y. All seem to be able at Pfordte's to give orders in
their own language, and find themselves understood. English seems as
much spoken here as German.
On the right of the entrance-hall, a fine staircase leads to the first
floor, where are rooms for private parties of any number, from two to a
hundred. Hardly any important public dinner is held at Hamburg which
does not take place at Pfordte's. The cuisine is perfect. The menus are
original, the wines are of the best. If you are at Hamburg in the
proper season, do not fail at Pfordte's to order oysters, trout from the
hill streams, partridge with apricots, and _truffes en serviette_.
To the above there is but little to add except that there is a certain
cosiness about Pfordte's, a sense of personal supervision, which is
difficult to define but which everybody who dines there feels and
appreciates. One Londoner put it thus, referring to the little rooms,
"It's what Kettner's ought to be." I append a menu of a dinner of the
day at Pfordte's, there being a choice of four or five dishes in each
course. The charge is 6 marks. This bill of fare is by no means an
exceptionally good one. Indeed it is below the average rather than
above. The "English" adjective to the celery is used to distinguish it
from celleriac or "Dutch" celery, which is largely used in salads in
North Germany. The _Junger Puter_ is a very little turkey poult. It is
to the turkey what the _poussin_ is to the fowl:--
Potage a la Stuart.
Potage creme d'orge a la Viennoise.
Potage puree de concombres au cerfeuil.
Consomme Xavier.
Filets von Seezungen (soles) a la Joinville.
Steinbutt (turbot) sauce moscovite.
Rheinlachs kalt, sauce mayonnaise.
Boeuf braise a l'alsacienne.
Rehbruecken (venison) a la Conti.
Lammviertel a la Provencale.
Roast-beef a la Clamart.
Artischoken sauce hollandaise.
Salat braisirt mit jungen Erbsen.
Engl. Sellerie mit Mark.
Junge Flageolets a la Maitre.
Spanishe Pfefferschoten farcirt.
Junge Ente (duckling).
Rebhuhn (partridge).
Junge Puter.
Escarolle-Salat mit Tomaten.
Erdbeer-Eiscreme panache Fruchttorte.
Kase.
Dress clothes are not _de rigueur_ when dining at Pfordte's. Bordeaux
wines are a speciality of the
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