04.19.09
Review of Café Katja, Tuesday March 2009
79 Orchard & Broome/Grand Sts., 212-219-9545
Great for: Reuben sandwich, snacking
My very good friend S came over to take care of me, since I was essentially one-armed after my snowboarding accident. I guess all the Percocet made me dopey, because when I went to let her in, I closed my door and locked us out. While we waited for another friend to bring my spare set of keys, we decided to get some food. I vaguely remembered hearing about this fantastic little Austrian place near me and we managed to find it.
When I told the waitress I wanted to try their liptauer, she suggested getting the pretzel appetizer which came with that and some other spreads. They were all delicious and the liptauer was lighter than I expected from something made of cheese. The pretzel itself was lovely, too, and I have never previously liked any pretzels.
My “Katja’s Ruben” [sic] sandwich was fantastic, a combination of pork belly, cabbage, cheese, pickles and mustard. The bread had been fried in butter and the whole thing was enormous. I took half of it home! The pork belly was very fatty with a rind, but it was easy to separate the meat out. I loved the cabbage and pickles. The only thing I disliked was the purple cole slaw, which seemed to have apple cubes in it. I think if you like cole slaw it might be ok though.
S liked her broiled trout on spinach with fingerling potatoes, though she could have used more spinach to counteract the abundance of butter. The decent side of brussels sprouts improved with liberal pepper and mustard.
We had a very nice waitress and the chef was friendly too. The small narrow space is utilized very well and doesn’t feel cramped. The décor is minimalist but homey. They have many beers (which I don’t drink) and cocktails (which I was on too much Percocet to drink). It’s kind of a hidden gem but that stretch of Orchard Street has a lot of other good restaurants. Definitely go before everyone finds out about it.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $45 (1 app, 2 entrees, 1 side, no drinks)
Noise level: music loud, people pretty quiet
Chance of walking in: not too bad now but hurry, it’s small and the food is very tasty.
