Like German Food reviews

Die Flügel Café is a hidden speakeasy-ish home cafe down a discreet alley, specializing in German cake. It's a house that has been converted into a cafe, which makes it very welcoming and cozy. You will feel like one of the family members lounging in one of the rooms in the house, as the owner, a Taiwanese female that speaks German, prepares delicious German cakes in a small Western style home kitchen. My German friend brought me to this place because he was so pleased with the cake and atmosphere on his first visit. 

One of the seating rooms is a large table that seats about eight people which is nice for larger groups. A small outside seating is also available amongst the plants. The menu changes everyday, but she does seem to have some of the same cake selections often, like the Snowball Cake: chocolate cake base with banana slices in a thick, custard cream, and topped with chocolate cake chunks. Besides cake, one can also purchase a German brunch in the early afternoon, and drinks throughout the day. There is also free internet if you want some alone laptop time while snacking.

Everything that I tasted at Die Flügel Café was delicious. If you're looking for cake that is more substantial and solid than most Taiwanese styles, this is one of the places in Taipei that offers real, quality Western cake. She knows how to make a Western cake with the right texture, and her cake to cream and toppings ratio is right on. I will not bother explaining each dessert, as I can easily sum it up by saying that they were all excellent and the few Western drinks that she makes like the refreshing panaché (half and half ratio of light beer with sprite; it means mixed in French) and Baileys drink were just as satisfying.

Wendel's Bakery & Bistro has four locations with Tienmu being probably the best location because of the outside beer garden. The location in Da'an and Neihu offer just as much selection as the Tienmu, but the menu selection differs a little and they have way more pizza options than the Tienmu location. The Takashimaya branch is definitely the smallest, and while I'm sure it's good, you haven't fully experienced Wendel's until you've gone to one of the big three branches.

They offer authentic German bread in their bakery & deli, and also have some other take home items such as cheese, homemade jam, cake, and dessert. The bistro section of Wendel's serves the best Taipei German food that I have found so far. Everyone else I know, Germans included, also agree that it's the best that is available in Taipei. Wendel's is a third generational German Bakery and the current generational line, Michael Wendel, has added the delicious bistro section to the bakery.

I ate at the Tienmu branch, the flagship store, for this review. The bistro section has two sections, one inside and one outside in the biergarden (beer garden). As I said before, the beer garden is why the Tienmu location is considered the best in most people's opinions. It is nice to sit outside to enjoy the fresh air and leisurely eat your German food and beer. Every single dish that I tried from the beginning cold cuts to the finishing dessert was delicious. This is the place to be in Taipei for Oktoberfest!

Items I tried:
Cafe Mocha: A good mocha that wasn't too sweet and had a pretty good espresso coffee taste.
Cheese Board: Very good European cheese with a complimenting deli assortment.
German Cold Cuts & Cheese: Fresh and exquisite cold cut beef and ham slices with some other meats, cheese, salad, deli assortment, and mustard.
The Lentil Stew: Great tasting soup with good seasoning.
Traditional Goulash Soup: Good goulash with great seasoning.
Mediterranean Mixed Salad: Pretty good salad with a light dressing.
The Sausage Platter: Completely delicious big proportioned selection of authentic German sausages. Must try for sausage lovers. German sausage is the best in the world!
Wendel's Gourmet: Delicious dish of mushrooms in a yummy sauce and potatoes under melted cheese. Really great!
Spaghetti Neapolitan dessert: A unique dessert that kind of looks like spaghetti but tastes like vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce. Very big and delicious dessert!
Chocolate Cream Marble cake: A perfectly rich combination of chocolate, cream, and cake for the sweet tooth lover.
Black Forest Cheesecake: A very delicious tri-layered cheesecake with a cake bottom, fruit cream middle, and cheesecake top that is absolutely scrumptious.
Beer: I tried the Pilsner and another sweet beer from the deli section. Both were great, but I really liked the cold non-hoppy, refreshing Pilsner. Definitely one of the best Pilsner's I've ever had.

Wendel's also has a dessert only location called Lolli Gelato in Q-Square. Since the dessert selection at their bakery & deli was absolutely delicious, Lolli Gelato, which has way more than just gelato, should be equally as good with a different selection of dessert. 

A Bavarian German restaurant with an alluring castle theme. It is more of a Taiwanese interpretation of German food, but there are still some good German dishes here and other Western Taiwanese fusion dishes. Excellent German beer, sausage, and fried platters are the main highlights of this brewery / restaurant. If you're tired of the bland pork sausage that is served everywhere in Taipei, visit Le Blé d'Or for some German sausage -- German sausage is the best in the world.

I tried all the beers, Sausage (2-4 people), Pork with Mango Sauce and Rice, Vegetarian Pizza, Brownie with ice-cream, and Mozzarella Sticks. The Honey Lager was one of the best sweet beers I've ever had and was my favorite of all the samplers, but that is because I'm not really a beer drinker and like the least hoppiest beers. Whether you are a beer enthusiast or not, you'll love this beer that actually has honey highlights in the taste and isn't the least bit bitter. The Sausage was delicious. It consisted of two different sausages, one typical German sausage and one with a smoked flavor, cut into small pieces and served with sauerkraut and honey mustard dipping sauce. The local Taiwanese pork sausage is completely bland to my taste-buds. It's so nice to have German sausage again; it's been awhile.

The Pork with Mango Sauce and Rice was excellent. The slightly spicy mango sauce is what makes this dish great. If it would've been served with chicken instead of pork, it would've been completely exquisite since chicken is more tender and flavorful in its natural state. One of the last things you should order at a German restaurant is a pizza and this holds true at Le Blé d'Or because the vegetarian pizza, although having a good amount of yummy cheese, was completely bland having no sauce or herbs -- just bread, cheese, and some toppings. Go to an Italian and/or pizza restaurant if you want good pizza. The Mozzarella sticks were quality but weren't served with an dipping sauce. You have to have marinara sauce with mozzarella sticks! The Brownie and ice-cream came with chocolate and caramel drizzled sauce and was very good.

Like German Food reviews