Tuesday to Sunday: 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sandcafé
Max-Brauer-Allee 84
22765 Hamburg-Altona
.How to get there
The smell of fresh coffee, pulsating electro beats, shimmering gold ceiling ornaments - the Sandcafé in Altona welcomes us with all our senses. When you step through the door at Max-Brauer-Allee 84, you are greeted by a successful combination of Occident and Orient.
In a modern atmosphere, it's a wonderful place to have an extended breakfast with homemade dips and delicious pancakes. An Algerian lunch is served at lunchtime, and in the afternoon, the cake counter tempts you with delicacies. But it's worth a visit just for the house speciality: mocha.
The name Sandcafé is derived from the oldest known way of preparing coffee. Originally, the pot was not heated directly (on a hotplate or gas flame) but slowly brought to boiling temperature in a bed of hot sand on a hearth. This traditional method is celebrated again in the Sand Café. Owner Larbi Bel Khodja is happy to show guests how the sand café (4.20 euros) is prepared.
In the back of the café are two large clay pots filled with sand. The sand is heated by a heating coil. Larbi fills the coffee powder into a metal cup and pours water over it. Then he pulls the cup through the hot sand in a looping motion. The mocha is gently heated from all sides until it starts to boil and rises foamy. This creates a wonderful crema.
The Sand Café is a small family business that Larbi and his wife Anja run. The two are originally from Algeria and love the mix of oriental and European styles. They brought the café's tiles back from their holidays in southern Spain. "The Sandcafe is meant to be more than just a café," Anja tells us, "a feel-good oasis where people can meet comfortably to drink mocha and relax and chat." A place that feels like a holiday.
We take a seat in a cosy corner with our freshly brewed mocha and order the breakfast variants "Spicy Delicious" (10.30 euros) and "Vegan Superstar" (10.20 euros) as well as the pancakes "Blueberry Yum" (7.60 euros).
We don't have to wait long before Anja puts a large silver tray in front of us. On it: homemade bread and homemade dips, such as basil cream cheese, garlic, avocado spread and fig jam, feta cheese, sucuk, tomatoes and cucumbers and a large bowl of fresh fruit. The pancakes with fresh blueberries, raspberries and a blueberry sauce are in the middle of the tray. There is plenty of everything, and it tastes fantastic.
We stay seated for a long time, snacking on the leftovers of our breakfast and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the café. A perfect Sunday morning.