The Gourmet's Guide to Europe Part 13

| ----- 1869 _Clos St-Hobert._ | Supreme von Stra.s.sburger | Ganselebern in Madeira.

| ----- | Creme de Chicorees aux | pointes d'asperges vertes.

| Fonds d'artichauts | a la St-Charles.

| ----- 1874 _Chat. Larose | Enten von Rouen.

Schloss...o...b..ug._ | Salade a la Francaise.

| ----- _Moet and Chandon | Pouding glace a la Jules Cremant blanc._ | Lecomte.

| ----- | Dessert.

At the Zoological Gardens there is a good restaurant where one dines in a balcony overlooking the beer-garden, in which a military band plays.

The oyster-cellars of Hamburg are noted for their excellent lunches.

_Bouillon_, cutlets, steaks, caviar, lachs, and other viands are served, and English "porter," generally Combe's stout, is much drunk. Another British production, "Chester" cheese, which is red Ches.h.i.+re, is much in demand. At supper in these cellars, and also in Berlin, caviar is much in demand, the small black Baltic variety, not the Russian, which is lighter in colour and larger in grain. A large pot of it is put on the table in a bowl of ice, and your Hamburger, who is a good judge of victuals as he is of drink, makes his supper of it.

The Rathskeller of Hamburg is in the modern Rathhaus, and is finely decorated in "Alt-deutsch" style with frescoes and paintings by well-known artists.

In the summer gardens down the Elbe, good wines are to be obtained; and at the Fahrhaus at Blauenesse.

The Alster Cafe is very beautifully situated. It has three tiers of rooms, and from its balconies one can look either landward or on to the river, which at night, with the lights reflected in its water, is very beautiful. The rooms of the cafe are decorated in the style of the seventeenth century.

CHAPTER VII

BERLIN

Up-to-date restaurants--Supping-places--Military cafes--Night restaurants.

Twenty years ago Berlin had no restaurant worthy of the name, now of course they are plentiful; in many instances, however, showy paintings, bad gilding, and heavy decorations seem to atone with a certain cla.s.s of the public for inferior _materiel_ and mediocre cookery.

The Monopole part of the Hotel-Restaurant L. Schaurte is first-rate, and the set dinner for the price is as good as one could get anywhere. I append an everyday menu which, for 5 marks, ought to satisfy the most exacting customer. The second soup is a _Consomme_ with _quenelles_. The fish dishes are _Sole Normande_ and _Turbot au Gratin_.

MENU.

From 2 P.M. to 9 P.M.

Haringfilet nach Daube.

Mulligatawny-Suppe.

Kraftbruhe mit Einlage.

Seezungenfilet auf normannische Art.

Steinb.u.t.t in Muscheln gratiniert.

Eng. Roast-beef.

Yorker Sc.h.i.n.ken in Burgunder.

Spinat.

Homard de Norvege. Sauce Ravigotte.

Franzos. Poularde.

Fasan.

Salat Compot.

Sellerie.

Furst Puckler Bombe.

Kase. Fruchte.

Nachtisch.

Estimated cost of two dinners at the Restaurant Schaurte (Monopole):--

M. Pfgs.

Dinner 5 00 1/2 Pontet Canet (1890) 7 00 Coffee 60 Cognac 60 ------ 13 20

M. Pfgs.

Dinner 5 00 1/2 Roederer 8 75 (1893 Reserve for England) 1 Cognac (1860) 75 Coffee 60 ------ 15 10

If you drink no wine with the above repast, you are charged 6 marks for the dinner instead of 5. The wine charges are rather expensive, otherwise there is no fault to be found. This restaurant is a fas.h.i.+onable place at which to sup.

The Bristol Restaurant, attached to the hotel of that name, is also one of the best and answers, on a reduced scale, to the Carlton Restaurant in London; you get as good a dinner at the Bristol as you can wish to have, especially if you interview Mons. Maxim (who was for a time in London) the _maitre-d'hotel_, a proceeding which will ensure your being well cared for.

In fact with regard to most restaurants, it is always better, in Berlin as elsewhere in the world, if you have time or happen to be pa.s.sing that way, to look in wherever you may have settled to dine, choose your table, and see what they propose to give you. It simplifies and expedites matters on arriving, especially if you are going on to some entertainment and have not much time to spare.

Borchard's, in the Franzosischerstra.s.se, is a capital place to drop in to lunch, as there is a cold buffet there with every sort of Delikatesse. You can get a very good dinner there, and the wines are of excellent quality. The attaches of the British Emba.s.sy patronise it, and it is to the Bristol in Berlin what Claridge's is to the Carlton in London.

The Hotel de Rome has an excellent restaurant, and many dinners of ceremony are given there. This is the menu, headed by the motto, "The Tubercle Bacillus will federate the World," of a dinner given at the Berlin by a distinguished British physician to some of his German colleagues of the great Congress:--

Hors-d'oeuvre.

Consomme Sevigne.

Potage Oxtail.

Sole a la Bordelaise.

Filet de boeuf a la Moderne.

Cotelettes de Foies gras aux Truffes.

Faisan Roti.

Compote Salade.

Asperges en branches.

Prince Puckler.

Fromage.

Fruits.

The Palast Hotel and restaurant, at the corner of the Potsdamerplatz, and the Savoy in the Friedrichstra.s.se are also excellent.

The Hiller and the Dressel, in the Unter den Linden, are bright, pleasant, and good restaurants. Dressel gives an excellent lunch for 2.50 and dinners for 3 marks or 5. This is a sample lunch:--

Bouillon in Ta.s.sen.

Eier Skobeleff.

Seezunge gebacken, Sauce Tartare.

Kalbskopf aux Champignons.

Mutton Chops.

Pfirsich nach Conde.

Kase.

The English bar in the Pa.s.sage is a grill-room and restaurant, and ladies can lunch there, though the sporting British element is rather too prominent. In the evening it is frequented by the theatrical world and is practically open all night. One can enjoy a peaceable supper there without having to pay the bill and leave shortly after one has sat down, as is the custom in England.