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Posts tagged ‘Mongolia’

Sachers Café, Conditorei, Bäckerei, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Café Sachers in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar is a great example of how much a charismatic owner can add to the whole Café atmosphere. Indeed, if you ever happen to visit this Café, make sure to ask for Brigitte Cummings as she is an extremely nice, well connected and chatty person and certainly will keep you entertained with great stories about her Café and about life as a German in Ulaanbaatar.

Having been a long term resident all over Asia, Brigitte became a co-founder of Café Sachers in 1997 by pure accident. Originally from a totally different trade and also not very fond of confectionery nor bread (apparently she hardly eats bread), she was asked by friends if she was interested in helping opening a bakery. Brigitte found great support in SES, Germany’s Senior Expert Service, an organisation that offers interested retirees the opportunity to pass on their skills and knowledge to others, both within Germany and abroad. Since Sachers foundation, a SES pensioner baker comes to Ulaanbaatar every couple of years and teaches local Mongolians over a 3-6 week period how to make bread.

Cafe Sachers Café Sachers is Mongolia’s first genuine German bakery and offers filter coffee, pretzels, pastries and excellent fresh bread. It has a nice outdoor patio and a lovely seating area inside, where you can enjoy reading the local English newspapers or German magazines. Over and above bakery products, the menu includes hot soups, sandwiches and other dishes. Most ingredients have to be imported from Germany, as according to Brigitte Mongolia’s suppliers tend to be a bit unreliable. Everything on the menu is made by the 7 people Sachers team. Only sausages are sourced from Khan holding (see Leibspeise article about Khan).

Cafe Sachers is not to be mistaken for Sacher’s (the one with the Sacher Torte). The Cafe derives its name from Helmut Sachers Kaffee, an Austrian coffee producer and bakery supplier. Most of Café Sachers clients are diplomats and foreigners, but also Mongolians started to have a great interest in German bread as many Mongolians studied in Germany. Leibspeise loves the cosy atmosphere in this little bakery. Make sure to try the Krapfen as Brigitte is very proud of them and believes they are better than in Germany (the dough is made by hand not by heavy bakery machines and therefore is much fluffier). Also have an eye for Bella’s Hundekuchen, Brigitte’s latest bakery invention for dogs.

Yummy Krapfen Café Sachers can be found on Baga Toiruu west, opposite the Central Bank of Mongolia, very close to the UB guesthouse.

Sachers Café, Conditorei, Bäckerei, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

September 15, 2009 at 9:08 am 21 comments

Khan Bräu, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

P1050050 Who would have thought that Leibspeise could find German food and beer in such a remote country like Mongolia? In fact, Klaus Bader and his Mongolian business partner were looking for a business idea in Mongolia while studying international marketing in Germany. After doing some research in Mongolia both were really disappointed by the quality and taste of local beers and decided to brew their own. This was the start of Khan Bräu in 1996 which then was the preferred beer of most foreigners, but now is very popular with locals as well.

As quality and taste of their beer was key to the team, they brought in a brewer from Germany who created their brew (pilsner and a dark) and trained the locals how to brew it. Apparently they bought all brewing machinery in Bavaria, put it on a train and send it all the way to Mongolia on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Since then the team has built a Brauhaus in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, and distribute their brew to another 10 restaurants and pubs in town.

As German beer goes well with German food, they also make delicious German bread and meat products (see picture). When you are in Ulaanbaatar, make sure to visit the Brauhaus while they do their “Bierboerse” (3 times a week). Like stocks on Wall Street you pay different prices for a Khan beer. It’s always packed, just make sure to order while the beer price is low.

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