Instagram vs. Reality — Hygge Kaffee Lisbon Trendy Brunch Review

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Hygge Kaffee Lisbon

It was the final day of our weekend in Lisbon and instead of paying for breakfast at our hotel in Saldanha, we decided to walk to a nearby spot that is highly recommended for brunch in Lisbon – Hygge Kaffe.

Lisbon Hotel Deals Tonight

Hygge Kaffe Vibe

Immediately loved the vibe of this place from the green and white awning…

…. To the artsy, floral table ….

Cute painted tables at Hygge Kaffe in Lisbon, Portugal

… to the thoughtfully designed napkins …

The napkins read:

At Hygge, we thrive on the scent of cinnamon, we gather around waffles and/or cakes with mugs of hot coffee, sharing stories, the simple pleasures, a hot cocoa, board games, books and laughter. A haven of joy, the spirit of coziness weaving through, making it a warm and inviting home for all.”

Love.

Even the napkins are heartwarming at Hygge Kaffe in Lisboa

… to the charming tiled buildings within your gaze….

Portuguese tiled buildings add to the charm of outdoor dining at Hygge Kaffe

Hygge cafe had cute down to a science. Would you like to take a peek inside?

Lisbon’s Hygge Kaffe Menu At The Entrance

Portugal Travel Tip:

Many restaurants will post the menu outside (usually there’s someone sitting right by it so it’s a bit awkward) but many menus will also have a QR code on them. If you open your phone’s camera you can scan the QR code to open the menu on your phone. It is also common to see the menu QR code on the restaurant’s tables or the back of the chairs. It’s kind of funny, but handy!

Inside the trendy Lisboa brunch spot — Hygge Kaffe Review

Inside Hygge Cafe is also very cute! But is the food as cute? Let’s see what’s on the menu..

Lisbon Hygge Kaffe Menu with Prices

Paper menu for the cafe at Hygge House. Tap the photo for the full menu!

See Full Hygge Kaffe Lisboa Menu Here

We ended up ordering 1 cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting topped with pistachios, a savory waffle with bacon, an espresso, a bottle of agua com gás (sparkling water) and a menu de almoço (weekday lunch deal which included a smorrebrod (an open face sandwich/toast), a bowl of soup, a fresh squeezed juice, and a coffee for just 12€!)

Our entire order was under 26€

Feeling very happy to have all of this coming our way, we sat back and enjoyed the outdoor cafe seating and watched life go by on a Lisbon street.

Sparkling water arrived in a branded glass bottle. You see this in many restaurants in Portugal as well as hotels. One cafe (espresso) arrived as well. Remember, we ordered two.. =)

What We Ordered

The Coffee

Wondering about prices at Hygge Kaffe? The sparkling water was 1.60€ while espresso was 1€

Não faz mal, no problem, I didn’t mind waiting a bit longer for a coffee. I had already had some of the instant at the hotel and while it in no way compares to a fresh espresso like this, it did at least provide me with a bit of caffeine on this morning.

An espresso, simply ordered as “cafe” in Portuguese, at Hygge cafe.

The price of an espresso at Hygge Kaffe Lisbon was one euro.

The espresso was nice and 1€ is a reasonable price for an espresso in a trendy cafe in Lisbon! They even have their own branded sugar packets. 🙂

The Waffles

The waffle Salgado (salty/savory waffle) was 8€ and featured turkey bacon flakes in between and on top of two waffles, a sunny side up egg, and some micro greens for garnish. Oh, and “maple” syrup. lol.

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The Avocado Toast

I opted for the Florentine Smørrebrød which consisted of avocado cream, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, and smoked paprika over a slice of Gleba bread. It was nestled beside a colorful salad (which was a pleasant surprise as I wasn’t expecting it!) with a few radish slices and pomegranate seeds. Stunning visuals!

Let’s see how the egg looks inside:

Inside the poached eggs of the Florentine Smørrebrød at Lisboa’s trendy brunch spot Hygge

The Cinnamon Roll

It had been quite some time since we had an iced cinnamon roll and they seemed to be a specialty here at Hygge Kaffe so we couldn’t resist ordering one. I wanted to give it a try before getting too full from the smørrebrød.

Once again, the aesthetics are on point. Doesn’t this cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting and crushed pistachios look amazing?! You know what would go great with it? A cafezinho (a little coffee). But mine still hasn’t arrived.

And wait a minute, neither has my soup or my fresh squeezed juice. There was quite a bit of confusion, and our server seemed puzzled. We don’t know who dropped the ball, but in the end all of our food showed up and that’s what matters!

The Food We Almost Did Not Receive

The soup of the day was a nice creamy vegetable soup and the fresh squeezed juice was abacaxi (pineapple) and it was delicious. By the way, another word for pineapple in portuguese is ananás.

Hygge Kaffe Lisbon Reviews

For us, our personal experience at Hygge Kaffe was a bit of an “instagram vs reality” type of deal. The aesthetic of this Lisbon cafe is on point and the food is so visually appealing, few could deny that.

The reality is that it was a bit of a miss for us.

With the exception of the soup, the hot foods were not hot by the time they reached us, unfortunately. Cold eggs and hollandaise sauce, anyone? I didn’t think so…

The waffles were a bit on the dry side and I always think it’s a gamble to order something with “maple” syrup, iykyk.

Similarly, the cinnamon roll was on the dense and dry side. Now this could be the style of a Scandinavian cinnamon roll for all I know. It’s just not our preference.

The coffee, soup, little salad, and fresh squeezed pineapple juices were all great though!

In the end our dining experience was a bit stressful as it took so long to get all of our food, most of it was not received at it’s prime, and all of this took our morning from a leisurely brunch and hotel check out to catch a 12:30 bus to arriving at the bus station with literally moments to spare as we were the last to board the bus and had been bracing ourselves that the uber would not make it to the bus station in time.

I would like to chalk this experience up as a fluke since the place has so many amazing reviews, but we can only share what our direct experiences are.

If you decide to try Hygge Kaffe out, you will love the atmosphere and get great foodie pics, if that’s your thing. Let us know how the actual food tastes on your visit!