dessert/german: i recommend WENDEL'S GERMAN BAKERY AND BISTRO

WENDEL'S GERMAN BAKERY AND BISTRO
No. 28, Lane 260, GuangFu S. Rd.
(02) 2711-8919

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: wendels-bakery.com English, Chinese and German

hours: 9AM - 10PM

$-$$

visits reviewed: 12/7/2010 and 5/5/2011

The first time I tried anything of Wendel's was at one of the TAS Food Fairs, where I devoured a small plate of sauteed mushrooms after waiting in a long line. So when I saw the familiar looking logo in the DaAn district, I was pleasantly surprised and excited to get to try out more from Taipei's famous German bakery.

I've never been to Wendel's bistro and bakery location in Tienmu, but Wendel's location in DaAn (newly opened last November) is a very enticing space with one side dedicated to freshly baked goods to eat there or take away and the other to seating which fills up very quickly these days. We were hoping to grab a table to sit on a weekday afternoon, but the place was packed.

So of course, I ended up browsing. A great place to browse for gifts or desserts to bring over to a friend or relatives house, including chocolates...

fruit tarts and cookies....

huge slices of Vienna apple cake, berry almond pudding, blueberry crumb cake or banana cake...

house specialty bretzels (aka pretzels)...

or an array of breads,  buns, danishes or almond kringles...

Even though I was full from lunch elsewhere, I still ended up with a bag full of goodies. Wendel's banana bread was marked a best seller and for good reason, the sweetness comes from mashed bananas and was moist and cake-like. I didn't like the olive focaccia, as much as the olive bread from Maison Keyser or Original Bakery, as I found it a tad dry, but I found myself addicted to the bretzel which was chewy and salty.

I definitely want to check out the dine in menu sometime, either for breakfast or lunch. Wendel's also offers seasonal specials, such as christmas cookies, turkey baskets and gingerbread house activities for Christmas, or special cakes for Mother's Day.

OTHER LOCATIONS:

No.5, Dexing West Rd.
Tienmu, Taipei
(02) 2831-4592 - deli
(02) 2831-4415 - bistro
MRT: Zhishan

Takashimaya branch, B1
No. 55, Sec. 2, Zhong Cheng Rd.,
Shilin
(02) 2834-5447

Lolli Gelato Q-square branch, B3
No. 1, Sec. 1, Cheng de Rd.,
(02) 2552-7926