When I got there, I was surprised to not only find the coffee bar, but also a medieval city gate and a whole bunch of other cafes. After all, I was in search of the coolest restaurants and best cafes in Cologne.Īs Laden Ein was located a bit away from the other things on my “Cologne places to eat” list, I did a quick search for coffee bars on Google Maps (LOVE that function) and found out that there was one located just a tram stop away: Jlöcklich Barista Cafe. When I'd finished my strüdel at Laden Ein, I was in the mood for a coffee. No complaints!īy the way, because I'm not used to having to pay cash everywhere (more on that later), I didn't have enough money to pay for my drink and my meal, but the waitress was super cool about it and immediately agreed when I told her I'd leave my ID with her while going to the bank. Oh, and what I had? A huge plate of homemade falafel with a big green salad.

Salon Schmitz must be one of the best Cologne restaurants – or at least one of the most popular ones, as it's not that fancy or high standard – as I passed their frequently the next days and its terrace was always full. It was a bit weird and impractical (especially given that this is in Germany), but it worked. Then one of the food shop people brings your food and hands you the bill, while you pay your drinks at the cafe. How it works is that you need to order food in the food place, then take a seat outside or at the cafe and order your drinks at the cafe. Yup, three! It has its own ice bar, a food shop, and a cafe. It's on Aachener Strasse – filled with cool looking restaurants and bars, by the way – and consists out of three parts.

I'd read about Salon Schmitz when researching cool food spots in Cologne and well, this place is hard to miss.

Coffee break cologne