German Cuisine

[ol_ironstomach]

The question I really intended to ask was if anyone had an opinion on the Schmankerl Stube in Hagerstown, and in particular their schweinshaxen...I get to craving this stuff periodically, but haven't had a good one outside of Bavaria yet.

Likewise, what's the take on The Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown? Where else do you go for good German (or in a pinch, Austrian) food near DC? I've hit Old Europe, Cafe Mozart, Cafe Tirolo...all good in their own way, but not quite what I was hoping for. I've heard very good things about The Bavarian Chef, way down Rt 29 towards Charlottesville. And then there was the now-defunct Wurzburg Haus.

Ve need...informaaation!

[Al Dente]

Bistro Europa can be erratic, quality-wise, but their weiner schnitzel has always been delicious. From the website, it looks like they now offer schweinshaxe, which I haven't tried there. Klaus, the chef/owner, is a good guy to get to know, and he can often be found upstairs at the bar later in the evening. He usually has a couple of good German beers on tap there as well.

[zoramargolis]

Try Leopold's in Cady's Alley, just below M Street near Key Bridge in Georgetown. They serve modern Austrian-European food.I had a superb veal schnitzel there. Jonathan had sausage and red cabbage and was very happy with it. We haven't been back to explore more of the menu, but not because it wasn't good.

[TSE]

I'm surprised there hasn't been the obligatory: "get on I-66 going west to exit 67, then follow the signs for the Dulles access road..."

[mtpleasanteater]

I'll second the Leopold's recomendation. I've had a few different things on the menu and the weiner schnitzel has been by far the best dish. The Quark Spaetzle are good but kind of boring as an entree, the chicken dish I had was really dry & the sauerkraut nice, full of bacon. I forget what it came with. The weiner schnitzel is served with a nice potato salad & an excellent mustard sauce, and the greens that come on top of it have a dressing on them that works well with the rest of the dish. The only starter (the menu has a couple of sections that can be used as appetizers) that stands out are the tea sandwiches, especially the pate & gravalax ones. They also have the bitburger pilsner on tap which I enjoy.

I also like the food at Old Europe, but this may be because I've been eating here as long as I can remember. There is one waitress whose probably been there everytime I've eaten there over the last fifteen or so years. A weiner schnitezel cordon blue that was a special last time I went was particularly good.

[grover]

I had pretty good experiences at the Bavarian Inn. I can't still forget the German Sausages.. Anyway, I would like to mention Cafe Monti on the Duke Street. The chef is Austrian as I remember. His Hungarian Goulash and Jaeger Schnitzel are wonderful.

[cjsadler]

I've hit Old Europe, Cafe Mozart, Cafe Tirolo...all good in their own way

Does Cafe Mozart still have a happy hour? Haven't been in awhile, but they used to have good deals on great German brews (we might have to have a 'whim' there if the HH is still around). I concur with Dave on the food, though-- can be good, but not great.

[Mark Slater]

I had dinner at Old Europe about 2 months ago and had a great time. The old-timey service, the food, the piano music and yodeling, the decor all conspired to make a fun and unique time for my much younger friends and me. Plus, they're open on Sunday night till about 8.

[nashman1975]

All

This thread seems to go back a ways, I was hoping for an update. New boss's assistant has her 25th anniversary at the end of the month. She is interested in German food. I'm known as the foodie in the office (many thanks to the great folks here and this site), but I drew a big blank on this one. Thanks in advance.

Nashman

[washingtony]

I'd head to Cafe Mozart if it were me. I just can't find stellar German food in the city, but it's the best I've found. It's fancier than I like my German restaurants, but it can be a bit gemütlich when the elderly lady busts out her accordion.

I really can't stand Old Europe--I find it overly fussy, which is something a German restaurant should never be. And when I was last there in May, I attempted to order spargel but was given green (!) asparagus.

If your office is closer to the hill, Cafe Berlin can be a good time, but I've never found it to be anything amazing.

I had been to Bistro Europa in old town once, and had a delightful rouladen, but they have since shut their doors.

[Anonymouze]

We went to Old Europe today in NW DC and got easy parking it's across from Glover Park I think?!

The lunch menu wasn't too diverse but the specials sounded awesome so we got 3 dishes and shared them, not making up our minds... it was a hard decision which sounded best. We got the veal with a raisin and brandy reduction, red cabbage and mashed potatoes, the goose croquettes with dumplings and the sausage selection with latke's and saukraut and carmelized onions on top. They had nice baskets of bread and the waitress was quite busy. There were about 12 tables full of folks there and for 130-230 pm it wasn't hopping but busy enough. We were going to opt for dessert but by the time we finished we couldn't eat another bite. The service was a bit off but the staff seemed pleasant. We would definitely consider going back again if we can get more great parking and delicious food!

[ol_ironstomach]

After too many years of driving past H'town at the wrong hour to want to stop for a meal, we finally hit the Schmankerl Stube on a whim this weekend, and it was quite good...probably the best German food I've had in the greater DC area, in fact. We couldn't resist starting with the Herring a la Hausfrauenart, which was nicely zingy if a bit dear for seven bite-sized pieces of herring. I opted for the Münchener Sahnegeschnetzeltes; the beef and pork tips were perfectly tender, and the rest of the sauce pretty much begged to be soaked into the spätzle. gubeen chose the Ulmer metzer platte: two good bratwursts, served with spätzle and some excellent sauerkraut.

The beer list isn't even remotely exotic, but there's much to be said for a good fresh Hacker-Pschorr Hell on draft, offered in any of five sizes from 'tasting' to a ridiculous 5L mug. About the only thing that surprised me was the lemon wedge perched on g's Erdinger Hefeweizen.

There isn't much that I would call 'delicate' about German food, but too many places lean on the strong and rich flavors to cover up various indifferences, whether it's failing to soak the sauerkraut enough, or letting the spatzles become tough, or...you get the idea. Used to drive me nuts about the Würzburg Haus and its high ratings in the Washingtonian back in the day. There's no sign of that here; the chef clearly knows how each item should be, and takes the care to prepare it properly. Sadly, although he is Bavarian and knows how to make zwetchgen datschi, he's never offered it on his menu.

The main draw, of course, is that he offers Schweinshaxe with 24 hrs advance notice. I didn't get to see one, but I inquired about it and the answers sounded very promising, particularly the texture, which you can't get if you take shortcuts. I'm looking at you, Old Europe. Next time...

BTW, is Euro Bistro in Herndon still around? How is it these days?

[Hannah]

About the only thing that surprised me was the lemon wedge perched on g's Erdinger Hefeweizen.

Nope, that's very traditional serving style for a hefe in Germany. It has to be lemon, though; no substituting other citrus fruit for no apparent reason.

As far as Euro Bistro goes, it's still open, but I have never once in all the years I've lived in and around Herndon seen anyone IN there, and I have made a point of looking. They must get business at some point or they wouldn't still be open. Maybe they're all retirees who eat at 5pm or something.

[ol_ironstomach]

Nope, that's very traditional serving style for a hefe in Germany. It has to be lemon, though; no substituting other citrus fruit for no apparent reason.

I thought the random citrus thing was a Berlinerweisse peculiarity. I just don't remember ever getting a piece of lemon with my hefeweizen in Bavaria, and certainly not at the breweries.

[DonRocks]

The following posts have been split into separate threads:

Bavarian Inn (porcupine)

[jayandstacey]

The main draw, of course, is that he offers Schweinshaxe with 24 hrs advance notice. I didn't get to see one, but I inquired about it and the answers sounded very promising, particularly the texture, which you can't get if you take shortcuts. I'm looking at you, Old Europe. Next time...

I had this a few months ago and yeah, if that's your thing, go back for it. I'll be honest and say I've never had one before, and I'm no professional critic, so I don't know what the ideal is. I'd describe it this way:

- Very Large - enough to share and then some. It really is a mountain of meat on a plate, it is served with the bones sticking up, kind of like a volcano or a ventworm cake.

- The outside skin was dry, crispy and tough to chew into. Maybe I wasn't supposed to eat it but it tasted really good and was a good contrast to the rest of the pile

- Inside was juicy, tender and fork-cuttable, almost like tenderloin, though it was 'dark meat'. The nature of the thing meant there were occasional spots of fat but not enough to cause concern when there was about 4 pounds of pure meat there. The seasoning was there with a light touch that in no way overpowered the meat.

Frankly, it was hard to get past the massiveness of the thing. But once I set my mind to wrestling with it, the reward was great. It seemed the perfect complement to the Hacker-Pschorr and between the two, I had to ride home in the passenger seat.

I'd split it next time - get that and the sausage sampler to split, say, amongst 3 or 4 people. 3 or 4 hungry carnivores.