sandwich (RM18) - For RM18, I was expecting something more, not just egg + bread.

High Tea Set For Two (RM90) offers a choice of coffee or tea served with a selection item from its patisserie, an assortment of savories and mini quiches. To finish off are two macaroons. The only thing memorable about this Tea Set are the macaroons. It was fresh with a thin crust giving way to the silky filling. Not to mention, the texture was extremely smooth and pleasant.

There was some hits and misses. Perhaps it was my mistake to come here for brunch. To embrace Huize van Wely's sweet side, you may want to drop by during tea time.

Verdict: SOMEWHAT SMITTEN

Typica @ Shaw Parade

Places are like time machine. They transport us back to our yesteryears and bring back old memories. It is true that you can't turn back time, however, you can always return to the scene of love, scene of crime, or perhaps scene of regrets. On the food:

Surroundings - This charming little coffee specialist is located in Shaw Parade at Jalan Imbi. It is tucked right at the end of the shopping complex, facing the main road (entrance of the car park). The nostalgia decor is pleasant and peaceful - a perfect place to film a love scene where Daniel Wu meet his leading lady.

Menu - Typica offers a wide range of seasonal hand pick and roasted coffee from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Kenya and Columbia. The coffee are brew via two 2 methods - A hot coffee will be brew using the syphon method, while a cup of ice coffee will be prepared via the ice dripping method.

A cute little lamp shining over the rocking rotan horse, Chinese calendar and some wooden chairs and tables.

You are never be alone at Typica, "Owlwi" will always be there to accompany you.

Gunny Sack used to transport coffee beans from Loas.

The yellow packets consist of grind coffee, while the black bottles consist of roasted coffee beans.

Close up look of the hand picked coffee beans.

Green Bean - The quality of the picking and processing of the coffee actually plays a very important role in determining the cup character.

Our freshly grind coffee ~~

Siphonist in action...

Waiting patiently for our coffee

Left : Sumatra Sidikalang (RM18), Right: Indonesia Typica : RM38

Overall: The Sumatra Sidikalang has a classic, rustic earthy flavor, while the Typica coffee is very fruity, more acidic and has a lighter body compared to the Sumatra Sidikalang. We both enjoyed our cup of coffee, nonetheless we also agreed that the pricing is a bit steep as compared to other coffee places around the Klang Valley area, which usually cost RM8 - RM10 / cup.

Verdict - SOMEWHAT SMITTEN

Real and Wholesome (R.A.W) @ Wisma Equity

Some say, happy people are those that don't ask for much. While others say, happy people are those that have achieved many things in life. Somehow, things are often associated with happiness. There is nothing wrong wanting more in life, there is nothing wrong wanting to be successful and there is definitely nothing wrong wanting to be happy. Wanting doesn't equates to evil. Things, success and happiness are endpoints that we often give too much credits to. What is more important (and often forgotten) is the journey itself. Most of the time, we want to experience unhappiness in order to truly appreciate happiness. We want to experience failure, in order to truly appreciate success and of course we want to experience nothing to truly appreciate something. On the food:

Atmosphere - R.A.W is located @ Wisma Equity (opposite KLCC). If you are looking to go meatless, this is the place to go to for some Real and Wholesome food. The settings of R.A.W is very simple, nothing fancy, just a long counter with a couple of standing stools and some tables behind it. What caught my eyes was the red giant coffee roasting machine - at first I thought it was some ancient cotton candy machine, thank god I did not embarrass myself by ordering a cone of cotton candy.

Menu - The menu is simple with only a few types of sandwiches and bars. If you looking for something very hearty - cereals, bran flakes and muesli would be your best bet. The food prices range from RM7 - RM15. In terms of coffee choice, you will get to order some fancy aeropress or syphon method filter coffees at RM15 each.

The dip platter (RM15) is a trio of pumpkin hummus, chickpea hummus, basil pesto with toasted ciabatta pieces, celery, carrots and cucumber sticks.

This is a toasted rye bread with mushroom and pesto sauce. The bread was fresh and the mushroom pesto sauce was very well balanced. The overall taste was pleasant.

I ordered a Pumpkin Hummus Ciabatta and it was better than the mushroom pesto toastie. The sweet pumpkin was smooth and silky. I can't believe a simple pumpkin hummus combined with some vegetables would yield such tasty sandwich. Kudos to the chef.

Overall - Despite the limited food choices. I was impressed by the amount of flavors it managed to pack in a simple meal. Best of all, it doesn't contain any meat. As for drinks, coffee lovers will thrive there.

Verdict - TOTALLY SMITTEN