You don’t find many places open on a Monday, but I was glad to be able to have my brunch at Nuuk on a late Monday morning!
They’re located in the rue Notre-Dame and also have a terrace outside, though I wasn’t too fond of the idea to eat in the sweltering heat. I found refuge inside, where I was very warmly greeted by the waiters, something that any person would appreciate, especially on a Monday!
The setting is simple, casual, comfortable. It didn’t feel crowded and had a more laid-back atmosphere, which is what I was looking for.
Nuuk is a specialty coffee place, but they also really want to establish themselves as a proper breakfast, brunch, and lunch spot. The idea started from the owner’s own love of specialty coffee. As they told me, they wanted to bring more of the kind of breakfast and brunch experience you typically find in places like the UK or Australia to Luxembourg.
They worked with different professionals with the challenge being to “bring something new to the table without ‘scaring away’ the typical local Luxembourg customers.” And I think they’ve found a nice middle ground.
I was hesitant to go for sweet or savoury, but my library visit after lunch prompted me to go for the salty option, especially as I was intrigued by their 'Nuuk’s Benedict': poached egg, cooked ham, green asparagus, Hollandaise and nori (€19). I really liked this combination, it took me away from my classic salmon benedict choice! The pairing of hollondaise, ham and crunchy asparagus was really nice, the nori added a punch to it.
They’ve recently started working with Open Crumb, a bakery in Belair specialising in sourdough bread. The owners told me that finding a bakery specialising in sourdough that could also offer delivery was actually quite a challenge in Luxembourg (oh, we know!).
They try to source as locally as they can. Their eggs are exclusively free-range, and they try to source fruit and vegetables locally whenever possible. The menu is seasonal and changes with the products available.
I liked that they also had options like an açai bowl (€14), with açai coulis blended with vanilla syrup, banana, mango, and red berries, or the classic pancakes with butter and maple syrup (€12), if you just feel like something simple but good.
Other more classic options include the smashed avocado with poached egg, avocado hollandaise, arugula and comté (€17), or cured salmon with cream cheese, smoked salmon and broad beans (€19).
As for the coffee, which I really should have ordered seeing as this is a specialty coffee shop (oops), I instead opted for a cold matcha with strawberry (€8), made with smashed strawberry and matcha on top. Not the cheapest matcha, but a a refreshing combination for these hot days…
They also regularly change the coffee they serve, working with different roasters, currently mostly from Belgium and the Netherlands. They also use milk made form peas, something that you might know from our neighbouring capital cities, but don’t find as often in Luxembourg.
I find it a bit less sweet than oat milk, but it’s actually quite creamy and rather neutral taste wise!
I like that Nuuk doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard to be a 'specialty coffee place'. It’s more relaxed than that. You can come for a coffee, but you can also come for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. It has versatility to it.
Their ambition is to become more of a go-to spot throughout the week, rather than somewhere people only think of for weekend brunch. They want it to work for coffee breaks, lunch meetings, catching up with friends, families, and even dog owners (we love that). There’s a little water spot in front of the café for four-legged visitors, including non-customers.
Good food, good coffee, very friendly service. Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning.
Food quality: 4/5
Family-friendly: 5/5
Budget-friendly: 3.5/5
Date-friendly: 4/5
Veggie-friendly: 4/5
Carolina Reinertz, former RTL Today editor turned contributor, is testing every hotspot in Luxembourg with honest reviews on whether a place is date-friendly, budget-friendly, or worth the hype – so you can spend your money wisely.
