Visited for Brunch on May 22nd, 2022
We were staying in downtown Zurich for a few days, near the river in a old hotel right ‘in the mix’ of things. The hotel was nice, but their breakfast selection left much to be desired. Due to jet-lag, my friend and I were up a bit early and decided to take a morning walk, explore, and grab some breakfast nearby. We used Google Maps, which lead us to two closed businesses (thanks Google) and one dismal looking café. So, we continued our trek and happened to stumble across Café Elena.
Now, in full honesty I had not heard of Café Elena before, but as I found out while we were dining, it is a well-known Instagram (aka instafamous) restaurant! Well, let’s see if it lived up to its reputation.
Ambiance in Café Elena is just like you’d expect from a place with a reputation for being beautiful on Instagram. There are fun flowered walls, pink plush chairs, and backdrops galore. Since we arrived around 9/9:30ish, we were one of the first few folks in the restaurant, but when we left (approximately 11:30), it had a long line out the door. So, go early and you’ll be just fine.
The menu is fully online, so feel free to look ahead of time. We decided on two very different entrees and then shared. We did one sweet and one savory. Heads-up that even though we went on the earlier end, the food did take quite a while to come out, I think it was closer to 40 minutes. So, just know this is the type of place you come, sit, & chat for a bit.
First is the one-pan breakfast. This was basically an entire vegetarian kitchen sink dish all in one! If you are the type of person who likes their food not to touch, this is your worst enemy :p. The dish consisted of hash browns, beans, eggs, cheese, tomatoes, arugula, topped with guacamole – it was what else is there to want! It came with a hot tea and a few slices of bread, a white, wheat, and sourdough.
In terms of flavors, it was a solid dish. The beans were done nicely, a nice compliment when eaten with the eggs. The hashbrowns were a golden fry, not crispy, but more soft-cooked. If you’ve been reading this blog a while, you know I like crispy things, so I wanted different texture, but it wasn’t bad by any means. The bread was a nice add to be able to soak up the wetness (and combining flavors) as I made my way through.
Next is Elenas Chèvre Chaud Feigen meets Avocado Brötli – essentially their take on avocado toast. There are two large sourdough slices with two different toppings.
One has brie cheese and the other has avocado. They are both topped with pomegranates and a light berry sauce. The dish is accompanied by a blueberry oatmeal cup – similar to an overnight oats.
The over-riding factor in both sides of the toast was the vibrant pink goat cream cheese. It has a very distinct taste. Almost like a strawberry, cherry, & raspberry flavor in one (definitely ‘pink’!). It’s not a bad flavor, just one that if you haven’t had before to try, but just know it’s one of those flavors you won’t want to have it all the time (or maybe you’ll get hooked on it! – who knows!). Rather tangy.
On the brie-toast, we appreciated the attention to beauty and toppings. The brie, with the tinge of sweetness from the pink cream cheese, found itself in nice balance of bread and flavor. The outside of the toast was extremely crisp (it was a bit over-toasted & they hid the darker side on the bottom of the toast -_^ [clever]). There was a nice honey drizzle across the top of the brie. There were a few perfectly ripe figs on-top, which were delightful and helped to set the sweet tone of the dish. So, while ordering, I had thought that the brie toast would be a savory dish, it was surprisingly more of a sweet one! Definitely a nicer sweet though – not overwhelming, just nice, sweet, and creamy (with lots of ‘pink flavor’)
The other side of the dish was the same pink cream cheese base with pomegranates alongside a well-arranged swirl of avocados with a tiny slice of orange in the center. Their menu describes it as ‘pink cream cheese with gratinated goat cheese, honey, pecans, figs, orange fillets and wild berry sauce’.
This was the more ‘savory’ side, as it didn’t have the honey drizzled across the top or the figs on-top. The avocados were perfectly ripe and the balance between this and the other side were great. Since the avocado half was a little less sweet, I surprisingly preferred this to the brie side, even though it was harder to eat due to the vertical avocados.
The oatmeal cup that comes in the middle is something you can pass on if you’re not an oats person. They were pretty, but essentially basic overnight oats with a hint of blueberry. Meaning, they provided us a slight break from the overall ‘pink’ of the cream cheese, but were mostly an empty carb added to the dish. We had a few bites and left the rest.
Overall, Café Elena is a solid 4-star insta-influenced breakfast. Vibes in this place are cute, from the rose wall to the pink napkins – your eyes are in for some fun. The plating of the entrees is also cute. Flavors are good, but not the key focus. That said, if you are eating pink goat cheese on sourdough, it’s an experience amongst itself. They have a variety of options and it’s very vegetarian friendly. The staff are also nice, just be prepared for those around you shooting Instagram pics :p. Overall, yes I would recommend for a cute place with good vibes and a decent breakfast.
~Jeremy
