Blog #43: Cafe Berlin- Restaurant Review

 

“Watch closely as I attempt to make this beer, DISAPPEAR!!”, the man with shaggy blonde hair and a backwards baseball cap exclaimed, as he pushed what looked like a black hand towel over and around a beer mug, in exaggerated ways, (sabre dance playing in the background). After about a minute or so of this kooky display, he ripped the towel off of the mug, downed the beer and said, “There! The beer has DISAPPEARED!” and everyone in the restaurant cheered, as if they had been witness to some true magic. And all this before we were even seated! Where the hell where we? All I know is, I was laughing from the moment I walked in. The guy was a one man show with a drum kit, a trumpet, a saxophone, a microphone, a stage voice and a tip jar who played some occasional, very loud trap songs in between his moments of entertainment. It was truly weird and cool. This is what goes on, on a Friday night, at Cafe Berlin. 

My first time in Germany (Hamburg and Munich), I was 14 years old and remember not enjoying the food which consisted mainly of somewhat bland, fatty sausages, and sauerkraut (which was too sour for me). My second time in Germany (Friedrichshafen) was with the World Arena Tour of Cirque du Soleil’s “Saltimbanco”, where I only remember having one day off, and making it a point not to have traditional German food because I remembered not liking it (the work days were catered for us). In retrospect, it goes against everything I believe in (to dine as the locals do!) and it seems silly that I was so judgmental, even as an adult! So, with the suggestion of a friend, I decided to try an authentic, German restaurant in good ol’ Las Vegas and I was determined to try something different from (or at least in addition to) bratwurst and that pickled cabbage. 

POTATO PANCAKES

We started out with some traditional potato pancakes. They were thinner than I expected but delicious all the same! They seemed to be made of potatoes, onions and herbs and they were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Simple, to the point and scrumptious! I liked mine with sour cream, as I just like sour cream in general, but they were perfectly tasty on their own too.

They were gobbled up quickly, and washed down with a German pilsner (you simply can’t have German food without a beer, right?). 

JAEGER SCHNITZEL

i remember being young and driving by a fast food joint called Weinerschnitzel with a large hot dog on the sign. Knowing nothing about schnitzel, I always assumed it was some type of hot dog based on this image! Well, I was very wrong. Jaeger shnitzel is a breaded pork cutlet with a “secret” mushroom gravy (whatever that secret was sure did make it tasty!) and this dish came with a side of spaetzle (an egg pasta specific to this region). Honestly, I really liked it! The gravy kicked the flavor up a couple of notches and made the dish quite enjoyable. The ships used to have a German night at the passenger buffet and I actually preferred the spaetzle I had there (taste and texture was better) but this one was fine too. Of course, the entree was heavy, and I took 1/2 the dish home as leftovers. PS, I think the entertainer was singing along with the actual recording of a Queen song or something at this point. Hahaha. Or, maybe he was playing the drums along with it? I don’t remember. It was definitely a strange blur of odd bits of entertainment!

FRIKADELLE

While this may look like just like a hamburger, without a bun, topped with a little gravy to the naked eye, it actually packed a surprising punch in flavor! This dish is a mix of ground pork and beef, herbs and spices, pan seared and topped with a brown gravy. It was even tastier than the schnitzel. I think I might have recognized a bit of all spice, nutmeg and onion powder in there. This would be my recommendation for anyone trying Cafe Berlin for the first time. I think it will pleasantly surprise you. 

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Did you know that black forest cake originated in Germany? I didn’t! It’s rare that I order dessert in a restaurant but I generally really like black forest cake (chocolate sponge cake with a rich cherry filling and whipped cream) so I ordered a slice to be shared. It was just ok. I didn’t feel that it had enough cherry filling, and it didn’t seem like it was made in house (in fact, it probably came from a Smiths or Albertson’s grocery store), so, it left something to be desired. We didn’t finish the slice, even between 2 of us. Why waste the calories?

I had exactly $2.00 in my wallet and you can guess where it went, can’t you? Right into that tip jar! That strange man definitely had me wondering what he was going to do next and what kind of tricks he still had up his sleeve (not so magical as they may have been). You’ve gotta love Las Vegas for these reasons! You’re going to see some weird shit along the way and it’s most likely going to be memorable and if not anything else, make for a good story. I don’t know if I’ll go back to Cafe Berlin (I’ve still gotta lose this COVID weight) but you should, at least once. 

CAFE BERLIN

4850 W. Sunset Rd #100-105

Las Vegas, NV 89118

602-875-4605

*reservations required