In the Hood - Cafe Schade

Roomie's mom was visiting for the weekend from Italy. The poor guy -- he was so exhausted from taking her around the city.  He came home yesterday, invited me out for dinner, and immediately disappeared into his room to take a nap.

Wedding is one of the less glamorous neighborhoods of Berlin. I mean, the city in general is kind of grungy and dirty and poor.  It's not one of Germany's most cosmopolitan centers, but I love it for that. It's real.  But among the different neighborhoods, Wedding is definitely less desirable -- at least to the general public. And I prefer it that way! It means we Weddingers get to keep this awesome place a secret for a while longer. I'll have to write a post just for Wedding and why I like it.. But I digress.

There are so many great little places tucked away off the beaten path that you find only by exploring. A perfect example: Cafe Schade, where we ate last night.  I stumbled across it by accident with Hanky last week and was thrilled when Roomie said we were going there for dinner.

It's tucked away from Wedding's main street, Muellerstrasse. You could easily walk past it if it weren't for the tables set up outside, marking it as a restaurant. Unfortunately it was snowing lightly, way too cold for eating outside, but in summer I bet it's packed for weekend brunches.

Inside, rustic wooden tables contrast with sleek leather couches piled high with pillows. You don't know if you should order food or lounge around, so you end up doing both.  Prints of classic movie stars like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe dot the walls, and a soft warm light -- the kind that instantly airbrushes you -- bathes the restaurant. It's perfect.

The menu is pretty varied -- some light appetizers like bruschetta, soup and salads, flat bread pizza, burgers, "meat dishes," plus traditional German fare.

We tried the olive plate -- cheese, olives, and homemade olive bread (3-4eur).  Pollo picante and schnitzel were ordered from the normal menu, and from the daily specials we ordered a really amazing poultry leg with rotkohl and dumplings. I got venison Gulasch and Rotkohl and Schnupfnudeln(14eur). It was so good.. Words can't describe. The venison was so tender and smothered in this delicious dark sauce. The schnupfnudeln (really big long dumplings) were fried to perfection and when paired with the sweet Rotkohl and sauce.. Amazing. Couldn't have asked for a better meal, and it was so German.

If you are in Wedding and you want to impress someone, please take them to Cafe Schade and order from the specials menu. I ate everything and then some.