A comfortable neighborhood bar and hangout.
It is consummately German - but the vibe is similar to that of an English village pub.
People entertain their kids.
They eat dinner.
They drink and play cards.
They enjoy the garden.
The place mostly attracts locals, although there are a smattering of theater goers for the decrepit culture space across the plaza.
German distilled spirits are disappearing from many bars
With the increased availability and interest in globalized whiskeys, tequilas and gins.
Finding a good German mark, or schnapps at all, be it cheapo or decent, is increasingly hard to do.
They did have Slyrs, a surprisingly decent German Scotch.
Hell, if the Japanese can make scotch and have people pay a fortune for it, why not the Germans as well?
* * *
Late Spring is the asparagus season in Germany.
Chalkboard menus fill with asparagus dishes served four or five different ways.
German asparagus is white asparagus
Which is more substantial and less tasty.
So the asparagus menu is typically serving something with less flavor than a potato.
One standard item is an asparagus soup.
This needs all of the fixings that make potato soup interesting, like bacon, leeks and a ton of cream.
Asparagus soup does not get that.
I avoided the asparagus soup and had an open faced asparagus sandwich instead.
This was served on German korn bread - the thin heavy stuff that makes everything wonderful.
You can serve gassed commercial tomatoes on German korn bread and that will be a surprisingly good meal.
Their asparagus sandwich had lots of asparagus, the bread, some onions and chutney holding the concoction together.
Never say no to a good chutney. The chutney went well with the korn bread, and the asparagus was neutral enough to not need anything.
My wife got some special plate modified to get the meat and the dairy off.
She was happy, but you would probably not order what she ordered if you went there.
* * *
Overall, the room is wonderful,
The ambience is homey,
The drinks are great,
And the food is nice enough.
You can do worse.
[The godawful dance performance at the culture space really WAS worse.
We should have just stayed in the bierhalle and enjoyed life.] read more
