I like a little competition: One day, a friend and I decided to look for the café or bakery that serves the best cake in town. My friend is the Cookie Monster in person. Apple pie or Cupcake, Croissant or Éclair, Baklava or Börek – he is devoted to pastries. To be honest, I prefer savoury pastries and am actually not a big fan of cake on a daily basis myself. But I do enjoy a juicy piece of homemade cake from time to time.
It did not take too much time until we eventually hit the jackpot. We skipped all the bakery chains right away, because the chance to get freshly self-made cake there is rather small. After five bakeries and cafés, we finally found the bestest cake in town. In the historic old town centre of Rostock there is a small café you might not recognize at first sight – ‘Café A Rebours’. They call themselves the “finest café in town” – the same is true for the cake.
Rhubarb or strawberry, almond or hazelnut, chocolate or cheese: The cake there is the finest you’ll get. If you follow Café A Rebours on Facebook, you can get a glimpse of their delicious variety.
The vibe is the complete opposite of the crowded and noisy atmosphere in a cafeteria. The furniture kind of reminds me of my grandma’s – in a good way. Once you made yourself comfortable, antique armchairs and comfy couches make it hard to get up again. Every now and then, you hear a gentle tingling and tangling of cutlery and cups, the rustling of a newspaper, cautious sipping or satisfied sighs.
At our first visit, I lost my heart to the cheesecake. Its colour was the perfect mixture of crème white and golden yellow. You can see that the cakes are homemade with lots of fresh ingredients and a huge amount of love stirred in. The cheesecake looked cheesy, but not the least bit cheesy – if you know what I mean. But it’s not only the appearance and the huge portions that are captivating: My teeth slipped through the sweet and creamy top of the cheesecake all the way through to the fluffy cake base. As I mentioned, I am not too much of a cake lover, but when it comes to homemade sweets, I tend to lose my mind all together.
The boss and waiter is at least the most pleasant fellow on the planet. One time I enjoyed a glass of red wine with my girlfriend and he served us a cup of coffee, saying: “Coffee blends so well with the red wine, you have to try it.” Just like that. And he was absolutely right: The aromatic taste of the coffee in combination with the slight flavour of chocolate in the red wine was overwhelming. Incidences like that one separate a common café from your favourite café. Next time, I am going to try the chocolate cake. Yummy!
