Grand Cafe Planie, Stuttgart

On Thursday I headed into Stuttgart to meet a friend for coffee, and I was pretty excited as she is local and I was relatively certain she would know where to find a good coffee in the heart of the city, Konigstrasse.

She did have a place in mind, unfortunately they permitted smoking inside and with a 6 month old child in tow this is never a good idea.  We switched to Plan B and after a short walk off the main shopping strip, we walked past the schloss garten and down to Grand Cafe Planie.

From the moment you walk in the door, it's like you've been transported back to another era, perhaps the 50's or 60's.  There are huge murals on the walls, depicting what I interpret as Old Parisian style.  The decor is red and beige with booths all along the walls, and a special 'lovers' booth with lots of red heart shaped cushions and a curtain that can be pulled shut. We of course did not take this booth!

The waiter was dressed in a crisp white shirt, black suit pants and a very smart black waistcoat.  His hair was slicked back and he looked every bit like an elegant 50's waiter. After perusing the drinks menu, more than 20 pages, we decided on the Cafe au Lait Planie Grande.

When you enter the cafe, there is an enormous selection of magnificent looking cakes, and I simply couldn't resist ordering a slice.  I carefully, after much consideration, selected a raspberry cheesecake, and the slice I received was actually almost an entire cake in itself - it was huge!

The coffee and cake arrived at the same time and I was beginning to become a little taken by our waiter.  He cooed at (and with) the baby, was friendly and managed to bring our order promptly and altogether.

This is the first time I have experienced this kind of cafe au lait - the coffee was served in a small jug, the frothed milk in another jug and you poured the two elements into your own large cup.  I like the idea of this, as you can add as much milk and coffee as you please to suit your own tastes, however in this case, the coffee was weak and watery and no matter how little milk I added, it just tasted like watered down coffee.  This was a huge disappointment as when served, it looked marvellous.  Aside from the weakness of the coffee, neither the coffee nor the milk were hot enough, so not only was it weak, it was also lukewarm.

The cake on the other hand, was splendid!  It took me most of the morning to finish it, but the bottom third of the cake - the cheesecake - was creamy and flavoursome, and the top two thirds were raspberries set in gelatine and also full of flavour.  Sprinkled on top was some icing (powder) sugar and almond slivers - delicious!

It has to be said that while the coffee was mediocre, at best, the cake and the atmosphere in this cafe were great.  The murals were interesting to see, the waiter was charming and the cakes are as you would expect in Germany - extravagent, sweet and delicious.

Rating
Atmosphere                           4.5/5
Coffee bean                           2.5/5
Milk                                        3.5/5
Overall Rating                      3.5/5