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Category: German
Neighborhood: Lower East SideDelancey-Essex Sts (F, J, M, Z)
Grand St (B, D)
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Place: Small hole in the wall that sits maybe 30+ people.
People: The waitress and the owner (I believe) of this place were friendly and helpful.
Price: Their entrees are around $12-20s. 1 litter mug of German beer for about 12.
Food: This is what I'm talking about. As a group of 4 we ordered their cured meat and cheese plate appetizers. My god the cured meat was delicious so I would recommend that. Their cheese plate was fairly good but not something I would rave about. As an entree I got me the emmentaler sausage which is basically sausage with cheese melted inside along with some sorta cheese or potato dumpling (not sure). Now that is what I call a meal. To wash it all down I got a .5 L of beer ( I can't seem to remember which 1 =op).
I would recommend anyone wanting to explore a new genre of food (or for those that always had german food) to come visit this place and while you're at it go walk around the block for some good drinking places.
This place was on my restaurant "to do" list, so it was a lovely surprise to stumble across it on our recent walkabout in the Lower East Side.
We we're pretty hungry when we got there, and we were treated to a great assortment of German food. Actually, they say it's Austrian, but it was quite German to me. Let's say "Germanic".
Appetizers - We started out with a mixed platter of cured meat which came with pickled vegetables (onions, carrots, cucumbers) and gorgeous, fresh black bread. Good time to start a reduced starch diet!
The highlight of the apps was the pork belly (I think that's what it is) looks just like uncooked bacon and tastes great. The only trick is that the flavor (for me at least) is much more present when eaten on the rich dark bread. It needs that context. By itself a bit too fatty and lost, if you ask me. The smoked hard salami assortment was very good too, as was the capicola. One thing that I wasn't crazy about was the blood sausage, a bit too sweet and soft. Finally, we had a choice of 2 spreads on the side, a lovely light cheese and liverwurst, both very flavorful.
Entree - We decided to split an entree and went with the Emmentalerwurst (basically a light-cheese wurst), white cabbage, and polenta dumplings. Everything went great together, was extremely flavorful, and most importantly, tasted fresh. This is in direct comparison to the another German joint we went to on the west side, where the entree felt a bit overcooked and old.
I also loved how all the elements went so well together. The cabbage, the cheese and wurst felt like they were perfectly intertwined in my mouth. And, though I didn't have much of the dumpling, I must acknowledge it was very good for sopping up the cheese that was leftover from the Emmenalerwurst.
Even though we split a big app and an entree I was amazingly full and totally satisfied. Great meal, and it's also great that the placed I wanted to go to for so long turned out to be quite a joy.
Non food things...service was pleasant and quick, and the decor was great, wonderful lighting, very airy, felt clean and new. As I mentioned to my girl, it's like we were guests there, rather than the feeling I get in a lot of Manhattan places which is that we are intruding on their private cunty wannabe sophisticated syndicate.
In the end, great place. Definitely would love to go back to check out the other stuff!
Yuuuuuuuuum!
I've been trying out all sorts of German restaurants in the city- and let me tell you... some of them suck and don't taste anything like home. I grew up in Germany and since moving here naturally crave German food now and then.
I finally came to Cafe Katja. It's the first Austrian Restaurant I've been to here and will definitely come back. A lot.
Their service is super sweet and attentive (I guess because it's a small place?). Their food is just like home (Austrian is just like German food).
I had the red cabbage salad with lingonberry dressing, walnuts and sliced apples and then the Spätzle with shiitake mushrooms, spinach, beans and pepper sauce.. FINALLY some good Spätzle again!
My boyfriend had the Austrian meatballs with potatoe puree and crispy onions. DELICIOUS.
Cafe Katja also has a fine collection of Schnaps' and Digestives.
Can't wait to go back!
In a neighborhood filled with quality restaurants, and a city filled with a sudden comfort-seeking love of pork products, this place stands out as among the most delicious places to sip a white beer and make your stomach feel like a ton of bricks with a group of friends.
This is probably the worst place I've been to in a long time. Here is what happened:
My friend and I go there and its full, so we ask to put our names down. The waiter (or so we thought) said it wouldn't be too long and we are waiting for our third person to get there anyway. We weren't sure if we wanted to stay there, but we decided to wait and ordered a bottle of wine.
In about 10 minutes a table of 4 by the window leaves. We ask him if we can be seated there. He says he can't seat us there because the place is small and he only seats parties of 4 or 5 there. Fair enough. About 2 minutes later, a party of 3 walks in, and is promptly seated at this table.
Another 15 minutes go by. Meanwhile the place is getting crowded, and there's two couples that come in and are waiting as well. At this point, our third person in the party comes in and we are told that we will be seated at the next table of 3. A table of 3 is paying their bill. We start to get ready 'cos we figure we will be seated next. The guy decides to separate the tables into two tables of two and seats the two couples that came in AFTER us. What the fuck???
At this point, I've had enough and we have been there for 45 minutes and have had 3 parties that came in after us and have been seated. I confront the waiter and he tells us that that's how it is and its our fault since our third person wasn't there... even though he clearly was before the party of 3 left.
We're pissed and ask for our check for the bottle of wine. At this point I notice that we are the only people of color and all the ones that have been seated have been white. After I get the check, I go to the waiter and ask him for the name of the manager so I can complain. TO MY SHOCK, HE TELLS ME THAT HE'S THE OWNER. I'm absolutely appalled and tell him that I find it very interesting that we're the only non-white folks that didn't get seated and he starts to YELL at me.
This restaurant is tiny with everyone about 2 feet away and this man is yelling at me claiming "how dare you fucking accuse me of racial profiling". I haven't even remotely raised my voice with him at this point and he's actually yelling at me and my friends in the restaurant. I ask him to explain why we weren't seated.
We go outside, and he continues to yell at me and I'm furious now and yelling back at him. He has absolutely no reasoning for why the 3 people were seated at the table for 4 or why the table of 3 that left was split into two tables of two. Every third word out of his mouth is "fuck". Customer service?? What a freakin' joke!
Then he tells me that since the other two couples were "complete parties" before ours was complete, he had to give them the table. Well... it would have been nice if we knew that rule in the beginning when we came in!!
I can understand if he was having a bad day, or even if there was a misunderstanding. But, there was no apology... not even once. I don't pull the race card willy nilly, but there was no other explanation for his actions. And again... at no point did he apologize for his behavior.
He's running a business, and I don't care how good the food is, if you don't even give your potential customers an opportunity to try it, then I'm sorry... you're doing a shitty job!
Its too bad I can't give this place zero stars, because I really don't want to give it one star even. Don't go here... HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!
I have to start by saying that this type of food is not my fave. Sauerkraut and preserved meats and the such just doesn't really do it for me, but in the spirit of trying new restaurants, my bf and I stopped in for dinner on a weeknight and we were pleasantly surprised.
The place is tiny but because this place isn't overflowing with hipsters, I didn't mind it. Our waitress was extremely nice and helpful in giving us a rundown of what various menu items were and was attentive throughout our meal.
The food was delish and my bf can't stop talking about how he wants to go back. We had a beet salad for a starter (served with frisee and goat cheese) which was good. There was more beets in the salad than one person can consume in one sitting. For our entree, we had the bratwurst with saukerkraut and the emmenthaler sausage with cabbage and quark dumplings. All delicious. I peaked at our neighboring table's food and they had ordered a meat/cheese appetizer sampler and the sausage sampler which I want to go back for!
Word is already out about this place. The group next to us mentioned that they'd heard about it in Details magazine. That shows an unusual aspect of Cafe Katja: you're likely to interact with other diners around you, commenting on the dishes and drinks. The cozy seating and stripe of crowd this place attracts simply invites that sort of thing. That, and the fact that everything that arrives at the table will be worthy of comment.
Our meal last night was a perfect example. Both my wife and I have developed a taste for Austrian reds, the more "barnyard" on the nose, the better. She was pining for a glass such wine, so it wasn't much of a surprise that we ended up at Katja, our local Austrian joint. The Pino Noir they serve at $8.50 a glass fit the bill - classic hay on the nose, giving way to fresh fruit and a clean acid finish - also a bit of a deal at that price. (Her first glass was good, second much better - these wines do keep well after being opened, but what's most lovable about them is at it height in a fresh bottle). I opted for a stein of Spaten maibock.
For our appetizer we chose one of the specials: white asparagus in ramp (wild leek) sauce ($9). What arrived was five spears of white asparagus topped with some mache and a few cherry tomato halves in a shallow lake of pale green sauce. Very pretty, but my frugal side immediately thought, "At nine bucks this had better be really good!" Two minutes later my wife was asking for a spoon to polish off the last of the sauce. It was delicious! The ramp sauce was rich and well flavored with wild leek, but did not overpower the delicate white asparagus. Springtime on a plate - a well-conceived perfectly executed dish. My frugal side shut the hell up for the rest of our meal.
My wife chose another special for her main dish, an open faced sandwich of cream cheese, smoked bluefish, sliced red onion and dill, accompanied by home made pickles ($13). One of the owners had caught the fish himself, and they'd smoked it. Aside from being both delicious and generous with the fish this dish was a fine example of the trend toward local and artesenal being more than just buzzwords.
I stick to the menu for my main, opting for the emmentaler sausage plate: a large sausage with chunks of cheese inside sitting atop a bed of sauteed cabbage laced with onion, speck and caraway seeds. Three quark dumplings rounded things out. Sounds heavy, right? It didn't leave me feeling wrecked the way some heavy food does. I'm not a big fan of Germanic dumplings, either, but these were delicious, with a prominent white pepper taste that played well against the melted cheese oozing out of the sausage. If you eat the sausage slowly enough the completely melted cheese from the first half of the sausage becomes the sauce for the dumplings, and the cheese in the cooler second half stays with the the meat. Two experiences in one. Recommended.
Both dishes were so good that we ended up passing our plates back and forth twice during the meal. Some ooh-ing and ah-ing was involved, and diners at neighboring tables inquired about the dishes, then proceeded to make similar orders for themselves. Like I said, it's that kind of place.
I decided to top the meal off with an aged apple schnapps ($12). It had a terrific nose and a nice bite. Immediately our neighbors asked what it was, and I handed them the glass to check out the nose. (As we were leaving I saw a few glasses appear at neighboring tables). My wife decided dessert was more to her liking, choosing a quark cheesecake that came with a buttery lemon "cookie" and two sauces (strawberry and rhubarb - both bright, fresh and not overly sweet). I took a few nibbles, admiring how it managed to scratch the dessert itch without being heavy (cheesecake that's not heavy?!) or too sweet.
Service was attentive, helpful (translating some of the ingredients) and on the ball without being intrusive. Professional and efficient without being aloof. That puts Cafe Katja ahead of many restaurants in Austria, for sure!
Bottom line? We got a top notch dinner for two with drinks for $86 before tip. ($41 of that was drinks). I can think of a long list of places where you pay more and get much less. I have no incentive to return to such places. I have plenty of incentive to return to Cafe Katja - they seem to be doing just about everything right.
I'm kind of glad word it out about this place. They deserve it.
food is heavy, but done well. i had the emmenthal sausage, which was heart-attack-inducing, but very tasty. Friendly, neighborhood vibe. One surprise, there's a decent little full bar in the back....
Great restaurant with service to match. Deciding between 4 or 5 stars was toughest it's ever been. A few things you need to know before you go here: the place is small so if you go during peak times you will probably be in for a wait; there is not a large selection of wursts/sausages.
Notes:
-I really liked emmentaler sausage which was a very good tasting sausage stuffed with juicy emmental cheese
-Though I am not a fan of shredded beaf, the beef goulash was pretty good and I loved the egg noodles that came with it
-The pretzel is small but fantastic, and I'm not a fan of the pretzel's off the cart
-The apple fritter could use some work, perhaps some more raisins
-The quantity was perfect size, not too much and not too little and the quality of the food seemed good
-The servers were really good (also appeared to be Austrian, worth mentioning for those curious yelpers)
Conclusion: worth visiting
I guess i can understand all the great reviews the place is very quaint and the waitstaff are pretty fantastic. By quaint i mean small of course with seating for just under 20 or so. The wine list is not very expansive but it fit the food . Someone mentioned the "spatzle" in another review and it was pretty good, not great but pretty good. Someone in our party had their sausage wrapped in bacon and honestly you cant go wrong with that.
I agree though with the reviews that say good not great. I don't mean to rain on their five star parade I just feel it should be taken down a notch... ok maybe i am being too harsh... i mean the bartender and waitress were cute so i guess that counts for something .
after reading a lot of wonderful reviews, i decided to check this place out with my eating partner. both of us have never really been exposed to german/austrian food so we went with what everyone suggested on yelp.
we started off with the aufschnitt teller (the cured meats appetizer) and it did not look like the way it did in the photos on yelp. kind of seemed like they were skimping out on the meats because ours looked like it had less meat and cheese and lots more bread. half the plate was bread! nonetheless, it was still really good. the orange, cream cheese spread was absolutely delicious when eaten with the meats and bread.
then we ordered the Emmentalerwurst and Grilled Krainer for our entrees. someone on yelp had mentioned that they shared plates during their meals and they were full. well, for someone who eats a hell of a lot for her size, i don't think "sharing plates" would have filled me out. so thank god we got our own entrees. i'm a greedy obese and i hate SHARING FOOD!! anyway, now that i got that out of my system, the food was good. the emmentalerwurst was so much better than mine however. the sausage was bigger and juicer, had more flavor and kick. but mine pretty much looked like a grilled hot dog. tasted like one too. but who's to complain? i was satisfied and full afterwards. felt like i ate a really good homecooked meal.
for dessert, we ordered some kind of strawberry flan dish. that was pretty good. the flan was cold and had this very vanilla taste to it. while the strawberry jam and strawberries added the right amount of sweetness to it.
overall, this place is worth checking out. their food is good. the ambiance is relaxed. and their service is friendly, although the man there (maybe the owner?) was running around and seemed stressed out because he was the only one there. i would probably go back here again if i'm in the area to try their spatzle and meatballs.
i'm a big fan of sausages & weiners, so i was very excited when i found this place. we got the aufschnitt teller (cured meats / spreads / home-made pickles) for the table, and it was a big hit. They also ask you if you want more toast (for the yummy liverwurst & cheese spread) when they saw that we had finished ours, which is very nice, most restaurants would not do that.
i got the emmentaler sausage / savoy cabbage / quark dumplings - the cabbage was delicious, as was the sausage (but a bit on the salty side), and the quark dumplings were good, but a bit bland. Though the portions look small, it definately fills you up, but I could tell the boys were still in the mood for more weinies.
out waitress was very pleasant, and the bartender was good about describing what the differences between the wurst plates when we asked. Great ambience too, very warm and welcoming.
I almost didn't want to review this place. I don't want there to be a wait when I go. Selfish, I know.
It's a tiny place but it has a nice ambiance to it. Everyone that works here is extremely personable and friendly. (I'm just a little worried that they think I'm a nutjob because I always end up drinking ridiculous amounts of beer when I'm here).
I always get something with sausages - I really like the bratwurst and sauerkraut, the emmentaler sausage is great, spaetzle is rich and delicious, dumplings are perfect, cabbage is buttery and the liver appetizer is absolutely amazing. The only things I'm not a huge fan of are the desserts and the weibwurst/weisswurst. However, the weibwurst thing might just be that I don't like it, period.
Side note, weibwurst is "a traditional Bavarian sausage made from very finely minced veal and fresh pork bacon." It's white/cream colored too, which is, well, different.
Great place for a quiet-ish dinner - but again, better for just a couple people and not for groups. Sausage and beer - what else could you want?
P.S. Yes, agreed with Andrew N. It's Austrian, not German.
This is my first time trying this type of food, and it was not what I expected. The food was excellent. The aufschnitt teller appetizer dish is a MUST, it consists of cured meats, cheese/some meat spread and home-made pickles with toast. The cheese spread was delish, especially with the combination of meat and toast. I didn't try the pickles though since I'm not a pickle fan.
I ordered the bernerwürstel which is pretty much a hot dog with cheese inside of it and then wrapped in bacon. It comes with potato salad as well. I though this dish was pretty good, though I couldn't really taste the cheese that much? So that was disappointing esp. since the waitress said it'd be oozing with cheese. The potato salad was good but a bit too salty.
The staff here is very very friendly as well. I would definitely come back here!
Ah. The best little Austrian place in the city. This place is so wonderful and I have such good memories of visiting this restaurant.
The good:
1. the ambiance inside. It's seriously beautiful, quaint and comfortable. The candles at the table and lighting through the little restaurant is endearing.
2. the service. they're really helpful and friendly here.
3. the crowd. the place is small, yet the people that dine here are pretty great.
4. the food!!! I saved the best for last. the food is amazing. You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu. They also have a great wine and beer selection.
All in all, I can't recommend this place enough. The walk through Chinatown to get to it was fun, and doing dinner at Cafe Katja really makes for a great evening.
Tapas? Really people? Who tagged this as tapas. It's awesome Austrian food. I would venture to guess the best Austrian food in New York City. I don't know that I've ever seen another Austrian restaurant around.
My friend and I stumbled in here at around 9:45 pm on a tuesday night. We had great, friendly service... interesting cocktails, good beer. The food too... yum. Great liverwurst, spaetzle, and sausages. I think it was that I don't usually eat Austrian food. But, the quality of the food at Cafe Katja overcomes any concerns you have about the austrian diet. A must try.
First off, I think this is actually an Austrian restaurant, not a German one. It reminds me of my Oma, if she could cook well (sorry Oma!). We really liked the aufschnitt teller, but who doesn't like pickles, meats and braunschweiger? The variety of sausages is good and the drinks are plentiful. Spaetzle...had better, had much worse. If it's you alone or with a couple of friends, sit at the bar. The bartenders are awesome and the other patrons are extremely friendly. We wound up sitting there for an extra hour just talking to other patrons and the bartender. Plus, being the friendly and adventurous kids that we are, we sampled a variety of schnapps and were rewarded with schnapps on the house. Maybe pine and caraway schnapps weren't the first on the menu for us, but they were appreciated and a very nice experience.
Hefeweisen, braunschweiger und schnapps. Gut, gut und gut.
The place is nice - it has a nice decor and nice food. Nice, but not great.
Don't get me wrong - it is nice to go out for a date or go with a group of friends and there is nothing wrong with it with being nice, but for German / Austrian food (read as in great taste), I would prefer other places in the city. The menu choices are a bit limited. The liverwurst pate that we had tasted nice, but the entrees had nothing special about them. In a group of 7, we ended up with narrowing the entree list down to 2 choices. A bit limiting.
YES! This is the place to go for dinner! Everything about it is great. Good prices? Check. Great, great food? Check. Friendly staff? Check. Good beer selection? Check.
Seriously, just go. The cured meats appetizer is a great way to go. As for the entrees, I'd definitely look into their specials. The last couple times I've been they had a veal that was amazing and, before that, a pork belly that was close to giving me a heart attack right then and there, but (given that I survived) was well worth the risk. The Bratwurst and all that is good stuff too. I'm now hungry...
Just FYI, the place is very small and I'm almost positive they don't take reservations. Shouldn't take long though if you have to wait, and you can always have a beer or glass of wine to pass the time and get hungrier for a truly fantastic meal.
Wanted to try something different while in NY and thanks to Yelpers for the recommendation! Good German/Austrian beers on tap and food and service was great. I had white asparagus with ramp sauce for appetizer - very light and tasty. For main course I had to try the emmentaler sausage based on all the reviews. The quark dumplings were fantastic. Definitely recommend!
You won't leave this place hungry. We had the goulash and the meatballs. Delicious. They also have a recession special that is very reasonable. Great meal. Will be back.
Geeez! This place has to be one of my highlights of my New York trip. Before I start just got to give a big thanks to all the Yelpers that suggested this place, cuz I would never have found this place. On to the food....
This place is tiny, I mean tiny like the size of my bathroom tiny. It probably only has 6 tables, some seats at the bar and a couple seats at the counter by the wall. You can probably fit maybe 20 people inside. The staff are friendly and helpful. We had a little wait so we ordered a couple of .5 liter beers and the cured meat sampler plate to start off, who doesn't like cured meats, patte, and cheese spread. We ordered the spatzle and goulosh as well as a sausage dish. Both were freakin fantastic! Prices are very reasonable and the beer is good, just be ready for major food coma.
Excellent food. I've been wanting to try this place for a while and now I think I'm going to make this a weekly staple. They have tasty unique cocktails, good beer, and great food. I got the sausage with cheese that came with dumplings and a great garnish. I also tried the goulash that was nice and tender. I couldn't believe how amazing and tasty the sausage is. The service is really great and they are very accommodating. We go there at 8.30 and only had to wait 20 minutes for a table for two.
There is no more reason for me to head to the Astoria beer garden anymore when I can walk a block to Cafe Katja!
Small, elegant, delicious, expensive. Cafe Katja serves fantastic Austrian food. I was pleasantly surprised by how refined an experience we had there. The dining room is small, but the tasteful decoration, dim lighting, and hearty food lend it a romantic feel. This is not your typical bierhaus-style Germany-in-New York bar. It is a little pricier, but you should definitely go for the food in addition to the wide beverage selection.
Let me say something about price/quantity... Katja gets it right. You want a bratwurst with a little sauerkraut? Around $7. You want a plate full of goulash and spaetzle? $16 or so. For less money you get less food and vice versa.
German beers... Austrian and Hungarian wines... a super good, warm pretzel for an appetizer (yeah, I know, I like pretzels)... just goodness all over. The staff was friendly. Even if the man we suspected was the owner and/or manager a bit forgetful (it was kinda charming). The ambiance was very dear: glowy lights (felt like candlelit, but really string lights in the windows... maybe that was just for the holidays), pressed tin ceiling, though the place is on the small side.
For $6, I think my money could have been better spent elsewhere. Still, an experience. I wasn't cognizant of the fact that this booth was serving up German food. I tried some at Apple Day NYC.
-SMOKED PORK & APPLE SAUSAGE ($6) [ w/ sauerkraut & potato salad] - one sausage cut in half w/ choice of spicy/sweet mustard, we opted for spicy, as sweet is for wimps, the apple sausage was so soft it was almost falling apart when cutting it, hopefully that's a sign of freshness, the potato salad was a bit hard, the sauerkraut was a bit overdone but tasty
Also for sale:
-Bavarian Pretzel ($3)
-Apple Strudel ($4) - this looked huge, flaky, and delish!
Pics: http://www.meetup.com/...
I really really really like this place. I tried this little LES gem for the first time last night and it's ridiculous that i waited so long. It's cute, it's friendly, it's reasonably priced, it's got delicious food and a nice selection of beers and wines.
Pretzel: perfectly baked. interesting mixed savory sauce dip. i believe you can get mustard too.
Herring/Cucumber Salad: I've never had herring before, so I decided to try something new. Interesting flavors... not sure I'm a convert, but glad I tried it
Spaetzle w/ Mushrooms/snow peas: Wow. this dish was SO good. the sliced snow peas added a perfect crunch to this flavorful, rich dish. kinda like mac n cheese. delish.
I forgot to save room for dessert, but will def get next time. I didn't get the name of our waitress but she was incredibly friendly and patient as we lingered over conversation. Love that kind of easy service. 5 stars!
Great food at good prices.
We started with the liverwurst plate and a beet and goat cheese salad. The only liverwurst I know was the Oscar Mayer variety my mother made sandwiches with when I was a kid. We took a chance because the server said it was delicious and it was. Goat cheese was super creamy and beets were great. For a main, more wurst and it too was delicious.
Great selection of unusual, to me anyway, wines from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Same for the beer with 5 or 6 on draft and a dozen bottles.
Desert was a Linzer Torte, how could we resist? And they have a best selection of after dinner drinks, grappa, schnapps, etc. from my favorite distillery Clear Creek in Oregon but we went with two Austrian ones I wasn't familiar with--Zirbenz, a pine liquor, and a walnut liquor whose name I can't remember. Server gave a taste to make sure we liked them. Zirbenz--think benzine only better. Walnut liquor was perfect with the torte.
Service was friendly and very helpful giving the small room a happy, warm feeling
Confession: I once had a shameful addiction to street pretzels. Enter Cafe Katja, where pretzels ($3) are served with spreads alongside fantastic cocktails ($10) by friendly waiters (priceless). So long, shame.
There's more to Cafe Katja, too, than just a pretzel I'm proud to eat. There's a tasty (and substantial) charcuterie plate ($11) that's perfect for sharing, there's spaetzle ($16) that will change your life, there's a great beer selection, and, oh, there's warm chocolate cake ($6). Austria never had it so good.
So we went here on a whim expecting some sort of interesting twist on German food since it was listed here on yelp as a tapas place. Overall pleasantly surprised, the cheese platter was A+....but not because of the selection, which was minimal....or the quality, which was just good.....but because of the combination of a soft goat cheese, sliced pears and the most amazing figs in the world. That right there was worth the trip to Caf Katjajajaja.
We also ordered the blood sausage, cabbage and apples plate...which was delish and not too overwhelming. Oh and since everyone here RAVES about the pretzels we decided to try one. The pretzels are meh. Yep, meh...nothing different than what you can find at Shea stadium or on a street corner. The deal breaker however is the mustard that comes with the pretzel. I didn't know mustard could have so much taste and burn as much as a mouthful of wasabi. Definitely worth the 3 bucks.
In short....it's worth checking out. Get the cheese, enjoy the figs, scare your tongue straight with mustard and deal with the helpful but scatterbrain wait staff.
The woman behind the bar was great, so friendly and nice, but our first moment in the door didn't go so well..when we walked in, the hostess lady said we could sit down at a table, but if 4 people came in we'd have to pick-up and move to the bar. That was lame. Who does that?
The food? Meh. I've had much better, but mine wasn't horrible. The flavor was a bit lackluster. My friend however is experiencing some weird feelings from the mayo soaked herring dish. She' s still trying to figure out why she continued eating it. I'm still trying to figure out why she ordered it. I think I'll call her in a bit to see if it made a second, more unfortunate visit. Really cute location, good beers, just steer clear of the herring, unless you like that sorta thing..
Great food using fresh ingredients. Go early especially if you have a larger group. I'm actually not at huge fan of German/Austrian food primarily because I find it a bit heavy but the food was somehow lighter and fresh because of the ingredients. We had one vegetarian who ended up ordering mostly appetizers off of the specials but she was quite happy.
Went to Katja for the first time on a Saturday night in November. I can easily say that it was best Austrian restaurant I've been to in New York. On the other hand, I haven't been to all that many.
This place wins alone on food, beer and value. Small but appealing menu of all of the standard native Austrian dishes. Or at least it was what I expected to see on the menu anyway. I guess I have no idea if these are the sincere foods of the Alps. Anyway, we had the Gulash, home made bratwurst and a homemade pretzel. Tasty and traditional. The price on all the dishes was reasonable and probably a touch cheaper than I would have expected.
Gotta love the beer. I had a giant stein of Spaten and my companions enjoyed a Hofbrau and some obscure wheat beer.
The restaurant itself, like many on the Lower East Side, is cute but small. Just a few tables and the owner look concerned when three of us walked in wanting a seat. So, if you're rolling with a party of twelve (or even six), I might not suggest this place. Service was friendly and quick. No complaints there.
Overall, a solid dining experience. I think that Even Captain Von Trapp couldn't have asked for better homeland grub in lower New York.
Definitely 5 stars for amazing service and friendliness!!! I first visited this small hidden gem a year ago with my German friend who was friends with the owners.
It's a tiny but super cozy place with simple and delicious dishes. I am not a big fan of meat but I enjoyed amazingly pickles and bread, cheeses, as well as Riesling and other wine delicacies. It felt like a neighborhood hangout which I highly appreciate in NYC. Coming back there this weekend!
love this place! great german beer and food for very reasonable prices, especially for the city. bonus: they let you mix and match the side dishes for the entrees. the spaetzle is amazing! i love their homemade pretzel served with butter and mustard. i have gone several times with different groups of friends, and it always leaves everyone satisfied.
they don't take reservations and they're super petite so plan on getting a drink or two at the bar while you wait for a table.
A hot dog filled with cheese and wrapped with bacon.
Yeah. That really is all that needs to be said about this place.
Cafe Katja is an Austrian food / beer establish that is very small, very pretty and extremely awesome. From watercress and beet salads to cheese plates, every kind of wurst you'd ever want and the above mention food creation, if you're a meat eater, you will love Cafe Katja. The beer is cool and served in huge heaping glasses with the name of the beer ON THE GLASS. It makes a person feel special or even important.
And that's how the service at Cafe Katja makes you feel. Special. But not short bus special.
The L.E.S. is covered in gimmicks, shops, bars, and food related businesses that cater to trend rather than taste. Cafe Katja is a great exception to that rule. Come here, eat here, drink here. You won't be disappointed.
If I could live inside Cafe Katja curled up next to the Bernerwurstel, I would. Actually, if I could just live inside the Bernerwurstel, I would. Sausage filled with emmenthaler wrapped with bacon and grilled? Best winter food ever. Vegetarians get the spatzele and beer.
Bonus: all the mustard pots are handmade by one of the partners. This is love.
Cafe Katja is awesome. If you don't like this place, just stop going out. Seriously. Because if you don't like this place you know nothing about food or beer or anything pleasurable in life. Just sit at home and microwave yourself some prepackaged frozen crap and ponder what is wrong with you.
First off to get it out of the way, yes this place is small. It will be crowded. If you are a party of two, just sit at the bar or at the counter thing against the wall. Got a party of 8? You're probably screwed as they only have about 4 tables.
The good things? How about half liters of German beer for $6? The pretzel and its accompanying cheese spread were fantastic. The cured meat appetizer also spectacular. One of the specials the night we were there was braised beef cheeks - also superb. For dessert, the wife could only describe the strudel as "perfect."
The owner roams around and will stop and talk with you. He is genuinely friendly and even explained to us how to make their cheese spread. They play a great selection of obscure indie and classic rock tunes, which only adds to the overall greatness of the place.
If you want meat, cheese and a quaint, cozy atmosphere, look no further. I loved the pretzels as well as the charcutarie platter. The place may be small, but since the meals come fast and are small (and FILLING!!), it's not hard to get a table on weekends.
go here! The service is great!
I adore this place oh so very much, especially the krainer and the potato salad and the chocolate cake and the speck and.......
Okay, basically I spend far too much time here and adore it all. Oh, and the owners and staff are all fantastic too. What more do you want in Manhattan?
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Category: German
Neighborhood: West Village
Category: Nightlife
Neighborhood: East Village
Category: Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Midtown East
Category: Food Stands
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