Bex's Food and Drink Awards: 2019 Edition

In this, the first and most delicious of my ninth annual end-of-year round-up posts, I highlight some of my favourite coffee shops, restaurants and dishes of the year, both in London and on my travels. This year, I visited nine countries (Estonia, the US, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain and France). From £4 chicken rice in Singapore to tempting tasting menus in Tallinn, as well as sublime speciality coffee, it's been quite a year. As usual, I've only included places I visited for the first time in 2019.

1. Best coffee shop
London
Le Café Alain Ducasse
I've worked in King's Cross for almost a decade, and it's been fascinating to watch the neighbourhood change. Where I used to have to walk at least 20 minutes on my lunch break to find good coffee, my most recent King's Cross speciality coffee guide demonstrates that the area is now a hub for craft coffee. The much-lauded opening of Alain Ducasse's Le Café in the sleek Coal Drops Yard development was no exception. With its excellent coffee, warm and attentive staff who offer an immersive customer experience, and beautifully designed shop, I consider myself lucky to have this café practically on my office doorstop and I've returned many times. Yes, I did try the £15 Yemen filter coffee and yes, I did think it was well worth it.

Runners-up: Kiss the Hippo, Fitzrovia, and Omotesando Koffee

Europe
Bonanza Coffee, Prenzlauer Berg (Berlin)
In a rare attempt at spontaneity, I booked a last-minute long weekend trip to Berlin in May, and got to spend some time in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood. Having enjoyed my visit to Bonanza Coffee's Kreuzberg roastery last year, I had high expectations for their smaller Prenzlauer Berg coffee bar and it did not disappoint. My piccolo was one of the best I had all year, the staff were knowledgeable and friendly despite the busy Sunday brunch crowd, and the honey-processed coffee beans I brought home with me made for some very unusual, but delicious, home-brews.

Runners-up: Stow Coffee Roasters (Ljubljana) and Torch Coffee Roasters (Seville)

Rest-of-world
Macallum Connoisseurs Coffee Company (George Town, Penang)
New York usually features in this category, but I only visited my favourite city once this year and for various reasons, didn't visit as many new-to-me coffee shops as I had hoped. Instead, my trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Chicago provided strong competition for this year's award. It was a close call between the winner and runners-up, but in the end, Macallum Connoisseurs just edged it, mainly on the basis that it was so unlike other coffee shops I've been to before. First, it's located in a huge open-plan space inside a former timber factory, a 20-minute walk from the centre of George Town. The fit-out is stunning, encompassing a central coffee bar, various seating areas, several pop-up boutiques and the roastery. Both the pourover coffee and the espresso were very well brewed and even mid-afternoon on a smoggy Friday, there was barely a free table in the huge space.

Runners-up: Passion House Coffee Roasters (Chicago) and Strangers' Reunion (Singapore)

2. Best restaurant
London
Levan
When modern European restaurant Levan opened on the site of Peckham Refreshment Rooms to many plaudits earlier this year, I was keen to visit, but it took me until November as part of my birthday celebrations. It was well worth the wait, with every dish — from the monkfish crudo with nduja and pumpkin, to the carrot, clementine and spices, and the canelé with milk ice cream and bacon caramel — tasting delicious and looking beautiful. Between us, we ate many of the small plates on the menu, but that doesn't mean I'm not eyeing up a return visit.

Runners-up: Trullo and Flor

Rest-of-world
ConTenedor (Seville)
My mum and I stumbled upon this cosy and colourful restaurant in Seville's laid-back Macarena neighbourhood on the last day of our visit, and were impressed by the simple but perfectly executed cuisine and warm service. After a plate of jamón ibérico to start, and pork loin and turbot for our mains, we managed to find room for a superb cheesecake with roasted apple and pistachio ice cream.

Runners-up: Tek Sen (George Town, Penang) and Au Cheval (Chicago)

3. Best brunch spot
London
Crispin
I went to Crispin, Lundenwic's larger, more easterly sibling, for the coffee but stayed for the top-notch brunch. Scrambled eggs on toasted sourdough with avocado might not sound like the most creative brunch, but it was all in the execution, with perfectly cooked eggs served beneath pillowy clouds of parmesan. Chilli and chorizo added an extra kick to the dish. The coffee, from Assembly and Round Hill, is great too.

Runners-up: I Will Kill Again and Gunpowder

Rest-of-world
Sunday in Brooklyn (NYC)
I'd been meaning to visit Williamsburg's Sunday in Brooklyn for some time but never managed to book a table early enough. Instead, I decided to show up at opening time one Saturday morning when I was in New York in October. The rustic neighbourhood restaurant was already almost full, but they managed to squeeze me in at the counter. The cheddar scramble with bacon and home fries was excellent, as was the people-watching. My only regret was that I wasn't quite ready for a cocktail from the creative drinks list that early in the morning and stuck to a juice instead.

Runners-up: Bearded Bella (Singapore) and Merchant's Lane (KL)

4. Best street food
Tian Tian Haianese Chicken Rice (Singapore)
I ate street food most meals on my two-week trip to Malaysia and Singapore, including some really great dishes, from chicken satay and char kuey teow in Penang, to gold cakes at the ICC Pudu in KL. I also ate a lot of Haianese chicken rice, and was disappointed that the Michelin-starred Hawker Chan wasn't open during my visit. Instead, I went to the Michelin Guide-listed Tian Tian Haianese Chicken Rice in Maxwell Food Centre, where the chicken was incredibly juicy and the rice perfectly cooked.

Runners-up: Seville Tapas Tour and Time Out Market NYC

5. Best tasting menu
Restoran Ö (Tallinn)
I developed a taste for tasting menus this year, especially when on my travels. Although I very much enjoyed the dessert tasting menu at both Berlin's Coda (a runner-up) and New York's Marble Dessert Bar, my favourite tasting experience of the year was at Restoran Ö in Tallinn. When I had dinner there, it was actually my second tasting menu of the day after the brunch spot I'd identified turned out not to have an à la carte. The food, the service and the theatre were all spot on at Restoran Ö, however, and the €59 five-course menu (plus nibbles and candy) surprised and delighted. I particularly enjoyed the fir branch diffuser that accompanied the dessert, filling the air with a fresh fir scent.

Runners-up: Coda (Berlin) and Monstera (Ljubljana)

6. Best cocktail
Operation Dagger (Singapore)
In the last quarter of 2019, I've managed to visit seven of the bars on the World's 50 Best Bars list, including Attaboy (and two others) in New York, and Operation Dagger (and one other) in Singapore. Both of these bars involved elements of surprise: at Attaboy, I was invited to tell the bartender my cocktail likes and dislikes and she whipped up a mystery drink. At Operation Dagger, meanwhile, most of the ingredients are listed on the menu, but the spirit is held back to avoid selection bias. Indeed, the garlic and brown butter drink I guessed would contain whiskey instead had light and dark rum at its heart, while there was also a very creative twist on a piña colada that was made with tequila instead of rum. The drinks were delicious, the staff friendly and the underground, speakeasy bar beautifully decorated.

Runners-up: Attaboy (NYC) and PS150 (KL)

A Weekend in Tallinn: Bex's Guide

Estonia is the 12th EU country I've visited since 24 June 2016, in addition to trips to Norway and Iceland. I've been to most of these countries before, but my Euro-philic sensibilities have also encouraged me to venture into EU pastures new — and to hope that these visits don't turn into a EU-logy. I'd been meaning to visit Tallinn for some time and was able to book BA flights, including an outbound leg in business class, for a good price during the Christmas sale.

Located just 50 miles south of Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland, Tallinn is a compact capital city whose pretty Old Town is one of the best preserved Mediaeval cities in Europe. I spent a weekend there, flying in late on Friday afternoon and heading home (via a short hop to Helsinki) on Sunday evening, which was a good amount of time for a first visit. I'd feared my late March visit might translate into terrible weather, so I tried to plan for some indoor activities too, but I was lucky and it was cold but mostly sunny, with a short period of rain on Saturday. Inevitably, Tallinn is extremely busy in July and August, but much calmer in the earliest days of spring.

THINGS TO DO
Exploring the Old Town. With its often steep, labyrinthine streets and fairytale-ready pastel-hued architecture, Tallinn's Old Town is a great place for sightseeing. I arrived in time for golden hour and immediately dashed out of my hotel, chasing the gorgeous light. The domes of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral looked particularly fetching as they caught the evening light.

There are two viewing platforms where you can take photos of the classic red-rooftops-of-Tallinn view: Patkuli lookout, which faces north towards the Baltic, and Kohtuotsa lookout, which looks out over the Old Town to the east.

As usual, I brought a Lonely Planet guidebook, which included a two-hour walking route through the Old Town, journeying through various city gates, and past the Toompea Castle, the former KGB quarters and the city's diverse guilds.

Tallinn City Museum. Keen for more history and culture — and to avoid the rain — I ducked inside the main branch of the Tallinn City Museum on Vene Street. I spent a diverting hour in the small museum, which combines history of the city — both back to its formal establishment in the 13th century, and more recent 20th century history. Upstairs, a collection of Langebraun porcelain was on display, which did not help to dispel my ceramic cravings.

Kadriorg Park. On Sunday morning, the sun came out again and I decided to walk out to the Kadriorg district, 1.5 miles east of the Old Town. Even during the earliest days of spring — and with the weather still wintry — the large park was on fine form, and many families were out and about, enjoying the sunshine. The colourful, baroque Kadriorg Palace was built for Catherine I of Russia by Peter the Great, but is now home to Kadriorg Art Museum.

FOOD & DRINK
Unsurprisingly, I spent a lot of my time in Tallinn enjoying the local food and drink. I've already written about my speciality coffee experiences in Tallinn, but you'll have to read on to find out how I ended up having two multi-course tasting menu meals in one day. For breakfast or a casual brunch, I would recommend RØST for pastries and T35 for larger dishes; both of these cafes also serve very good coffee.

I was out of meals, but the Balti Jaama Turg (Baltic Station Market) is a great place for (indoor) street food bites. Baojaam — serving Taiwanese bao — is highly recommended.

I visited Trühvel and Sfäär for their umlauts, for their coffee and their food. At Trühvel, a contemporary Mediterranean restaurant in the Telliskivi district, my cocktail and roast chicken were both delicious, but I was most excited about the garlic bread: a small rye loaf that contained about 50% roasted garlic cloves, 20% bacon and 10% cheese. I was cleaning my teeth every few hours for the rest of the weekend but it was so worth it.

I had heard good things about the Saturday brunch menu at Sfäär, and when I turned up to the stylish, minimalist restaurant in the Rotermann Quarter, I pointed to the menu item I wanted to order. It turned out, however, that brunch was a six-course affair for €22. Although I had already booked another tasting menu for the evening, I somehow couldn't say no. The six courses included Estonian foods and dishes with a contemporary, creative twist. My favourites were the salted trout and trout roe on crispy bread, and the bulgogi beef.

Restoran Ö is an ode to the ö, a letter which is used frequently on Saaremaa, the island from whence the restaurant's owners hail. The menu consists of either the taste journey (five courses plus nibbles and candy) for €59 or the taste exploration (nine courses plus nibbles and candy) for €76. Given my earlier indulgence, I opted for the latter, choosing a Crafter's Gin Collins to accompany my meal rather than the drinks pairings. Each dish was exquisitely prepared and beautifully presented, and the wait staff provided just the right level of detail about each dish, along with a very warm welcome.

Although I enjoyed the perch pike and quail, the celebration of celery ended up being one of my favourite dishes with roasted and grated celery accompanying celery foam — oh, with a little caramelised butter to keep things interesting. The dessert was also an Estonian classic: a malted caramel beer ice cream, served with curds enrobed in a berry glaze, hazelnut, and tomato beer gel. While I ate this dish, a branch of fir was brought to the table and turned into a sort of diffuser, filling the air with fir-scented mist. And just in case I hadn't had enough garlic, one of the 'candies' was a chocolate and black garlic caramel; yum!


SHOPPING
I didn't do much shopping in Tallinn but I wanted to highlight a few of the shops I liked. Estonian Design House, inside the Solaris shopping centre, and Tallinn Design House, in the Rotermann Quarter, both have a great range of lifestyle goods and homewares, jewellery and accessories. Oma Asi, in the Old Town, also sells homewares and gifts with a focus on locally designed and produced products. I bought a turquoise leather pouch and a wolf pin badge for my mum — there was a lot of wolf iconography in Tallinn, and Wolves are my family's football team. Over in Katariina Käik (St Catherine's Passage), you can find craft workshops selling a variety of traditional goods.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Accommodation: I stayed at the Hotel Telegraaf in the heart of the Old Town. The grand building on Vene Street was once the central post office and in a nod to its history, there are vintage telephones around the building. I had one of the smaller rooms (€124 per night), which was quiet and comfortable. The hotel also has a small but beautiful spa, and I spent a little time relaxing — and warming up — in the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna before dinner each evening.

Arriving and getting around: Thanks to a fast (20 minutes) and cheap (€1) tram, the journey from the airport to the Old Town is extremely convenient. I stepped off the plane at 4:50 pm and was at my hotel 35 minutes later. You can pay your tram fare with cash or use your contactless card (you'll need to use the reader near the front of the tram; some of the readers only accept local travel cards). Other than my trips to and from the airport, I didn't use any form of transport, but there are various trams and buses in case you don't fancy the stroll out to areas like Kadriorg.

Money: Estonia uses the Euro and everywhere I went accepted credit card payments. In fact, I only used cash for tips on a couple of occasions when I didn't have the option to add a tip to the card payment. Most of the venues I visited accepted contactless payments too. This is perhaps unsurprising given Tallinn's reputation as a tech hub.

Six Specialty Coffee Shops To Visit in Tallinn

For a compact city, Tallinn has an impressive variety of specialty coffee spots. During my weekend break in the Estonian capital, I visited six of them and there were several more that made my shortlist but which are closed at the weekends. A few other trends emerged during my trip. Several of the coffee shops and roasteries were located inside restaurants, for example — either as a separate concession or with their caffeinated wares integrated into the menu. These venues didn't open until at least mid-morning, but would stay open until the small hours. Many of the cafés served locally roasted beans, although a few other European roasters — like Friedhats and La Cabra — also featured. Finally, I was also pleased to find classic Faema E61 espresso machines in three of the cafes.

As usual, I've mapped the places I visited, with my very favourites marked in purple.




The Brick Coffee Roastery
Arriving in Tallinn on Friday evening, I thought I'd missed the specialty coffee boat for the day but it turned out that The Brick Coffee Roastery is based inside Trühvel, a restaurant in Telliskivi, a former industrial area literally on the wrong side of the tracks turned 'creative city.' After a cocktail and dinner in the colourful modern restaurant, I turned to the coffee menu and opted for one of the three single-origin coffees on offer, a Guatemalan El Socorro variety. Brewed through the V60 and served in a wine glass, it was a lovely way to end my meal. On my way out, I peeked inside the roastery and admired the wall of brick-shaped Brick Coffee retail packages.

The Brick Coffee Roastery is located at Telliskivi 60-1. Facebook. Instagram.


Gourmet Coffee
As the city centre location of Gourmet Coffee is closed at weekends, I sought out the original,  which is located 1.5 miles east of the Old Town in a residential area close to Kadriorg Park. The cafe was bustling mid-morning on a sunny Sunday. Luckily, there is lots of space, with comfortable seating set out over several rooms. They roast their coffee under the name Coffee People and diverse retail packages of beans were on display in the small antechamber near the entrance, along with various bits of coffee-making kit.

There were also nearly a dozen coffee varieties of coffee available to try as a hand-brewed filter coffee. I ordered a Colombian Aguas Claras Casanare, whose berry and black tea notes came through very nicely when brewed through the V60. I'd hoped to order some brunch, but a miscommunication meant I thought that the pastries on the counter were the only available food options. Nonetheless, I very much enjoyed my almond croissant. I just wished I had room in my bag for another bag of coffee beans.

Gourmet Coffee is located at L. Koidula 13a, Kadriorg. Website. Twitter. Instagram.


Kohvik August
Located just around the corner from my hotel in the Old Town, I passed Kohvik August on my way in from the airport. I thought it looked nice and following a recommendation from Paul, I decided to stop by on Saturday morning. Although it doesn't open until 11 am at weekends, it's also a bar and stays open until 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays. I arrived in much serener circumstances and settled into one of the comfy window seats, where I could admire the colourful, quirky décor.

The coffee is from local roaster Kokomo, and I selected a Kenyan single-origin variety, served as a pourover, which had sweet cherry and chocolate notes. There's also a great all-day breakfast menu — and cocktails for when the sun is over the yardarm.

Kohvik August is located at Väike-Karja 5, Old Town. Website. Instagram.


Kokomo Coffee Roasters
Kokomo is another example of a micro-roastery located inside a restaurant, this time Sfäär in the Rotermann Quarter. Quite by accident, I ended up having a six-course brunch at Sfäär before popping over to Kokomo's coffee bar for my caffeine fix. There were three or four single-origin coffees available as a V60 or Chemex. The friendly barista encouraged me to read the flavour profiles and smell the beans before choosing my favourite. This meant I also got to admire the beans' retail packaging, featuring a 'stamp' design representing the country of origin. On the wall, a poster version of the Guatemala stamp depicted a llama, but alas, there wasn't any of this variety in stock.

Instead, I ordered the Ethiopian Hafurasa Waro. It was one of those coffees that smelled delicious even though I was sitting several feet away while it was being brewed. The 'blueberry cheesecake' flavour notes really were accurate; I was very impressed. I also bought some beans to take home with me and although I was tempted to get the Ethiopian coffee I'd enjoyed, I decided to try something different and opted for the Costa Rican Las Lajas, with its sloth design. It's been tasting great in my Aeropress at home.

Kokomo Coffee Roasters is located at Mere puiestee 6, Rotermann Quarter. Website. Twitter. Instagram.


RØST Bakery
Another spot for coffee in the former industrial area known as the Rotermann Quarter is RØST, a small bakery that also serves coffee from The Brick and La Cabra. I ordered a macchiato with a Brazilian espresso from The Brick and as a freshly baked batch of cinnamon buns had just emerged from the oven, it would have been foolish not to indulge. Both the coffee and my sweet treat tasted good and it was nice to seek refuge from the biting wind inside the small, cosy cafe.

RØST Bakery is located at Rotermanni 14, Rotermann Quarter. Website. Instagram.


T35 Bakery & Speciality Coffee
Just over a mile northwest of the Old Town in the residential Kalamaja neighbourhood, T35 takes its name from its street address: Tööstuse 35. And despite its garden-level location, the small cafe is light and airy. With jazz on the radio, there was a very relaxed atmosphere when I arrived in time for Sunday brunch, and the barista was exceptionally friendly and welcoming. It took me a while to choose from the extensive brunch menu. In the end, I went for the Jerusalem — shakshuka, with orange juice and a cappuccino. Spying beans from two Dutch roasters — Lot Sixty One and Friedhats — I asked if I could swap the cap for a pourover, which was fine.

The pourover was brewed with a Kenyan coffee from Friedhats that had juicy, berry notes, which came through particularly well as the coffee cooled. The shakshuka was great too, and I was very glad I had made the short journey from the Old Town.

T35 is located at Tööstuse 35, Kalamaja. Website. Instagram.