George S.
Yelp
I've lived in the area off and on for 20 years and this place always intrigued me but I could never convince my wife to go, fatty German food not her thing. But the lot is always full and solid 4 star Yelp reviews so when I was driving my Mom home from the airport after a 15 hour flight from Dubai and I knew she was hungry I said " what about German?"
"Sounds great!" She said. Big mistake.
Let's start with the positive. The atmosphere is truly remarkable. Cozy golden glow in the dining room with a really nice bar end tables that are not too crowded. They have an excellent beer selection. If this is what attracts you, this looks to be a great place to have a pint or two ....or four....or
The food menu is mostly German traditional dishes with a few European dishes and burgers thrown in.
Unfortunately, from our experience, I cannot recommend the food. Now I do plan on giving this place one more try, mostly out of curiosity something has to account for those four and five star yelp reviews, but I will share here our experience and a fair warning
First, we tried the potato pancakes like others on this thread it's curious they're not offered as a side but honestly they're not much more expensive and so it's no big deal. No one says you can't order it and treat it like a side.
However, this recipe is unique, they're much thinner than I've seen anywhere else. And it seemed as if they were heavy on the garlic, not bad by itself but a bit unusual. You know I found them rather mediocre. I like my potato pancakes, a little bit thicker, and a little bit more potato tasting.
Next, I had the salad and my mother had the soup. She said the soup was nothing special. And I found the salad so fresh, which is a very positive thing, a bit uninspired itself. Sensually a few different types of lettuce, croutons, and maybe a dash of onion? Not really sure because I didn't really see any other vegetables.
For an entrée, my mother got the combination plate with roasted pork chicken, schnitzel, mashed potatoes, and soup. It was really nothing special or outstanding about the taste. Pretty bland actually
The biggest disappointment was my dish. I ordered the Szegedin Goulash which, if you read the description on the menu, it says, "chunks of lean pork loin in a creamy stew of Hungarian paprika, fresh sauerkraut, heavy cream and our own blend of spices". What it should have said, "a stew of fresh sauerkraut, with bits of pork loin."
I do like sauerkraut, and if you read my other reviews, I love spicy, but this was the most tart yucky tasting sauerkraut I've had in a long time and after two or three bites of pork loin I struggled to find anymore. It is now about seven hours later, and I can still taste it in my mouth and feel it in my digestive system. If you grew up with this sort of thing, you might actually love it. But though I grew up with similar Eastern European food, I just found the various taste combinations a weird and misconstrued version of the original. I had nothing in Germany or Europe, quite like this.
That said, my beer was excellent and the place was super crowded. I tried to see what other diners were eating, but I decided I would come back one more time and try something less ambitious. Sometimes these places are well-known for their burgers or maybe a specific plate. But tonight was not a good experience at all.
After I go back the second time, I will amend this review, one star up or down based on that. But so far I've not found anyone game enough to go with me!
