Sgaminegg, Berlin

Sgaminegg
Seelower Str. 2
10439 Berlin 

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: 10 euros. Less than.

The Background: Sgaminegg is another one of Sylee's recommendations. And again in one of those weird sorts of ways, it turns out to be extremely convenient to my German class. So I wandered over after class. The cafe is located in Prenzlauer Berg, where every female seems to be pregnant, and every time I see an attractive older man riding a bicycle, it has a kiddie seat on the back. I'm not imagining this…My Time Out Berlin (actually, Alice's Time Out Berlin), has a whole section on Prenzlauer Berg's baby boom. So when I enter Sgaminegg, I'm not surprised to see not one but something like 5? 6? infants under 6 months. This is not a bad thing. It's just different…that's all.

The menu is small and compact and breakfast-oriented. This worries me because I want lunch. Not to worry. They have two lunch specials on the very small blackboard dangling above the counter. One is a spinach casserole of some sort. The other is a soup. I go for the spinach casserole.

The Music: I wish I could have recorded it. Wonderfully low-fi, and at just the right, light volume. Very cozy. I was glad it wasn't raining, but it was that type of music I like to play on rainy days or Sunday mornings.

The Food: The food arrives and it's a spinach-lovers paradise. This is good because I like spinach. A lot. The dressing on the salad is fantastic. I want to ask if they've used sesame oil or peanut oil somehow because it tastes the rightest bit nutty.The spinach casserole (roll, more like) is fantastic. It seems to be a sheet of phyllo dough that's rolled it's way through a whole lot of spinach that's been lightly seasoned. And then cut into generous pieces. It makes me happy. I seriously consider ordering another. But I'm full. Very full.

The German Homework: Ver- verbs. I did well.

The Verdict:  Sgaminegg is one of those places that keeps things simple. A small, compact menu. A neighborhood place with a soft soundtrack. It's not a destination really–but it is, just the same, very very good. When Sylee explained it to me over email, she said,

"…is just an absolute gem. It's nothing spectacular, it's just deeply
good. (And *very* affordable, though they use mostly organic/"Slow"
products.)"

Deeply good is a good way of describing Sgaminegg. A quiet neighborhood place. A place to go with your newspaper, a book, or your laptop. I wish I had taken more photos of the inside because it had this quiet thrift-shoppy simple and low-maintenance vibe to it that I kinda liked.