Cafe Strudel

Spurred on by the reviews below, the fact that the restaurant is close to home, and by an interest in trying some Austrian wines, we headed to Café Strudel one evening, my mother-in-law in tow.

Initial impressions were good. Loved the look of the restaurant - simply and tastefully decorated, tables not too crammed in and lighting comfortable. The hostess/owner was a delight. Friendly, enthusiastic, patient and passionate, she really added to our enjoyment of the place.

Not being familiar with Austrian wines, we sought advice and then all chose a different wine by the glass, and were pleasantly surprised by the wines we sampled.

To start, my MIL had the Smoked duck terrine with orange compote, which looked great and tasted fine, though it was not quite what she was expecting (I think she thought it would be more pate like).

Main course was the Wiener Schnitzel with creamy mash and lambs lettuce; the Beef Goulash with savoy cabbage rosti and stuffed potato dumplings; and the Sea bass with lobster spatzle and lobster sauce. All dishes were great - the goulash got the thumbs up from our goulash connoisseur, and I really enjoyed the sea bass which was not over-salted as sea bass often is (to my palate anyway).

We shared two desserts - the Chocolate & hazelnut tart with vanilla ice cream and spicy chocolate sauce; and Chocolate fondant with poached strawberries. The fondant was over-cooked and was missing that rich gooey centre that we all love. The tart was much better, and the perfect ending to an enjoyable meal.