Ludwig's Club Cafe

Article from the Post-Tribune - August 05, 1998

Lifestyle

Ludwig's Menu...

as varied as its knick-knacks.

By Jean Starr Restaurant critic

Ludwig's Club Cafe in Hammond offers meals for every hour of the day at affordable prices.

Ludwig's is an example of how many items can be packed into a small space. Since the restaurant opened almost two years ago, an accumulation of bric-a-brac has settled in, from child sized musical instruments to movie posters, and even a picture of Mother Teresa. And the food offerrings are just as numerous and as varied.

From a humongous menu that included breakfast, lunch and dinner fare, four of us vacilated back and forth several times until we finally made our choices.

My mother ordered the small chef's salad and a cup of cream of broccoli soup. The soup was nice and thick with planty of broccoli, and the salad was so large I couldn't imagine how big the large size would be. For garlic lovers, Ludwig's homemade garlic dressing is strong enough to perfume the entire restaurant, or keep vampires away for days, depending on how you look at it.

The rest of us decided to go for the German entrees listed under the house specialties. We all shared an order of potato pancakes, which were almost as good as my mothers. Freshly shredded potatoes were formed into thin patties and fried to a golden brown, arriving at the table with cinnamon applesauce and sour cream. My dad ordered Ludwig's goulash. Tender beef chunks in a gravy heavily spiced with paprika were served with noodles and red cabbage that had been cooked in a creamy sauce.

The same red cabbage accompanied the sauerbraten, which I ordered along with the boiled potatoes. The word sauerbraten means literally "sour roast" but the sauce that lightly covered the lean slices of meat had a pleasant sweet-sour flavor. The only items on my plate that were a disappointment were the boiled potatoes, which were chalky and flavorless.

My regular dining companion chose Ludwig's glazed Kasserler. It was described as a smoked, boneless butt steak, but looked and tasted more like a thick slab of dry corned beef. The smothered sauerkraut that was served alongside was creamy and sweet, which helped to make up for the meat.

Omelettes, crepes and cheese blintzes, Bavarian apple pancakes and eggs Benedict are just a few of the breakfast offerings. A plethora of sandwiches that can be made on a croissant, a bagel, or pita bread share a page with hot sandwiches, clubs and appetizers. Ribeye, prime rib, pork chops, ribs, liver, meatloaf and turkey & dressing take up just a third of a page that also offers seafood, pasta and several types of salads.

A children's menu features entrees for ubder three dollars, and a list of senior citizens specials are served at certain times throughout the week.

I noticed that quite a few of our fellow diners seemed to be regulars. A quick scan of the menu and our bill told me that it would be easy to eat at Ludwig's three times a day for at least a month, never having the same entree twice, and remain economically solvent. Good food and service, value and variety always keeps them wanting more.