Coffeehouse check – Kiel’s best coffee

Do you also long for good coffee, delicious pastries and a beautiful atmosphere that invites you to relax? 

In time for the coming warm season and the opening of outdoor restaurants in Schleswig-Holstein, we take you on a journey through numerous cafés in Kiel. We “sacrificed” us to find the best coffee in Kiel. In addition, we have also tried through the menu and have some recommendations for you. 

Of course, our opinion is only subjective, so it’s best to go on a coffee hunt yourself. But the following presentation should help you to inspire to try out new cafés. 

Café Hilda

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This café is centrally located at the Dreiecksplatz and is easy to reach by bus, bike or car. Since it is located in a side street, you can enjoy the peace and quiet here. Fairy lights, green plants, wooden furniture and flowers on every table. With attention to detail, Café Hilda convinces with its natural charm and cozy, relaxed atmosphere. 

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Café Hilda roasts its own coffee in the Koption roastery. They place a lot of emphasis on quality. No coffee specialty is left out- from Flat White to Espresso Macchiato or the standard Café Latte, everything is possible. Latte art on every coffee served. The attention to detail is also noticeable in the coffee. The Café Latte is mild but also full-bodied in taste, while also possessing a low acidity and is therefore well tolerated.  Milk alternatives such as oat or soy milk are standard for Café Hilda.

For non-coffee drinkers, the chai latte is highly recommended, as it represents the spice of South Asia and contains the perfect blend of spice and sweetness. There are also homemade refreshing lemonades in the summer. 

Need to taste: Rhubarb Cheese Crumble.

All the cakes at Hilda are homemade and they taste like your grandmother made them (even if some of them are vegan – all the better). The Rhubarb Cheese Crumble has the perfect mix of sour and sweet and is perfect for spring. You can also enjoy hot dishes at Mamajun, the restaurant part of Café Hilda. From organic curry sausage to fresh salads, there’s something for every foodie. 

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The prices at the café are relatively high. For a café latte you pay 3,20€. However, since they roast their own coffee, all the cakes are homemade with high-quality ingredients and the ambience is perfect, you are happy to pay this price. The quality at Café Hilda is therefore very good.

Bakaliet Café

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Bakeliet Café in Stiftstrasse is probably the perfect place for all pastry and frahling lovers. With its large window displaying beautifully decorated cakes, pastries and other goodies, you actually can’t drive by without immediately wanting to follow the aroma. The café also offers homemade bread through a baker part, but no hot dishes. The outdoor dining area is a little bit small and close to the street due to the café’s central location. Nevertheless, we had a nice time in the sun, but would recommend Bakeliet Café more for to-go due to the few seats. 

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The home-roasted coffee at Bakeliet Café tastes nice and intense and full-bodied, yet has a wonderful mild flavor. The good quality of the coffee is perfectly rounded off by the beautiful appearance of the latte art and visually puts the crown on it. A lot of love and personality has been put into this, which is reflected in the taste. Plant-based milk alternatives are standard in the café. 

Need to Taste: Definitely the banana bread (with peanut butter!!!). Incredibly delicious and soft, you enjoy every bite. The peanut butter, small chocolate chips in the dough and banana chips as topping make the banana bread the best we ever tasted. Very clear recommendation from our side.

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The Café Latte has a relatively higher price due to the high quality and complex roasting, but this is absolutely justified. The price is gladly paid for the excellent taste. 

Seebar Düsternbrook

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Surrounded by the deep blue water of the Kiel Fjord, the Seebar in Düsternbrook has a beautiful ambience. A restaurant including a large outdoor area ensures plenty of outdoor seating, which allows you to enjoy the Kiel sun in fine weather and promises relaxing hours. If you want to experience the maritime flair of Kiel and feel a touch of the “North German Caribbean”, you will find it here on a nice day. Vacation feeling and delicious food are guaranteed here.

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Due to the fact that the Seebar does not use a portafilter machine, the coffee is difficult to compare with the coffees of previous coffee shops. Thus, the Seebar cannot be recommended as a classic coffee shop, but rather as a restaurant, as accordingly the latte macchiato was nothing special in terms of taste. Unfortunately, there were also no milk alternatives given. 

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Need to Taste: Vegan tarte flambée! Very tasty, nice and crispy and topped with fresh colorful vegetables. Just the thing for a nice summer day. We were also definitely won over by the homemade chocolate cherry cake. 

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From delicious lemonades to burgers and homemade cakes – we can recommend everything. As a restaurant or bar, the Seebar is perfect due to the large menu and variety. Coffee specialists or people looking for a high-quality coffee will probably find what they are looking for in the previous cafés. 

Campus Suite Corner

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Campus Suite Campus Corner is located at Hummelwiese 2. It is the only coffee on the corner and is only a 5 minute walk from the main train station. Campus Suite is a café chain from Kiel and is therefore a system gastronomy. Nevertheless, they put a lot of emphasis on their products and especially their coffee, because their motto is: respect is our recipe.The outdoor area of Campus Suite Campus Corner is unfortunately a bit unlovely designed, there are no seat cushions, plants or candles and no other decoration. In addition, the terrace is located directly on Sophienblatt, a busy street. But the sun shines (if it can be seen in Kiel) almost the whole day on the terrace. We would recommend this café especially for coffee or snacks To Go.  

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Meanwhile, Campus Suite also has its coffee roasted in-house. From a standard café latte or cappuccino to a cinnamon vanilla or pumpkin spiced latte and caramel macchiato, there is definitely something for every “sweet tooth.” You can also get milk alternatives such as soy or oat milk at the Campus Suite.

For non-coffee drinkers, there is a wide range of shakes, smoothies, juices or teas. 

Need to taste: The tomato mozzarella bagel is our all-time-favorite, whether as breakfast or snack for the afternoon, the bagels of the Campus Suite are always a good choice . In addition, the surfcup-noodles are also recommended. The noodles with spicy tomato cream sauce can be combined in many ways and also enjoyed To Go. 

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However, you can’t compare the quality of the offerings with the other cafes. The Campus Suite is quite high-priced. However, it remains a system gastronomy and this is also noticeable in the lack of individuality and quality of the stores and the products. Nevertheless, one or the other coffee speciality and a small snack to go can be consumed here with pleasure.

What are your favourite coffeehouses in Kiel? Feel free to share with us with #coffeehousecheckfhews!

Authors: Lena Groth-Jansen http://fhews.de/author/lgrothjansen/ and Pauline Hempel