cafe crumble

I am a regular at cafe crumble, Kiesstr. 41 in Bockenheim. It is close to home, inexpensive, serves warm eggs and doesn't do buffet brunch on Sundays. The availability of English newspapers (the Guardian) and a nice summber courtyard (if you don't mind fighting off wasps) are extra incentives.

In a menu bursting with traditional cold German breakfasts I chose the "two eggs in a glass" (boiled eggs with the shells removed served in a glass - my substitute for poached eggs which are a rarity in Germany), a wholemeal bread roll (from the extras list) and some tomato to go with it. Impressively the waitress obliges with out comment even though this last item is not on the extra list. I chose a milchcafe instead of a cappuccino.

The eggs are cooked to perfection - not too runny not too hard (how do they remove the shells so flawlessly?) I would have preferred a multi-grain roll but confused the German words. The tomato would have been nicer fried. The milch café is big and, more importantly, tastes like coffee and not like a baby-cino that inadvertently found its way into a cup rather than a babies bottle.

The café is a simple unpretentious music free establishment, with the preparations going on largely behind the counter it can be a bit noisy (briefly). There is a community notice board filled with advertisements from art teachers and power points facilitate the use of lap-tops (but no internet connection). On a Tuesday morning it is at least a third full.

The total cost would have been (had I not gone for the second coffee) €6.20, with the meal costing €3.70 and the milch café €2.50.