Nom nom nom.

[feuervogel]

Today, two of Ben's friends from his video game forum were in the area, so we went out to brunch. I suggested Guglhupf, because they have a nice brunch selection. (Downside: they're *really* popular and have limited parking.) His friend said, "fuck yeah," because apparently, during her time at UNC and shortly thereafter, she never managed to make it out there, for whatever reason.

Two things set Guglhupf apart from the other German restaurant in Durham. (Three, if you count their website designs, sweet baby jesus.) First, Guglhupf is run by people who came here from Germany, and it features much more pan-German food. (No one who actually speaks German would call a dish "Schwarzwälder Kirsch Heisser Eisbomben Becher" or label a section "Specialitäten." (I can't figure out how to properly render what they're getting at in the former, but it would be more like "Heisser Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte mit Eis," and the latter is "Spezialitäten.") Call me a snob if you will, but the least this person could have done was find someone who speaks German to give their menu a SAN check. Also "German" chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany. True.)

While I was standing in line, I heard multiple groups of people speaking German to each other. That's how you know it's authentic ;) (And there were women there wearing German eyeglasses, the skinny rectangular ones, speaking auf Deutsch.)

Second, I can actually eat at Guglhupf. I don't eat meat, and I can't tolerate fried food. The two options I have at the Brathaus are potato pancakes (fried) and eggplant schnitzel (double fried). Well, and desserts & beer. The Guglhupf menu kindly stated that the German potato salad was made with beef broth, so veg*ns wouldn't order it. I appreciated that! I make German potato salad myself, but I use water and facon. (It's superior to American, mayonnaise-based potato salad, trufax.)

I guess third (fourth, if you count web design), Guglhupf has a German-style bakery. THEY SELL LAUGENBRÖTCHEN. Those are, like, my favorite thing, especially if you tear them open and smear them with Nutella before scarfing them down. They also have Laugenstange, with or without cheese. Seriously, I go in there, and it's like I teleported to Germany. ... You know, I should really drop by there in December.

If you want MEAT!!!!, go to the Brathaus. If you want authentic, Guglhupf is a much better bet.

Comments

[ranyart]

I saw the first paragraph out of the corner of my eye and thought Ben's friend said "fuck you" when you suggested Guglhupf. I was really confused for a second. :Y

I'm sad I only got out there once, that time we met y'all there. I'll put it on the list for next time I'm in Durham.

Also, I really need to make some homemade hazelnut spread one of these days; I have two or three recipes for Nutella clones.

[feuervogel]

That was only the second time we've gone to the cafe. I went to the bakery a couple times while I was still working in Durham (it's not too far from downtown), and I went over for a pastry and a beverage once (or twice?) since I quit that job. It's like, I forget they exist 90% of the time, and the other 10% it's like, hey, don't we have an awesome German bakery/cafe I should be patronizing? I feel like I should take my laptop over there one of these gorgeous afternoons and get some work done. It's been perfect fall here the last few days. (Wait, it's supposed to be 83 tomorrow and 70 on Wednesday? Oh, Carolina fall, you're so unpredictable...)

Maybe someday we can go to a real German bakery in Germany :D They sell Nuss-Nougat croissants, which are filled with something akin to crunchy Nutella (though not as thick; more like buttercream frosting in consistency). Those are *awesome.*

[picklish]

Croissants filled with crunchy Nutella sound like the best thing ever. Wow.

[ranyart]

Holy shit, I agree.