Photo by Mark Leffingwell

Erhard Bochert, owner of Erhard's European Bakery, turns palmiers, a puffed pastry rolled in sugar, while working in the restaurant's kitchen in Boulder.

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Food 2.5 stars

Pastries 3.5 stars

Service 2 stars

Ambience 3.5 stars

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Erhard's European Cafe is the real deal. The cafe is run by Erhard and Jolanta Bochert, who are from Germany and Poland, respectively. They have brought a taste of the Old World to Boulder's Meadows shopping center, where Erhard's is located.

The cafe's croissants are flaky and light. Frankfurters are real frankfurters, without that chemical hot dog taste. They're juicy with good snap to their casings. The sides on lunch plates are simple but appealing: gerkhins, potato salad, bright tomato wedges. Even the décor will be familiar to anyone who's spent time in Germany or Austria. The windows have pretty printed valances, while sunlight streams across wooden furniture. And then there are the warnings posted in various spots, with their stern tone. "Sorry, we do not accept credit cards." "Attention!!! Coffee refill is $1.00 each. Please pay the cashier."

If you've spent time in central Europe, you'll take these signs as a good omen. A picturesque atmosphere and a bunch of regulations -- what could be more German? They suggest the place is authentic. And it is.

A glass display case holds the pastries: croissants, éclairs, apple strudel, Florentine cookies, hamantaschen. There are pumpkin tarts and key lime tarts. There are miniature Linzer tortes with latticed crusts. During the holidays there is Christmas stollen, a German fruit and nut bread made with almond paste. But whenever you visit, there are plenty of enticing treats to go along with your cup of Brewing Market coffee.

The pastries, in fact, are the real reason to come here. The savory fare at Erhard's is tasty but conventional. The chicken salad ($5.95-$7.95 for sandwich, depending on bread) combines mayonnaise, chicken and red grapes in standard proportions. The potato salad is a familiar celery-and-mustard variety that arrives in scoops. The tuna in the tuna salad sandwich ($5.95-$7.95) is seasoned with dill. Sandwiches are carefully prepared, but aside from the croissant you can get them on -- which is puffy with a crisp, buttery crust -- you can easily find similar dishes elsewhere.

The two sausage lunches ($6.95 each) are more distinctive. Erhard's gets both their frankfurters and their Polish sausage from Denver's Continental sausage, a specialty butcher known for its authentic meats and cheese. For value, I recommend the franks, since you get two of them and only one of the slightly bigger Polish sausages for the same price. But both versions pair well with Dijon mustard and the cafe's German-style baguette, which is sturdier and has more seasonings than the French variety.

Of the desserts, the croissants are a favorite. The café offers butter croissants ($2.50), chocolate croissants and strawberry croissants ($2.85 each); all are excellent. The miniature Linzer tortes ($4.75) are another fine choice. They have a raspberry filling with enough lemon juice so the torte is authentically tart. Erhard's makes their crust with sugar-cookie dough and ground almonds, so it's dense and nutty. As for the apple strudel ($3.75), it has a shiny crust and an aromatic filling of apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. You can get it with "Schlag" (whipped cream) for no extra charge.

My favorite of the pastries I sampled, though, was the palmier ($2.85). This dessert is like a big cookie. It's made by sprinkling granulated sugar on puff pastry, rolling up the dough, and cutting it into slices. The slices are then baked until the sugar has caramelized and the dough is golden and crisp. The result is a buttery, sugary, airy confection that I'll take over biscotti with my coffee any day.

The cafe's eating area is small but light-filled. You order at the counter. The sausages take 15 minutes to prepare, but everything else is made right away. When I visited the cafe with a friend, our service was mixed. On one visit, our server got busy preparing a frankfurter lunch and forgot about both a sandwich and a dessert that we'd ordered. Most patrons probably just request a pastry or a sandwich, so if you want more --we'd asked for two lunches and three pastries -- it's wise to stay on top of your order.

Nonetheless, pastry aficionados will find the cafe worth a trip. The sweets are consistently delicious. The reason for this isn't hard to figure out: Erhard is one of those lifelong practitioners who has been perfecting his craft for decades. In Germany he completed a long apprenticeship to become a baker, which involved three years of technical culinary school and several more years of on-the-job training. Since moving to Boulder, he has worked in many bakeries. Back in the '70s, for instance, he owned Gerard's, which he recalls as "the only place in Boulder to get real croissants and French bread" at the time.

So the next time you have a leisurely morning, head for the shopping center at Baseline and Foothills. There are few better ways to enjoy your coffee and morning paper than with one of Erhard's flaky croissants.

Contact Camera Dining Critic Meg Tilton at boulderdining@gmail.com.