Cafe Berlin, German on Northeast Capitol Hill - Owner Irene Khashan at 3rd Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE

[Pat]

Cafe Berlin

[The Hersch]

Cafe Berlin

I haven't heard a favorable comment on this place in more than a decade. I last ate there in the 1980s and thought it was pretty lousy. Are you recommending it?

[Pat]

I haven't heard a favorable comment on this place in more than a decade. I last ate there in the 1980s and thought it was pretty lousy. Are you recommending it?

I don't eat there incredibly often, but I usually find the food fine (the service is more of an issue). It seems to be in the geographical and price range requested. I had a very good Christmas dinner there a few years ago. I can't guarantee they'll like it, though. If price weren't as much of a consideration, I'd say Bis or Charlie Palmer.

[Banco]

Johnny's Half Shell opened today. That's a solid option.

Right. And friends don't let friends eat at Cafe Berlin.

[Pat]

Right. And friends don't let friends eat at Cafe Berlin.

Do you really think it's that bad? I wouldn't recommend 2 Quail or Capitol City Brewing Company or Union Pub for food in that area, but I find the offerings at Cafe Berlin have been fine when I've been there. I would actually recommend the food at the Dubliner over the Irish Times, but I figure it's all a matter of taste.

[Banco]

Do you really think it's that bad?

Yes, I do. From a post of mine on Chowhound about a year ago:

"I live on the Hill, so I've given Cafe Berlin more than a few chances, but I have never had a good meal there. Bitburger on the terrace is nice, but it's also the only thing keeping this place afloat, aside from the busloads of unaware tourists who tend to be in the area during the summertime. The last thing I had there was a Jägerschnitzel. This is something any decent cook in German-speaking Europe could do with his eyes closed. At Cafe Berlin it's a poor cut of meat, indifferently prepared, and smothered in a cloying but bland sauce that barely conceals the faults underneath. I've had very few memorably bad dining experiences in Washington, but just about all of them have been at Cafe Berlin. It's a shame this place is still in business when you think of how a really good chef and staff could take advantage of such an attractive space. "

Oh, and it's also overpriced. But I do like beer on the terrace.

[Pat]

I didn't intend to become an advocate for the place. It just seemed to fit the terms of the original request. I only get there a few times a year, but I've been going off and on since the 80s. Maybe I've just been lucky on my visits there. The biggest problems I've had have been with service. I have some friends who like to go there too, one of whom I just spoke to about this yesterday.

[DonRocks]

Cafe Berlin is a forgotten restaurant, mostly associated with the tourist industry, but I was here a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed my liter of beer, so I had another go at it.

The tiny bar isn't worth it, nor is the ugly bar area (there must surely be an upstairs here, although I've never seen it). However, the patio, like that of its next-door neighbor, Bistro Cacao, is a delightful place to have a meal, and is where I chose to celebrate this Oktoberfest during this wonderful Indian Summer we've been enjoying this week. I keep telling myself, "This is your last al fresco meal of the year," and I keep proving to be wrong, so no predictions from this point forward.

Nobody will remember this, but I'll say it anyway: 25 years ago, Spaten was a wonderful brewery, and in particular Spaten Oktoberfest was, not just good, but flat-out amazing. I'll never forget one day, back in the late 1980s, when my friend Curtis and I went to "Steak Night" (I think on Mondays, they offered a steak for something like $11.95) at The Saloon (now called The Saloun due to a legal battle over the name) in Georgetown. Anyway, it was during Oktoberfest, and we both ordered a half-liter mug. I will never forget the two of us taking our first sip at the exact same moment, and both of us looking up at each other, in complete awe and disbelief over how amazing this keg of beer was. The look on his face is forever etched in my memory - Spaten Oktoberfest used to be a thing of wonder; no longer.

Nevertheless, I started my meal with a half-liter of ... guess what ... Spaten Oktoberfest ($7.50), and in retrospect, I really wish my (otherwise friendly) server had given me the option of a full liter (he didn't ask what size I wanted, although I suppose I could have spoken up - I was pretty sure I'd end up ordering two, which I did). Sadly, the beer is now a very mass-produced product, and tastes like it. It's "okay," but completely unrelated to the glorious beer that it used to be a quarter-century in the past. I don't often pine away for the "good old days," but my palate memory, if I do say so myself, is nothing short of remarkable, and I ask people to believe me when I tell them that this beer used to be flat-out awesome.

Cafe Berlin's menu had a separate Oktoberfest insert, and both of my items were ordered off that list.

Bayerische Kartoffelcremesuppe ($7.95) was a bowl of Bavarian cream of potato soup with marjoram, served warm, but about 10 degrees not hot enough (I could have sent it back for reheating, but it was right on the border of being enjoyable). Along with it came a bread basket, served warm from a cut loaf consisting of six pieces, somewhat frozen tasting, all still attached to each other because they had only been sliced 95% of the way through. The basket came with an attractively piped tub of garlic butter. There was something starchy in the soup, other than the widely dispersed potato chunks, and I think it may have been bread.

Bayerischer Schweinebraten mit Kümmelsoße ($22.95) was three slices of roast pork loin drenched with caroway sauce, served with two terrific biscuit-shaped bread dumplings, and a side bowl of marinated red cabbage. Although a touch on the expensive side, this was a very tasty dish that screamed Bavaria. It was a starch-heavy meal for sure, so much so that I reluctantly passed on the dessert menu which included a homemade apple strudel with vanilla sauce.

[Banco]

I can't believe you went there. To eat. What villain was holding the gun to your head?

[The Hersch]

biscuit-shaped

What does "biscuit-shaped" mean? Seems kind of like "bread-shaped" or "candy-shaped".

[DonRocks]

What does "biscuit-shaped" mean? Seems kind of like "bread-shaped" or "candy-shaped".

The bread dumplings were the shape and size of a typical scratch biscuit, perhaps a bit taller. But they weren't biscuits; they were homemade dumplings, and the caraway sauce made them taste like rye bread (which I found appealing alongside the sweet red cabbage). Regarding the marjoram and caraway, while these are novel spices to have in soups and sauces, I bear no illusion as to their origin - the salt and pepper on the table were in McCormick bottles.

[The Hersch]

The bread dumplings were the shape and size of a typical scratch biscuit, perhaps a bit taller.

Don, I can tell that you think "the size and shape of a typical scratch biscuit" conveys something about size and shape, and I imagine it does to many people, and I imagine this is my own idiosyncratic shortcoming, but I don't know what it means. Is a "scratch biscuit" just a biscuit made from scratch? Such things can be made in many sizes and shapes. In my childhood, my Pennsylvanian mother made biscuits for dinner about once a week. She rolled out the dough and then cut it into smallish squares before baking, about two inches across. Other mothers, I'm sure, cut them into rounds with a cookie/biscuit cutter. Others make "drop" biscuits, where the dough is just pushed off a spoon onto a baking sheet. You see my confusion. (For what it's worth, the bread dumplings I've encountered in Germany, and they are many, have usually been the approximate size and shape of a tennis ball.)

[DonRocks]

(For what it's worth, the bread dumplings I've encountered in Germany, and they are many, have usually been the approximate size and shape of a tennis ball.)

Imagine a tennis ball with the bottom lopped off so it lies flat on the plate (I was thinking more of drop biscuits).

[thistle]

Well, it doesn't sound as dire as the meal I had a few days ago (at least you had the beer), but you have to admit a bread dumpling dropped in gravy sounds a little unwieldy...

[Tujague]

I hadn't been to Cafe Berlin for over a decade, but our visiting friend remembered it fondly and wanted to try it out, so we decided to return his generosity for buying us dinner at Ocopa the night before. It was a nice enough evening to sit on the patio, which is one of this place's strong points, as is the friendly service. The beer menu isn't large, but decent enough. The special menu right now is focused on spargel, so that's where I focused my attention, and opted for the chicken schnitzel with roasted potatoes, hollandaise, and the white asparagus. The plate delivered to me was attractive and showed generous portions (though the hollandaise was slightly fluorescent in tone). The schnitzel was especially impressive: greaseless and seemingly perfectly cooked; the ten or so halved potatoes were nicely browned; at least eight long spears of the spargel sat on the side. All good, right? Then I dug in: outside of a faint lemon flavor to the schnitzel (which even the hollandaise lacked), this was the blandest food I have had in memory. I beckoned the server to bring me salt and pepper, but despite my best efforts, this food was utterly impervious to the addition of any flavor. Both my companions opted for the sauerbraten; my quick taste indicated it was good enough, perhaps a bit cloying, and I didn't taste the potato and bread dumplings on the side. So, while I am willing to believe that there may be better options on the menu, and that there is a technically competent cook in the kitchen (one should not take such a nicely fried schnitzel for granted), this was the oddest meal I've had in a while. Not actively bad by any means, just utterly blah. And, for essentially the same price (save a round of drinks), Ocopa offered us some of the brightest, boldest flavors available in this part of town; Cafe Berlin, the most timid. I know where I will be returning first, and more often.

[Dr. Delicious]

The entire family hit up Cafe Berlin the other day, and we all really enjoyed our meal there. We started by sharing the Pretzel appetizer, which was 2 medium sized pretzels with an assortment of 3 mustards (a spicy dijon, a horseradish based one, and another), sliced onion and a scoop of spreadable cheese (bier cheese, per the menu), all served on a wooden cutting board. It was a tasty spread with a nice presentation, if a bit overpriced at $15.

Three of us got a Schnitzel sandwich for our main dishes. Each sandwich on the menu comes with potato salad or greens salad, and a cup of soup. For $12, this was quite a lot of food. The soup of the day was Split Pea, and was really good, and just the right amount of texture, that is, not runny. The potato salad was vinegar-based and served cold. It was good, but would have been great if they just cut back slightly on the vinegar. The sandwich itself was a large piece of flattened and fried pork, served on a sturdy ciabatta bun, and topped with grilled onions, lettuce, and a spicy mayo. We all enjoyed it very much. The other sandwich someone got was a Turkey Reuben, which got high marks as well.

Also, great service, and very accommodating to the culinary tastes, or lack thereof, of our 6 year old, when they made a plain cold turkey cheese sandwich on white bread.

We would go back.

[DaRiv18]

I've stopped in during the summer and enjoyed a light grilled lamb dish with seasonal vegetables with several glasses of Austrian scheurebe, delicious.  I had a great time, talking to the new-ish owner Clytie (I did not meet her husband Rico) , she is fun.  Apparently they bought Cafe Berlin in February 2013.

I don't get back to H Street as much (although that may change in the near future, depending) but I found myself there on Wednesday night after running some errands.  I have not seen Mary Kate since she had left Boundary Road, and was glad to finally visit her at Cafe Berlin.  Note to self:  she's there Mondays - Wednesdays.  I read upthread that the beer selection in the past wasn't large, but MK always has run an interesting beer program and the selections must have expanded.  She is extremely picky about keeping the draft lines clean, so she is one of the few bartenders from whom I'll order a draft beer.

On Wednesday, she had some gluwein in a carafe which I fortified with some rum to start, to ward off the night chill.  At the bar, I had the wild boar lasagna smothered in a mushroom sauce.  A huge portion for $24.  Delicious and great value.  I think this is a solid neighborhood place with well-executed food, a rotating menu from what I can tell, and interesting drinks.  I'll have to bring the fam to sit on the patio.

 

[Pool Boy]

I've been here a few times over the years, but it'd been a while. When my wife realized one of the couples we dine out with with some regularity (they are fun, smart and will eat anything), had not been to Cafe Berlin, they set up a date and so we went.

A lot of fun, lots of beer and we ordered too much and were stuffed. Good service and apparently they will be soon retooling the space and sorting out where hte new front door will be and make the space work better for the folks dining there as well as the staff - not sure when exactly they will be doing that but our server did mention that.

If you're looking to scratch the itch for soome good beer and German food, this is a solid choice. Plus, parking was super easy.