Cafe Strudel

As Austrian living in London I am naturally quite suspicious about Austrian themed places over here (just think of the Tyroler Hut!!!), so I found Café Strudel a very pleasant surprise. The ambience (while still a bit ‘new’ in feel – but it’ll get there) is classy and authentic. The classical music really works for me too. Some of the food is an interesting reinterpretation of old Austrian recipes which even had been lost back home (the delicious baked baby beetroots, a recipe of the proprietor’s Viennese Grandma, so I was told, were a genuine discovery for me). Sweets are lovely (well they’ve got to be in this context!), the coffee (Julius Meinl imported directly from Vienna) is great. What’s really outstanding is the wine list. Austrian wine is a bit hard to come by over here and even if bought back at source it tends to be more expensive than French, Italian and New World wines (smaller quantities / higher quality we like to think ;-). So getting this quality of rare wines at such moderate prices must be an absolute winner! I’ll be back – a nice cold glass of Veltliner beckons…
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Marcus
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 25, 2008

Quick lunch with my son last Sunday, service flustered (possibly as a consequence of not really knowing whether to be a cafe or a restaurant) but very sweet, good Austrian (Stiegl) lager on draught and a really interesting-sounding selection of Austrian bottled beers, great selection of Austrian wines (not cheap but, er, they're not, and the Goldmuskateller at £5.00 a glass was outstanding, and so good value) and really good food (albeit a somewhat limited sampling by us): excellent free-range chicken schnitzel with lovely, citrus-dressed butter lettuce salad and Austrian potato salad (vinegar and onions, no mayo), an order of new potatoes sauteed in butter for a fussy three-year old and a knock-you-on-your-ass "Maria Theresa" coffee (espresso, Asbach brandy, Grand Marnier and schlag, yet!). I will return, but I fear for them: not a great location, and the schizophrenia inherent in being a cafe/restaurant will cause problems, I imagine. Hope that they do a great cafe trade during the day, and that the affluent locals will recognise it for the destination restaurant it undoubtedly is at night (decor won't help as it certainly feels more like a cafe than a fine-dining restaurant). Good luck succeeding in an area that can most definitely use another good resturant (how on earth did Le Saveur fail just a couple of hundred yards up the road though...?)
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Lee Hulbert
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, April 22, 2008