Food & Drink

Review: West Berlin serves up comforting German fare in heart of Mountain View

There's something charming about just the existence of a German restaurant in Mountain View. You'll find West Berlin's bright storefront on the same strip as Vietnamese pho, pizza, Hawaiian food, Thai, an Asian grocery, African food truck and a Dominican restaurant. If Anchorage has an international district, this is it.

In college I was briefly an exchange student in Frankfurt. My German remained, well ... not so "gut." But the experience taught me to love mayonnaise with my fries, soda mixed into my beer and all things related to German cuisine. So it was with some excitement that I grabbed a friend who'd lived in Vienna and ventured out to dinner last week.

West Berlin opened about four months ago, and on the inside, it still has that new restaurant feel -- it's nicely done up and a little sparse. The walls are a deep mauve color and hung with historic photos of Berlin. The partially frosted windows give the dining room a feeling of both brightness and privacy.

Some kind of Euro pop was playing as we took our seats and were greeted by our server, a friendly guy with a big personality who proclaimed himself "the only German who works here," though to my ears his accent and outspokenness sounded like pure New York.

The menu at West Berlin is short -- printed out on a single piece of paper -- but we quickly found what we were looking for: sausage, sauerkraut and schnitzel, schnitzel, schnitzel. Five variations on schnitzel, in fact.

For a first course, we ordered the potato pancakes appetizer ($7.50) and sauerkraut balls ($7). Feeling nostalgic for college, I ordered a Bitburger beer as well, despite our server's protest that "friends don't let friends drink Bitburger."

Made from a combination of mashed and grated potato, the potato pancakes were perfectly crispy on the outside and pillowy within, with a pronounced hit of nutmeg. It's not a spice I remember coming across much in savory German foods, but it worked beautifully. The sauerkraut meatballs weren't much to my taste -- they were fried up nicely and moist on the inside but I couldn't discern the flavor of the sauerkraut. My dining companions seemed to enjoy them, though, and they disappeared quickly.

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Our main courses were jagerschnitzel ($10) and currywurst ($10). Jagerschnitzel is pork that's been pounded thin, breaded and fried, and served with a brown mushroom gravy. Currywurst, a popular German street food, is a big sausage that's been fried up so it's crispy on the outside and drizzled with curry-spiked ketchup.

We thoroughly enjoyed both at West Berlin, but what really made the meal shine were the side dishes, all made in-house. "Everything is made from scratch but the ketchup and the french fries," our server said and then repeated.

The sauerkraut was less bracing than the stuff I've found in bottles at the store -- still pungent, but subtly sweet and mild enough to eat by itself. The rotkohl -- fermented red cabbage -- was colorful, sweeter than the sauerkraut and fragrant with spices. My favorite side was the spaetzle: little dumplings that look like short noodles. They were buttery and tender, and pleasingly irregular and handmade looking.

As befits a German dining establishment, West Berlin has a quite a good beer menu, and our server was quick with suggestions and to offer up samples.

I only had two notes of caution about the place. First, this is heavy food -- if you want to both eat and drink beer, you must pace yourself or suffer the painful, food-coma-inducing consequences. Second, I ended up shaking additional salt onto a lot of things. That's better than the food being too salty, but it was something I noticed.

Later that week, I returned for lunch with a couple of co-workers. We ordered the Bavarian pretzel appetizer ($7) to start, and it was a beauty. Two fat, glossy, golden, bun-like pretzels studded with kosher salt, which balanced out the soft interior that had a hint of sweetness. It was served with a zippy beer cheese sauce and strong yellow mustard on the side. This dish alone is worth the trip to Mountain View. Add a Bitburger and it's like Oktoberfest came early this year.

Our server (the same one as on my first visit) told us that all the breads were made from scratch by the cook, who apprenticed in a German bakery, and I believe it. The fresh, expert quality of the breads was there in the beef brisket and pork schnitzel sandwiches as well ($9), both served on house-made rolls.

The sandwiches were huge, almost overwhelming. The schnitzel sandwich seemed like it alone could be enough food for a whole day, as long as that day included CrossFit or marathon training or something. In terms of flavor, fried pork plus dense bread, tomato and lettuce is a little dry for a sandwich, even with the aioli sauce provided on the side. The brisket hoagie might be the "least German thing on the menu," as our server wryly observed, but it was the better of the two sandwiches: tender, savory and served with a creamy horseradish sauce.

Apfelstrudel ($7) is the only dessert offered. It came with flaky, warm pastry wrapped around a sweet-tart apple filling and a side of premium vanilla ice cream, all of it dusted with a thick coat of cinnamon sugar. Split three ways, it was the perfect ending to our meal.

West Berlin has a small menu, but it's clear that a lot of care is going into the food. This is rich, comforting fare that's served at prices that are beyond reasonable. Sehr gut, West Berlin.

West Berlin

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 12-8 p.m. Sunday

Location: 4133 Mountainview Drive

Phone: 277-7600

***1/2

$$

Victoria Barber

Victoria Barber was formerly the features editor at the Anchorage Daily News and is an occasional contributor.

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