Cafe Mozart Restaurant
829 Front Street
Leavenworth, Washington
(509) 548-0600

I’ve had German food before and usually, never found it hugely spectacular. Maybe that’s because there’s only one place back home (The Rathskeller) that I’m aware of which never really exemplified the best of what this regional style of food offers. To really enjoy the basics, I had to find more than just the differences in how the food is cooked.

While in a tourist town like Leavenworth, I set aside my reservations and parlayed into a restaurant named after my favourite composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. With a bit of Yvonne’s heritage in tow, she could tell me more about the intricacies of what makes a good sauerkraut.

What I was really after was an authentic German beer! I tried a sweet Hefeweizen ($5.95) wheat beer. The amount of head I got on this drink was sizable enough to make even the small whiskers of my moustache tingle. It had a light and lively taste on the first sip, and I had to slow down in order to enjoy it with my meal.

While I opted for the Lunch Special ($8.95), a Grilled Apple Pork Bratwurst with a potato pancake and red cabbage, I thought it’s best to get back to the basics than going crazy. There was a lot more I could’ve ordered. But since I live in a tourist town too, it’s easy to recognize what are dressed up goodies than something simple to enjoy.

I found myself enjoying the warm sauerkraut. As expected, the mild taste of apples danced in my tongue. I appreciated the inclusion of a uncooked piece of red cabbage for comparison. Best of all, when combined with the flavours of the bratwurst, there was the beginnings of a new symphony to enjoy.

They should’ve given me more pieces of uncooked cabbage, but that would’ve defeated the purpose of what cooked sauerkraut should do. I found it complementing the potato pancake. It was slightly undercooked, perhaps to allow the flavours of the starch to come through.

The tastes were pleasant. While I’m no Mozart with only three different pieces of food to compose with, the music I was hearing along with the late morning atmosphere was very enjoyable. We beat the lunch crowd as they started to trickle in.

3½ Blokes out of 5