While in Berlin with Celia this week, I tried to discover a German Trifle but sadly was unable to. I could not however, miss an opportunity to write about another homely sweet dish that most associate with childhood family dinners. While it may not be strictly German, Berlin is known for its highly contested Best Apple Strudel ! So after researching the contenders, we conducted a head to head road test of the two most highly regards establishments. All for the benefit of future travellers to the fair city of course. It came down to two institutions beer house vs coffee house.
The first contender was , Cafe’ Einstein Stammhaus, a classic Viennese coffeehouse located at 58 Kurfürstenstarbe. Set in a Neo-Renaissance villa, a short stroll from Nollendorfplatz station. This is not to be mistaken for the Einstein Kaffe franchise chain of cafes scattered all over Berlin.
The second highly regarded for its strudel and all traditional German dishes is the Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt a Bavarian Beer house, located on street level on a prominent corner at Charlottenstraße 55. In the warmer months a table outside would be a great place to watch the world go by, but in October the further into the restaurant you can be seated the better.
The Verdicts : Cafe Einstein – the Apple Strudel pictured at the bottom, this offering had very small diced apples and only the occasional raisin. The apples cooked al dente leaving them firm and formed. The pastry was wrapped only around the outside and lacked the flakiness of what we typically associate with a Strudel. The dish was served warm with a generous serving of warm/ hot vanilla custard. The other element most associated with an Apple Strudel is cinnamon, but this has only the faintest hint of cinnamon. We could not be sure if this was actually the case or if our small taste buds had become desensitised to a week of cinnamon filled aromas that filled Berlin CBD district. Celia scored this a 7.5/10 and I gave it 7/10.
Augustiner Strudel is pictured in the top image and served lukewarm. The flaky pastry was wrapped around the outside but also intersected the internal body. The Apple was cut into thin larger pieces and cooked to a soft consistency. There was a more generous helping of raisins through out. The accompanying custard was lukewarm to cold and only drizzled on the bottom of the plate, leaving you wanting more. Celia scored this dish a 7/10 and I an 8/10.
At the end of the day, as you can see from our final picture we thought both had a lot to offer. BTW we shared both dishes because we both knew, we had to weigh in later in the week and we don’t mean at the airport, we mean on the scales. As we considered our final recommendation we both agreed the Berlin has a long way to come for Appel Strudel and that if Mary Camilleri put her mind to making Strudel that hers would leave both these two German Strudel Hausas for dead.
A Little Trifle Crazy 