Gourmet Strudel & Cafe — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

I had the great fortune to try the best Apple Strudel I ever had, from a very talented Chef, from Romania who had recently opened a fine dining restaurant in St. George, Utah, where I resided in nearby Hurricane for close to a decade. Surprisingly enough, this Chef and his very cool family, had opened a true special kind of place, and to say he definitely had the skills to pay the bills, would be an understatement. Among the dishes we enjoyed, he presented an Apple Strudel at the end, that to this day has not met its equal. Since that culinary ecstasy I always keep searching for another exceptional Apple Strudel, to no avail. From the perfect ingredient list, to the succulent delicate dough enveloping the creation, Apple Strudel, when prepared correctly, is a thing to behold. Enter Gourmet Strudel & Cafe, in Old World Village, in Huntington Beach, CA. 11 reviews claimed this place was truly special, with a talented baker(s), and a specially good Apple Strudel! Of course I, we, were excited. How about an outing for some wonderful Schnitzels, Bratwurst, and a delicious Strudel?! The Gourmet Strudel & Cafe was closed when we arrived, so we went across the street, a skip and hop, and went to the Old World German restaurant, to cross off our list the Schnitzel, Bratwurst, etc. Let me just say the food could have been a lot better. After lunch the Gourmet Strudel & Cafe was open, and that was a bummer, for we had also purchased pastries, bread and strudel, on the bakery side of the Old World German restaurant, and guess what? Turned out everything we purchased there was very tasty. I decided to also buy the well spoken of Apple Strudel from across the tiny street at Gourmet Strudel & Cafe, with a clear sign in the front announcing it was the sole maker, of this, supposedly great version of Apple Strudel. We ended buying 3, at almost $10 a pop. There were other goodies on display, but since real money had already been spent at the other place, Apple Strudel was the choice, freshly warm out of the oven. The crust was made of Filo dough, which upon further reflection, should have been food for pause. Not one thing made this strudel stand out. Not at all a masterpiece of the genre, and it also decreased its appeal on the second, and third day. Simply stated, average at best. Those 11 5 Star reviews made us believe this purchase was going to be, at the very least, better than ordinary, and that was not the case. Filo turns to wet dough, and has very few attributes besides being paper thin. The ingredients lacked the whole army, and the overall flavor was rather disappointing. One sees the stars, and because of our good nature, we believed how special this bakery was. Ich wünschte, es wäre besser, aber es...

Gotta try the apple strudels!

This is a small bakery across from Old World restaurant. I’m not a strudel person but we went in and the friendly lady sold us on it. I took a bite and went back for more! Apparently these are Hungarian style that uses phyllo dough instead of the thicker pie crust. So light and flaky! Even though they’re topped with some powdered sugar, they’re not too sweet in my opinion. She also mentioned she uses fiji apples. All in all, recommended! $9 ea.

I also tried the croissant and it was not bad, $3.

They also have seasonal plum strudel...

A Wonderful tiny chocolate shop in the middle of old world village.

Looks like it's one woman doing most of the work, and it's all high quality. She makes fantastic chocolates and treats. We have not tried the strudel yet but we will definitely be going back for that another time.

Don't be thrown off by how tiny the shop is, it packs a ton of flavor and a lot of personality. It is well worth the visit, and a GREAT place to get something special for someone you care about.

The Shop takes cash...