What: The Pork Schnitzel, Salzberg Style
Where: Café Scandia, 356 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
How much: $17.95; also includes soup and salad
Contact: 760-327-2036; www.cafescandia.com
Why: It’s moist yet not greasy, with lots of flavor.
The good folks at Café Scandia have not put that much effort into signage.
The signs outside look like someone went to Home Depot, bought some stick-on letters, and hastily placed them on the signs’ surfaces. Ironically, the restaurant could use some good signage: It’s in an easy-to-miss spot tucked away in a small, easy-to-miss Indian Canyon Drive shopping center. If not for a small A-frame sign on the sidewalk, I’d have never known Café Scandia existed.
However, chef Erik Pedersen and company do put effort into their food—and this is a very good thing.
The comfy, if no-frills, restaurant (look at the plate above for the very definition of “no frills”) offers no appetizers and just a dozen or so entrées, all of which come with a salad (which is small and … well, frill-less) and a cup of soup included in the price, which is $16.95, $17.95 or $18.95. In other words, there are even no-frills prices—though the fresh seafood of the day and an occasional special may deviate from those frill-less norms.
When the pork schnitzel is this fantastic, though, who needs frills? The cutlet had been tenderized and coated in a batter that was moist without being greasy. It was all topped with a brown gravy that looked, well, generic. But the resulting combo of meat, breading and sauce was perfect.
While the accompanying vegetables and mashed potatoes were decidedly ho-hum, a round of applause goes to the red cabbage, which brought acid and sweetness to the schnitzel party that made the entrée better.
The schnitzel and cabbage was simple. Down-home. And to use the phrase just one more time: no frills. But, oh, was it delicious!