Berlin Inn

04/25/03 from The Oregonian's Diner

Pretend you were blessed with a doting German grandmother. The home-style cooking lovingly overflowing from her warm kitchen would taste like this.

Cuisine: German.

Atmosphere: Subtract the neighborhood, with its bland mix of retail, residential and industrial, and the Berlin Inn is what Granny's gingerbread country house might look like. Walk up the white-painted stairs and you'll leave noisy Powell Boulevard behind and be transported to a Black Forest Gasthaus, cozy with bric-a-brac. Perch at the dainty wine bar while sampling the inn's German white wines by the glass. Why, there's even a bakery in the basement.

Menu: Six appetizers ($7.25-$13.50); four salads ($3.95-$9.50); five sandwiches ($6.95-$9.95); 13 dinner entrees ($11.25-$23.75).

On the cheap: The Hungarian-trained chef's labor-intensive dinner preparations don't exactly lend themselves to bargain dining. Look to the luncheon menu, which is offered in the evenings, too, for lesser-priced sandwiches and entrees.

Must-have dishes: If there weren't so many other reasons to make the trip, the potato pancakes alone would clinch it: light, crisp, golden, with a primary, earthy taste of tubers; mildly smoky Gouda cheese fondue makes for delightful dipping with cubes of bread or apple, vegetables, or slices of grilled spicy beer sausage; a grilled porkchop with stone-ground mustard sauce is a nice alternative to the wursts and schnitzels. Remember that bakery? Apricot-marzipan tart, cherry streusel and chocolate-orange cake are sweet sensations; if you neglected to save room (and who could blame you), get dessert takeaway.

Reason to go: Done right, as it is here, German food can be complex and even subtle. Berlin Inn's cooking is never greasy, as all of the frying is done in healthful canola oil. And the hospitality is endearing.

Drawbacks: Just like at Granny's, there's no place to hide. Better to take noisy kiddies to rambunctious Der Rheinlander than to bring them to the intimate confines of the inn.

Hours: Lunch -- 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; dinner -- 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays; brunch -- 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays.

Extras: Beer and wine; major credit cards; no disabled access; street parking; no smoking.

The numbers: 3131 S.E. 12th Ave.; 503-236-6761.

-- Shawn Vitt