Cupán Tae (Galway, Ireland)

Ireland's Best Afternoon Tea & Online Tea Retailer

I love my tea time and I found the perfect little Irish café and tea shop in Galway - Cupán Tea. Actually, I discovered the café because it was a stop on the Galway Food Tour I participated in. They showed us the café and let us try one of their specialty cakes. I liked the place so much that I wanted to try their tea as well. So, I went back there in the afternoon for some tea time :)

Cupán Tea has a very cute interior with a slightly whimsical decor, porcelain tea cups, floral teapots, tea cloths and lace. The perfect atmosphere for a traditional tea time. In the backroom they present their own house tea blends. They also have a nice little outdoor seating area. They claim to be Ireland's Best Afternoon Tea & Online Tea Retailer :)

It was an uncharacteristic warm afternoon in Galway and I was able to sit outside. They have a very good and large selection of different and interesting teas. I decided for some light and fruity tea flavors.With the teapot comes a cute little timer (colorful hourglasses). They also serve very decadent tea or coffee infused cakes and also offer a classic "Afternoon Tea" with some savory and sweet bites served on an étagere.

My favorite tea:

• Petals of Peony (white tea, light taste of peony blossoms and lychee) 
• Black Dragon (oolong tea, light floral and fruity flavor)
• The Champagne of Tea - Darjeeling Dahjea Green Organic Tea (green tea, light yellow and fruity fresh)

 

Some more of their bestseller tea:

• Storm in a Teacup (spicy herbal blend including blackberry leaves, apple bits, rosehip peels, elderberries, with the taste of anis)
• Dreamy Creamy Galway (blend of black tea, roasted coffee beans and jasmine flowers - tea with a subtle coffee flavor)
• Emerald Isle (black tea with the taste of whiskey, cocoa, and vanilla)
• Popcorn Caramel Candy (a blend of black and oolong tea with fruits, caramel, candied macademia nuts, sugar confetti and popcorn) 
• Roses are Red (black tea with almond slices, rosebuds and rose petals - taste of marzipan and roses)

 

Their tea- and coffee-infused cake:

• Courgette & Lime Cake (zucchini cake, infused with lemon-rooibos tea and layered with housemade lime curd and topped with a lemon-matcha-avocado cream)
• Coffee and Walnut Cake (double layered and drizzled with espresso and sprinkled with coffee powder)
• Tea-Infused Polenta Cake
• Lemon Drizzle and Carrot Cake 

Food Tour Galway (Ireland)

Irish Food

When I am travelling to a new city or country, I try to get to know their food. I did not know much about Irish food. I hoped it would be somehow similiar to the Scottish food that I tried and enjoyed last year. I knew that popular Irish dishes include hearty soups and stews which I both liked. The soups always came with their famous brown soda bread. Traditional stews are the Irish Stew (with lamb) and the Guiness Beef Stew with lots of vegetables. Of course, you should not forget about the hearty Full Irish Breakfast including baked beans, fried egg and a few meats such as bacon and black pudding (blood sausage).

However, besides those there are also a lot of local products including farmhouse cheeses, locally caught seafood, farm vegetables such as cabbage and kale and so on. In order to get a better picture, I participated in an Irish food tour. I have been on a food tour before, an American food tour in Seattle, WA - Seattle Bite Food Tour (see my post) - that took us to some nice places around Pike Place Market. I really enjoyed the experience.

Galway Food Tours

Of oyster shooters, shots of whiskey, oatmeal stout, pork belly and black pudding.... 

They challenged me and I accepted :)

What a fantastic experience and great inspiration to try new things!

For my Irish Food Tour, I chose Galway Food Tours and Gosia Letowska took us around Galway. She gave us a good overview of the local cuisine and local businesses, always including some history and details about the food and places. They work together with different places around Galway and they tailor the route to the group, so it always differs slightly. For our group she took us to about 7 different spots including local bakeries, markets, pubs and restaurants. We tried locally produced goods and spirits including fresh seafood and street food from the famous Saturday Market around St. Nicholas Church and even a Whiskey tasting.

And yes, while I neither like oysters nor whiskey, I did participate in everything on this food tour and tried both. I am really proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone during the food tour and trying something new! I actually enjoyed the salty meaty fresh oyster until someone told me I just ate a living thing.... The whiskey on the other side was actually quite smooth, way softer than the ones I tried in the US. However, it's still a bit too strong for my taste and I do not believe I will ever be a fan of whiskey :)

My favorite bites (and beverage) from this food tour where actually at the local pub Tigh Neachtain. We tried quite a few bites here including some salami cracker, deep fried goat cheese, vegetable and seafood sushi and drank an oatmeal stout. As I do not like dark beer (but I do love craft beer including IPAs and fruity beers), I was surprised how much I enjoyed the oatmeal stout. Also, the all wood pub was quite quaint, rusty and cozy with lots of nooks and niches to sit. There is also a fireplace and an outdoor seating area. They are proud of their presented art and the talented musicians and live music :) An Irish pub that I can really recommend.

Another place from our food tour that I really enjoyed was - of course - the Irish tea place Cupán Tae. I will devote the next post to it :)

Bites and drinks we enjoyed:

• Griffin's Bakery: Small bites of a doughnut and a carrot cake (the carrot cake is one of their bestseller)
• McCambridge's of Galway: A local cheese and meat board (including Kylemoore cheese, blue cheese, air drie Connemara lamb, salami from Meath) and a whiskey tasting (Slane Irish Whiskey ABV 40%, Micil Irish Poitin ABV 44%, Longueville House Irish Apple Brandy ABV 40%)
• Saturday Market: Indian pea and potato curry with yoghurt from a food cart and fresh oysters
• Tigh Neachtain: Oatmeal stout, deep fried goat cheese, cracker with basel humus and salami, turnip sushi and wild smoked makarel sushi
• Hazel Mountain Chocolate: Different kinds of chocolates with different percentage of cacoa and some fresh hot chocolate to drink
• Cupán Tea: Courgette and Lime muffin (zucchini muffin with avocado-lemon-matcha cream) from their Afternoon Tea menu (they also have slices of a full-seized cake available)
• Merrow at the Pálás Cinema (modern restaurant on the ground floor of the movie theater): A delicate looking fine dining plate with pork belly, potatoes, black pudding (blood sausage), apple sauce, fresh apple, greens and pomegranate seeds

 

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Pink Lady at Spreegold (Berlin, Germany)

And here another cute breakfast & brunch spot - Spreegold. I really enjoy the atmosphere of this place. It's not the usual "trashy" Berlin style, rather modern and clean. They do serve breakfast all day, but also lunch/dinner (mainly burgers, salads, and pasta). However, you can also just drink a cup of tea and enjoy the atmosphere.

While dinner is served, breakfast and lunch are self-service. You order at the open counter, drinks will be made immediately, but for food you get a little beeper. When it starts to blink and vibrate, then you can go and pick up your food at the food counter.

There are several locations, my favorite is the one in Prenzlauer Berg (Stargarder Street) because it has a very nice outdoor area. The one at the Alexander Platz (Rosa-Luxemburg-Street) is also nice because you can see the Berlin Television Tower (Fernsehturm) from the windows.

My Favorites - Pink Lady and Shakshuka

I really liked their porridge and pancakes, but I was blown away by their poached eggs on bread, especially the "Pink Lady". It is a little unusual (with pumpkin hummus spread and beetroot hollandaise) and it looks really cute! And then it comes with a sea-salt/pepper oil, that is drizzled around the plate. Just delicious! I guess it's a play on the commonly known Eggs Benedicts, just a vegetarian version and country bread instead of a muffin.

I also enjoyed there Shakshuka dishes... I have never tried a Shakshuka before. It is a dish of eggs, tomatoes and Middle Eastern and North African spices (cumin, paprika, nutmeg, cayenne pepper). It's likely of Tunisian or Yemini origin. They serve it hot in a small cast iron skillet, which is also really cute.

Brunch Highlights

Porridge 

Prepared with oat flakes, coconut milk, almond milk and vanilla, try with a side of their homemade granola 

• Wild-berry & Fruit (served with fresh berries, strawberry purée and mint)
• Porridge of the Gods (served with dark chocolate sauce, banana, berries and mint)

Poached Eggs on Bread 

The sea salt-oil is drizzeled around the plate so that you can dip the bread in it

• Pink Lady (pumpkin hummus on country bread, two poached eggs, topped with beetroot-hollandaise, wild herbs and a drizzle of sea salt-pepper-oil around it - looks very cute!)
• Avocado Stack Bread (avocado salso on Italian bread with two poached eggs, cherry tomatoes, herbs, and a sea salt-sesame-oil)

Shakshuka 

Spreegold serves a red (tomato sugo base) and a green (kale base) shakshuka, but so far I have only tried the red one. The shakshuka is prepared and served hot in a cast iron skilled and is topped with the poached eggs that will continue to simmer in the hot sugo/ kale.

• Red Shakshuka (hot oriental tomato sugo, topped off with cooked beetroot slices, chickpeas, quinoa, roasted tomatoes, salad leaves and herbs, and two poached eggs, served with a slice of country bread)

Pancakes 

Also good with a side of the homemade granola

• Berries & Fruit (pancakes served with maple syrup, butter, fresh berries, strawberry purée, mint)

Drinks 

They have a nice variety of standard coffee and tea drinks, smoothies, fruit juices, fresh lemonades (served in cute mason jar mugs), milk shakes, etc.

• Melting Milkshake (raspberry-vanilla)
• Sunshine Paleo Smoothie (berries, orange juice, bananas)
• Sweet Kiss Smoothie (raspberry, apple, ginger)
• Raspberry Lime Lemonade (lemonade with fresh raspberries, lime, sparkling water, mint)
• Orange Lemonade (lemonade with fresh oranges, filled up with sparkling water)

My Mom's "Grüner Salat mit Kartoffeln" (Green salad with potatoes)

A green salad? Whats's so special about it?

This is a no ordinary green side salad. Three ingredients make it stand out:

• thinly sliced boiled potatoes
• lots of garlic
• dark and nutty pumpkin seed oil

My Mom uses a mix of different greens and slices in small pieces of boiled potatoes, adds lots of minced garlic and a special kind of oil - pumpkin seed oil. It has a slighly nutty flavor. We used to call it "Dunkel-Öl" (dark oil) because it is almost black.

I love my Mom's green salad with garlic. I have always had a taste for vinegar in general (such as in pickles). As a child, I really was crazy about this garlic vinegraitte/ dressing, however, I only "ate" (or drunk) the vinegraitte with the small pieces of potatoes in it. I did not really care for the green stuff ;) My Mom sometimes gave me a separate bowl in which she added some of the vinegraitte and she also picked out small pieces of potatoes for me :)

The right kind of Mixed Greens

• Add some TEXTURES: tender (e.g., loose leaf lettuces), crispy (e.g., romaine, iceberg, chicory), curly (e.g., coral lettuce, frisée)
• Add some COLOR (e.g., red romaine, red leaf lettuce, red lollo rosso)
• Add some BITTERNESS (e.g., lollo rosso, radichio)

There are different kind of lettuces:

• Loose leaf lettuce are large, loosely packed leaves joined at the stem. They don't form a head. They have a mild delicate taste and can be smooth or ruffled. The ruffled ones, e.g. coral lettuce like green lollo bionda and red lollo rosso, are slightly more bitter.
• Romaine lettuce are long leaves that form a loaf-shaped head. They are more crisp in texture and have a strong but not bitter flavor.
• Chicory family (e.g., radicchio, escarole, frisée, endive) are crisp in texture with a sweet nutty flavor and a mild bitterness.
• Iceberg lettuce have a tight cabbage like head, are crisp but very mild in flavor. They are high on B vitamine folate.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 200g mixed greens (I used some ruffled red loose leaf lettuce and some crispy green romaine)
• 2 small potatoes, waxy (e.g., Yukon gold or baby potatoes)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vegeta salt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil
• 3 tablespoons water (cold)

optional: add some sweet corn

Preparation:

1. Boil the potatoe skin on in saltwater till soft. They need to almost slide off a fork. Drain the poataoes and let cool down. 
2. Cut the greens. Wash and dry them. Add to a bowl. Mince the garlic on top of the greens. Slice the potatoes in small thin pieces over the greens. Sprinkle the seasoning over everything. You can add some corn or thinly sliced tomatoe, but I do like to keep it simple and natural.
3. Pour first the vinegar evenly over the greens, then the different kinds of oils including the dark pumpkin seed oil, and last the water. As you do not prepare and mix the vinaigrette separately, it is important that you now thouroughly mix everything. Use some big salad spoons and slash them together from both sides with the greens several times. This will not only help to mix the dressing of vinegar and oil, but also break down a bit more the potatoes, thickening up the dressing just slightly.
4. Serve as a side salad. I like to eat it with my Mom's Spagetthie Bolognese that also contains lots of garlic :)

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