Review: Café am Waldsee, Zehlendorf

As I have mentioned before, I love going to museums and galleries with good cafés. Obviously I love going to museums and galleries generally but it's so much more enjoyable when there's somewhere nice to have a spot of lunch or afternoon tea while you're there.

That was definitely the case recently when I took a little trip to the Haus am Waldsee down in the deep southwest of Berlin. Somehow this lovely exhibition space had hitherto passed me by but when I read about Werner Aisslinger's Home of the Future show I thought I might pop over there sometime; once I read that there was an in-house café I decided to go that day.

In a rather wet and dreary week I didn't have any great expectations for the weather, and it was pretty grey and miserable on the way there; but suddenly, as Coffee Boy and I made our way into the house, the sun peeped out. The cafe itself has a nice simple interior painted and papered in lovely Farrow and Ball colours (a little bit of English home away from home) with a black and white checkerboard tiled floor. But with the sun making an all-too-rare appearance we decided we'd sit outside.

There was homemade soup on offer and five different homemade cakes, so after much deliberating and chatting to the friendly woman behind the counter, we decided to skip lunch and plunge straight into the sweet stuff.

I chose a pear cake, which looked like a cheesecake but was actually just lots of fresh delicious pear on a pastry base held together with a stiff crème patissière; CB, not for the first time, went for a Cherry Streusel (I've mentioned the German delight that is streusel elsewhere) that was equally tasty. I realise I'm running the risk of having to change my name here but I again went for a latte to go with my slice. But you know, when in Rome and all that.

Goods in hand we made our way down the steps and into the beautiful sculpture garden. There are tables on the terrace at the back of the house but we chose a lovely spot on the lawn in the garden itself. Sitting there under the warm sun, surrounded by interesting sculptures (including one by Thomas Rentmeister made of a number of slowly rusting washing machines, which was a little too reminiscent of the scene in many a British lay-by to be what I would call beautiful...), looking down on the lake, eating really good homemade cake - well, it was of those perfect summer moments that you want never to end.

Just as we finished up though the spell was broken. Big drops of rain started to come down and by the time we'd walked to the lake's edge it was time to make a dash back to the house to avoid a soaking. Luckily the exhibition was really interesting and we had the place virtually to ourselves. Being able to pause by the open windows and look out on the summer rain on the lush garden made it all the more enjoyable.

Having discovered Haus am Waldsee I'll definitely be heading back again soon. Whatever the exhibition I'll be tempted to give it a go as the space is really lovely and the opportunity to eat homemade cake in either the sculpture garden or the cute little cafe is not to be missed. Another triumph for the museum café!

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