Gaffel Haus Köln

 

 

 

 

 

Great atmosphere in this place ! went here for the beginning of my Stag due.
The vibe is good, loads of people enjoying themselves, the Football was on the telly and everyone there was getting involved for all the different teams shown.
the Frueh Kolsch came out in a fresh cask brought to the table with plenty of glasses, so a team member had to pour for us, very different (that's me as an visiting Englishman).
Service was a little slow, not enough staff for the amount of people, you always had to rudely call a waiter over , who were all busy all the time. But whatever you ordered did come within a minute !
Selection of drink is only Haus brewed stuff including snaps/spirits, this is typical german. Kolsch and snapps is fine though ! try the Papa Rhein snaps ! The food menu was big, plenty of choice, mainly all Potato/chips as side with the main being some sort of MASSIVE peace of Pork, schnitzel, Haxe, Burgers, frikadelle, you name it !
Great place, good atmosphere, great food, and quality drink ! worth popping in if you're near by. Its right next to the Cathedral btw !

 

 

Arguably the most classic spot to hit in the city of Cologne. The Gaffel Haus benefits not only by having a large biergarten on its patio, but its location and scenery around the patio are worth a thousand words, because it is just beautiful wherever you look. The waiters bring out the beer at a reasonable speed with their wooden circular platter which holds the 200 ml glasses into place. Regarding beer, it's a lot like Howard Johnson's Ice Cream Parlor from the movie "Blazing Saddles"; there's only one flavor. That said, having fresh Gaffel Kolsch is a good thing. Each glass goes for €1.70.

Go for the beer, go for the atmosphere. Two reasons to check out the Gaffel Haus.

We ate dinner here, during the Christmas rush, so keep that in mind. We entered, trying to find where we were to request a table, or even where the dining area might be. Busy servers shoved their way past us, rudely, while we stood well inside the bar area by the stairs that go up to the second floor. We kept trying to ask them were we were to eat, but they just ignored us, rudely shoving us aside (unlike any of the other brauhauses we've dined at during 2 weeks in Koln/Cologne).

We left, and finally returned because all of the other brauhauses were over-seated already. I shoved my way to the rear of the building, and finally discovered the dining area aka the restaurant. We were told "2 minutes, maybe 5." The server was kind enough to bring us 2 Gaffel kolsch's while we waited (as were half a dozen others, waiting for a table). About 10 minutes later, we were finally seated (the 2 of us, seated at the same table with 3 strangers, not unsual here). The server was attempting to be helpful but he was overworked and sweating like crazy.

Like many other restaurants here in Cologne during November & December, they had a few wild meat selections- but the ones here weren't as varied. We'd already had our fill of those, so I ended up with a steak, my wife with schweinschnitzel. The food was pretty much "fair to middling" in quality and taste. We both had potato soup (kartofelzuppe), which was creamy and reasonably good, nothing remarkable. The restaurant was so busy that it was difficult to even get my kolsch's refilled-- and that's saying a lot, here in Cologne. Overall, "a reasonable meal and a price better than some others" locally.

Housed on the ground floor of a very handsome-looking building on the south-east corner of the old market square in Cologne is the Gaffel Haus.

On my three visits to this Kölsch outlet I spent my entire time in the "Schwemme" area; this is the spacing immediately to the left as one enters the establishment where the main bar is located. I have been twice when the atmosphere has been casual and a bit subdued; one another occasion later at night, the area was lively and conversational. Here, customers stand or lean while downing the slim glasses of the medium-light, somewhat-fruity beer...

Schwemme's seem to work best in Cologne for a multitude of reasons: One, the beers served are fruity and light and fresh and prove to be very sociable and darn drinkable(!); another factor is they are served in tall, slim .2 liter "Stange" glasses and (for the most part) are continually served until you indicate you are finished; and finally, all the above characteristics make for very, very convenient sampling among the many, many unique Kölsch outlets around town. Indeed, this is one of the great things about Köln!

As for the Gaffel beer: This Koelsch is a "medium" offering in terms of lightness and fruitiness. As for the establishment: Though these scores may not be on the very high side, nonetheless this place is worthy of a stop if in the district of the Alt-Markt, if not just to sample one or two glasses of Gaffel Kölsch for comparison.