The evening before the tasting I have just written about, we headed up to Angel’s Camden Passage to try a restaurant recommended by a friend who knows we love Austrian wines and Austrian cuisine. Kipferl is an Austrian restaurant and patisserie, during the day serving mostly traditional cakes and pastries of the type you get in Viennese cafés, and in the evening, serving the kind of food you get in a traditional beisl.

I don’t often do “restaurant reviews” these days. Social media and the internet are full of them. But…I haven’t seen Kipferl mentioned by anyone I know before that recommendation, and I suspect that it might appeal to a few of my regular readers at the very least.

I haven’t been down Camden Passage for over thirty years, and it has changed somewhat since those days, but Kipferl was easy to find, with its welcoming bright frontage on the south side of the alleyway. Inside, a large counter fronting the bar displays the cake selections, with the rest of the space given over to simple tables. The traditional feel is created via some wood-panelling at the back (essential for many, but not all, beisl in Austria), decorated with memorabilia which betrays the owner’s Tyrolean origins.

We had a relatively early dinner, and even on a Monday it was pretty packed by around eight o’clock. We skipped any starters because I wanted to have room for dessert. Last time I had a Wiener Schnitzel, at The Delauney on The Aldwich just a month or so ago, I was too full. In fact, the schnitzel here at Kipferl was delicious, with a lightness you don’t always get. It wasn’t a traditional “plate hanger”, coming in two pieces, but I’m not complaining. It was close to perfect, served (as I chose) with a trad’ potato salad. K had a Käsespätzle, I think equally delicious.

For these main courses we chose a wine we know, but one I think went perfectly with the food: Weingut Christ Wiener Gemischter Satz from Bisamberg. It’s a field blend of mostly Grüner and Roter Veltliner, Neuburger and Riesling, plus many others. Quite floral on the nose, with peachy fruit and just the right mix of fun and seriousness I look for in a WGS.

Kipferl imports wine, and describes itself as the largest importer of Austrian wines in the UK. Others might argue with that, but all the wines in the restaurant are available to take away. This wine is priced at a decent £32.50 in the restaurant (and is also available by the glass). Off the shelf it costs £26.50. Alpine Wines online lists the 2023 Wiener Gemischter Satz, along with a number of wines from this excellent producer, for £23.

Some of Kipferl’s takeaway delights

The desert I wanted to make room for is an Austrian classic. I think I rather disappointed the friend who recommended this place by not choosing to have the Esterhazy Torte, but I can almost never forego the opportunity to eat Kaiserschmarrn. This is a sweet pancake apparently loved by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Sprinkled with icing sugar, it is shredded with rasins (and sometimes redcurrants) with apple sauce. A crispy bottom makes the dish. First made for me by a colleague of my wife’s in Vienna many years ago, it has become a favourite, but this is actually the first time I’ve eaten it outside of Austria. I am not Austrian, but I thought it a very good effort.

Kaiserschmarrn…for those who don’t know

To accompany such a dessert required wine. Whilst I know the Christ wine well, I decided to try something new here. Stefan Potzinger’s family estate, established 1860, is best known for Sauvignon Blanc, which I’m sure you know performs spectacularly well in this region, in the right hands. He made this Trockenbeerenauslese 2017 in Gabersdorf, Südsteiermark, where he farms 17 hectares.

This was rather nice. Actually, I chose it partly because I don’t think I’ve had a sweet wine from Styria before, but it was a good choice for this dessert. Amber-gold in colour, it is low in alcohol (9% abv), quite sweet but not cloying, and whilst there is some acidity to balance the sweetness, the acids are smooth, not sharp. The overall impression, on both nose and palate, is of candied fruits.  I had to delve deep on the producer’s web site to find the grape variety, but I think this bottling is Sauvignon Blanc from the site called Ried Czamillionberg. Takeaway, this costs £27.50 for a half-bottle but the Kipferl web site suggests it has now sold out.

Really, to sum up, I’d say if you want fine traditional dining, you won’t find it here. If you want what I take to be pretty authentic Austrian food, with a menu full of hearty dishes that will be familiar to you if you’ve travelled much in Austria, this is well worth the trip. The atmosphere is even a little bit Austrian, and it is clearly somewhere Austrian nationals who live in London, or tourists feeling homesick, will head for. I’m very sure I’ll be heading back. Both for dinner and for mid-morning coffee and cake as well. In fact maybe I will combine it with a trip to The Sampler, nearby on Upper Street. I haven’t been there for a while.

Booking is online only and they will take your card details, so beware if you are a serial no-shower. Judging from what I’ve been told, and the evidence from when we were there, booking is recommended, unless perhaps you dine early.

Kipferl is at 20 Camden Passage, London N1 8ED, Tel: 020 7704 1555, www.kipferl.co.uk

Goodbye London for 2025