{"id":5953,"date":"2014-12-08T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/?p=5953"},"modified":"2014-12-08T09:00:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T14:00:43","slug":"review-cafe-katja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/2014\/12\/08\/review-cafe-katja\/","title":{"rendered":"Food That Pops: Cafe Katja"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of trying spatzle two summers ago. I\u2019ve been hooked on it ever since, and a big bowl of it is the definition of comfort food. For those that don\u2019t know, spatzle is a dumpling that is served in Germany and France, made out of flour, eggs, and milk. It\u2019s an extremely simply dish that can be served as a main course or as a\u00a0side, and I have barely seen it in New York. I\u2019ve tried to recreate it at home with varying degrees of success. If you want to make it at home, please buy a spatzle maker and save yourself the hassle of finding out that any other way simply won\u2019t work. On to the actual review now!<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo via Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Caf\u00e9 Katja, a nice-sized restaurant in Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side, serves up a smorgasbord of various Austrian and German dishes. They have everything from spatzle to schnitzel to all sorts of sausages and pork products. The interior is reminiscent of a German beer hall, with an all-around wooden theme that includes wooden fixtures and wooden tables. When you step inside, it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re in New York anymore. The restaurant provides an escape into a modern-day beer hall, serving great food at a great price.<\/p>\n

The pretzels are fluffy and beat Auntie Anne\u2019s by thousands of miles. They\u2019re not greasy at all, and stand up against the two side dips that are offered with them. The schnitzel and spatzle are also on point. The schnitzel is moist and crispy with breading that sticks to the veal and doesn’t clump or fall off. The spatzle is light and tender, lightly tossed in butter and a perfect accompaniment to any entr\u00e9e. As for dessert, there are always various delicious options that can not be found anywhere else in the city. While the chocolate cake is standard fare and served with schlag, the other desserts, including a seasonal rhubarb tart, are out of this world and are absolute must-haves. The coffee is also great, and they serve espresso based drinks as well.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I can\u2019t review one of the most important parts of any Austrian restaurant: its beer. But from what I’ve heard, it\u2019s delicious and authentic.<\/p>\n

Every part of Caf\u00e9 Katja adds up to the sum of a fantastic and well-priced Austrian restaurant. One of the managers there, Naomi, is one of the friendliest and most charismatic people I have ever met. Caf\u00e9 Katja is a great place to try something new and feel like you\u2019re in a small European city, surrounded by spatzle and schnitzel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of trying spatzle two summers ago. I\u2019ve been hooked on it ever since, and a big bowl of it is the definition of comfort food. For those that don\u2019t know, spatzle is a dumpling that is served in Germany and France, made out of flour, eggs, and milk. It\u2019s an extremely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,13],"tags":[211,361,362,647,829,887,1596,1863,1932,2053],"class_list":["post-5953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-columns","category-food-that-pops","tag-austrian","tag-cafe","tag-cafe-katja","tag-dinner","tag-food","tag-german","tag-opinions","tag-review","tag-schnitzel","tag-spatzle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}