Spend some time at this old-style cafe that serves up New South eats
There are two ways to look at food.
The first is as fuel to get you through the morning rush, two chem lectures and your too-long study session at the Thomas Cooper Library. The second way — the correct way — is to view food as an experience.
West Columbia’s Cafe Strudel is all about the experience.
They’re proud of their roots and it shows. From the moment you walk in the door, you know you’re in for something special. All along the front windows are Certified SC Grown stickers.
That is, if you can even see the windows — there’s hardly a time when Cafe Strudel isn’t jam-packed with people.
The furniture in the dining room is a charming mismatch of wood and metal, the result of two big moves since their opening in 1997. Pieces by local artists hang all over the walls in an inviting jumble. A huge case of pastries glows at the end of the full bar.
I’m almost too busy ogling at the lemon-berry mascarpone to hear my name called for a table. But I snap out of it just in time to sit down, stretch out and get pulled right back into a trance by the dinner menu. I immediately ask for an order of duck nachos. Crispy flour tortilla points covered in pulled duck breast, smoked Gouda Mornay and a sweet chili sauce. The chips are light and the Gouda is plenty. Don’t be afraid to get messy. It’s an excellent start to any meal that could easily act as a stand alone entrée.
But why would you only order an appetizer when Cafe Strudel serves seafood mac-n-cheese? You read that right. Seafood mac-n-cheese.
It’s a healthy helping of pasta topped with baked goat cheese, tender scallops and sautéed shrimp. And just when I think mac-n-cheese couldn’t get more savory, they put bacon on top of it all.
If you’re not feeling like seafood, you can always go for the chicken piccata with roasted seasonal vegetables. The wine sauce in this dish is so good that I mop it up with my cauliflower so none goes to waste.
And, of course, a meal at Cafe Strudel isn’t complete without a slice of its namesake — the apple strudel is kept cold until just before serving.
It’s placed on the griddle with a dollop of butter on top. It only takes about 10 minutes for the dough to become crisp and flake away from the bubbling apple filling, at which point, it’s topped with whipped cream and served.
Let me just say that it takes far more time to prepare the strudel than it does to devour it at the table.
Top it all off with a trip to their self-serve coffee bar, and slip into your post-dinner happy place.
When you want it:
After class for dinner, or Sunday brunch. (Hey, Parents Weekend IS coming up and you need a place to take your momma for pancakes ...)
More Like This
