CAFE BERLIN – Belly Bombs Away!
Calvin Trillin tells a well known story about how German food has determined the outcome of more wars than all other cuisines combined. As he tells it, for centuries, those nasty Prussians have vanquished foe after foe in battle after battle….until lunch…after which, they were too stuffed to remount. Makes sense to us.
We’re posting our two recent meals at Café Berlin now, because they are the polar opposite of the Japanese food we were eating last week, and because, even though this food goes with a Las Vegas summer about as well as Padma Lakshmi did with Salman Rushdie, any Kraut who has the Teutonic temerity to Hun-ker down and sling the schnitzel in 110 degree weather deserves a hearty seig heil….or something like that.
Besides, it also gives us a chance to use the little German we know, and try to figure out a way to incorporate a bunch of bad German jokes into this review, like:
- How does the recipe for German chocolate cake begin? First, you invade the kitchen.
- Did you hear about the German-Chinese restaurant? The food’s great but an hour later you’re hungry for power.
- Did ELV ever tell you about the really, really bad German restaurant he once ate in? The , the spätzle was gummy, the schnitzel was tough… and the wurst was yet to come!
Who knew German food could be such a humorous muse?
You may not find it such, but you will find plenty of wonderful wursts and smashing schnitzels at this odd little spot on Sunset near Decatur. We say “odd” because calling this deli-dining room “bare bones” is like calling this cuisine “slightly filling.”
But forget the decor (or lack of same) and tuck into a wurstplatte of big, meaty, housemade sausages and you’ll feel like yodeling in no time. As good as they are, it was the zigeuner schnitzel that got our attention: it being a nicely breaded pork cutlet smothered in some serious and spicy paprika gravy. (The french fries were also impressive and quite a feat for an obscure, little joint where you’d normally expect them to be straight from the Sysco truck.)
We’ll probably wait until the weather cools before working our way through the rest of the menu, but notwithstanding the dreary decor, there’s a lot to love about this place….especially if you have a hankerin’ for some heavy alimentary artillery
CAFÉ BERLIN
4850 West Sunset Rd. (at Decatur)
Las Vegas, NV 89118
702.875.4065
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
July 31st, 2012 at 9:23 am
The most stunning part of this review is that it exposes a rare occurence in our universe–ELV and Heidi Knapp Rinella agreeing on a restaurant.
August 4th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Just ate there, and yes the decor is very eh. But the food is pretty good, the curry was good, even the pork/beef burger was good. (its much much better german food then the hofbrauhaus). ELV is right on with this review.
August 7th, 2012 at 7:21 am
A person necessarily help to make seriously posts I might state. That is the very first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the analysis you made to create this particular post extraordinary. Magnificent job!