Restaurants
Wiener Restaurant und Café
This quiet restaurant in a small neighborhood of art galleries across from Sanssouci Park is perfect for enjoying tea, coffee and pastries or heartier fare from south of the (Austrian) border. Creative and bountiful salads, such as arugula with pine nuts and strips of marinated duck breast in a honey-sherry dressing, are a speciality. You can also enjoy perhaps the best Kaiserschmarrn - that eggy, gooey, sugary fried-pancake dessert - north of Linz. Weekday breakfasts are extremely popular, and Sunday brunch is definitely worth any wait. Park-goers should note that picnic baskets are available starting at €20 for two people.
Contact: Wiener Restaurant und Café, Luisenplatz 4, D-14467 Potsdam, tel +49/0331/967 8314
Rating: Quality 14/20 Value 15/20
Café Heider
Located in the Dutch Quarter, the Heider is considered the most traditional café in Potsdam and its 1731 building has been a coffee house since 1872. It was rebuilt in 1995 with plans from an old Berlin café. Since residents and visitors of all ages and backgrounds come here to meet, eat, drink and relax, it's garnered the nickname, "Potsdam's living room". And it does have a nostalgic, parlor feel to it with sofas, gilded mirrors, wall-hangings and old black-and-white photographs. While service is attentive, the overall atmosphere is laid-back. Dishes are reasonably priced with tasty entrées like salmon with risotto, beef roulade and pork cutlets with Brussels sprouts for less than €10. The café also offers a variety of pastries, teas, coffees, beers, wines and spirits inside or on its 150-seat terrace.
Contact: Café Heider, Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 29, D-14467 Potsdam, tel +49/0331/320 5596
Rating: Quality 13/20 Value 14/20
Zum Fliegenden Hollander
Zum Fliegenden Hollander - The Flying Dutchman - is a pleasant, relaxed restaurant on the fringe of the Dutch Quarter. The building dates to 1736 and the restaurant to 1881, and the dining spaces feel historic: wood plank floors, exposed ceiling beams, soft lighting, and fireplace with Delft tiles. It's a good choice for travelers in search of Brandenburger specialties like roast pork rolled with plums and served with red cabbage and potato dumplings, stuffed cabbage with potatoes, or calves liver with apples and onions served with potato puree. And there are a number of fish dishes.
Most entrées are between €16-26, though there are often superb specials for €12-15. At lunch, soup and an entrée are offered for €8.50. Service is attentive and well-paced, and food is tasty and piled high.
Contact: Zum Fliegenden Hollander Benkertstrasse 5, D-14467 Potsdam, tel. +49/0331/27 50 30, fax 27 50 321
Rating: Quality 14/20 Value 14/20
