I find myself looking for excuses to get to Münzstrasse, just so I have a reason to stop in at Oliv Café, which has swiftly become one of my favorite cafés in Berlin. The most favorite? It's possible. Sleek and simple, with an eye towards design, and with people in the kitchen who are very good at what they do, it's such a lovely place.
I like stopping in for a cup of Kusmi tea and an afternoon snack, like crustless German cheesecake baked in a Bundt pan or a crusty fruit crumble, individually baked in a tall, thin Weck jar. But it's also a great place for lunch, either in the form of a simple sandwich (a lovely, crusty roll, say, topped with thin slices of good cured meat, a wafer of radish and a small tangle of shredded beet) or a wedge of quiche, with zucchini, for example, that's rather flat and not too rich and sporting a thin, tender crust that I wish I could recreate at home.
(I didn't think the soup, over there on the right, was much to write home about. It tasted store-bought or canned or something in between.) I like that the tiny salad that comes on the side of the quiche is dressed with a good vinaigrette and toasted sunflower seeds.
The other week, as we were paying the bill, we decided - on a whim - to get something sweet for dessert. By the cash register was a glass cookie jar filled with cookie orbs, coated in powdered sugar. I thought they were going to be like polverones, but they turned out to be almond cookies, moist and fragrant, and in the middle - surprise! - was a candied cherry. I always thought cherries and almonds together were sort of a cliché. Silly me. The cookie was just big enough for two bites and a very satisfying end to the meal.
Oliv Café
Münzstrasse 8
10178 Berlin
(030) 892 065 40
