I'm here in Munich to show a machine to a customer and they are all gone and I'm alone for the night as my flight is tomorrow. I'm staying near the airport and even though the city of Munich is only 35 min away, I'm exhausted and want to stay close to the hotel for dinner. I had been to the hotel restaurant for three meals already and I don't want to be here with its very limited but German influenced menu. So I go to my goto website trip advisor.com. Most of the time is works great for me and did tonight.
About 15 minutes away from here is a small town called Freising. I found on the website a good many reviews for a Beer hall called Weissbrau Huber. So I programmed the GPS and made my way. All along the woman in the car who had led me to everywhere I went had been saying that there is an obstruction in the route. On the final turn supposedly only 1/2 a Kilometer away she still reminded me. As I got onto the last road where the place was, the road had changed from asphalt to decorative stone bricks laid in patterns all over. It occurred to me that there were also lots of people walking and riding bikes on this road and not another car in site. No one looked at me funny but an eerie suspicion of my driving on pedestrian road had poured over me. This is fabulous, I'm going to spend my final night talking my way out of a ticket for driving on a pedestrian street. Don't' panic, get off the road quickly. But as I passed my dinner restaurant I only saying get out, GET OUT NOW!!!!
I made my way off the road and circled till I found a place to park. Walked to the restaurant and noticed out front were tables lined up with many chairs that I picture begin packed with patrons in the warmer weather. Beer flowing and people laughing and talking is the common site I'm sure.
Upon walking into the restaurant I see many people sitting at communal tables of all sizes. Stark wood table tops and lots of beer on them. I go up to the counter and say to the person looking at me "Spreken Ze English?" "Of Course" he responds. I am walked over to a large table that looks like it will fit about 8 to 10 people and two gentlemen are sitting there. I sit and the end and we exchange nods. I'm handed a menu that is made for foreigners that consists of about 4 different languages. The specials are laid out in front of me and are only in German. The server talks me though them and mentions a veal dish, a venison dish and a few other things. He says them quickly so I can't really remember them all. I look at the menu and I want to try so many things but don't want to be a pig or look like one.
So I order my favorite when I'm here first. Pils. or Pilsner. Personaly I prefer a lighter type of beer and Pils are my drinks of choice. The beer is from a brewery called Graf Ignaz. When you are served beer here, you get the beer in a glass with the specific brewery on it as well as a small paper doily with the name on it to catch the beer drips that come down the side of the glass. It was delicious and light with a creamy head on top. Yes the photo doesn't show the head because I couldn't resist diving into it.
I had decided to start with two sausages that are popular in the Bavarian area with a pretzel. The Sausages were delivered to me in a soup terrine filled with hot water. The pretzel was in a basket with small packages of mustard. These sausages are white and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what is in them. I'm assuming pork and spices. I was told the casings are not to be eaten so I peeled them and dove in. Meaty and hearty I could have eaten 1/2 a dozen easily. The pretzel had these great mustards with them. Gritty and grainy with a hint of sweetness. Sorry for the crappy photo. again, I was a strange man in a strange land and didn't want to cause anymore attention to myself then my clumsiness usually does.
I ordered what I thought was the Veal. When I asked another server to repeat what the specials were he mentioned Veal when it really was Venison. When it came to me I was told venison and said no worries and in reality it was the best mistake I have made.
The Venison was served in a brown stroganoff type sauce with a side of purple braised cabbage and these two balls on the plate. What were these balls? They didn't look like meat balls. They didn't look like vegetables. They looked like Matzo balls but drier. There was also this white cream with red speckles on the plate as well. I tried that first and tasted strawberries and cream and wondered what it was doing on my plate. I'm not a strawberry fan so I didn't go back to it. The Venison was tender tasty and had a texture of brisket. It was amazing and hearty. This meal belongs in the heart of a cold winter day. The cabbage was soft but not mushy with a nice peppery bite. What were those balls? It was time. I cut into them and it was again like a Matzo ball. When I bit into it, I recognized the flavor but couldn't put my finger on it right away and then it hit me. Have you ever had Stuffed Derma? Stuffed Derma is a dish my mother and grandmother used to make but it was also served in many restaurants where you would have a large Jewish population dining there for traditional dishes. Stuffed Derma is in all practicality a bread sausage. The skin of a chicken is stuffed with matzo meal or breading, some sort of fat or chicken stock and spices and cooked. Then it is sliced and commonly served with a gravy. This tasted just like that but without the skin. It was stuffed derma balls. I wanted more. We don't eat this dish that often because well it's not really the healthiest but when you get it, you make all gone.
What a meal. it was such a great scene and would love to be there with a group to just hang out and shoot the shit and have some great food and beer. I paid my bill and walked out on to the beautiful stone street. it was quiet and quaint.
But I had to go to the side to get out of the way of the bus. Ok, I'm a little neurotic.
