16 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Heart warming schnapps time
Well if you wanted to know what was on offer at last years Bavarian Bier Café Oktoberfest then this post will tell you what you missed out on — sorry. Unfortunately this is what happens when you get side-tracked with eating out too much and not having enough time to post everything when you want to. Anyway, thanks to Laura Cairnduff from Zing for inviting me to check out the Oktoberfest menu. Possibly these specials will be available again this year but you can always count on the imported pure biers and lethal schnapps to get you in the mood for some serious lederhosen dancing. The Freshly baked Bavarian Pretzel ($3.50) is probably a must to try and line the stomach before any serious beer drinking. The Roast beef with fried potato, served with a side salad & Bavarian Mayonnaise ($18) was probably my preferred dish of the night. The potato had good flavour although I wished the salad had some dressing on it to make more appetizing.
I can’t say I was a huge fan of the Traditional Munich-style white sausage salad ($17) but maybe if the sausage was warm rather than cold and there was more dressing on the salad it might have been better liked. It was funny seeing the carrots in the Pan fried Cone Bay barramundi fillet ($31.50) cut like you might find in a Chinese restaurant but the fish seemed to have a crispy skin as hoped. The Char-grilled steak of cured pork belly ($27) was tender but I really liked the Bavarian white cabbage salad that came with it more. Good depth of flavour was found in the Brewmaster's bier stew served with bacon & sauerkraut napkin dumpling ($24) but I was clueless what a napkin dumpling was. Apparently if the dumpling is cooked in a napkin it’s known as a napkin dumpling in central European cuisine. The Pork loin with sautéed onion & potato gratin ($26) was tender and tasty but would have preferred more crisp bits on the potato gratin surface.
My strategy when ordering the Schnapps was to go for the strongest ones — why, because they had twice as much alcohol for about the same price on the list. My taste buds were left in Germany after sampling the Friesengeist 'Friesen Ghost' 56% ($8), Teufelskrauter 'Herbal' 50% ($8), Gletchereis 'Glacier Ice' 50% ($8) and Bergfeuer 'Mountain Fire' 50% ($8). All totally lethal but perhaps there’s taste bud value to be had in the more fruity and less alcoholic ones which might be more enjoyable on the palate. For dessert the Vanilla cheese cake with sour cherries and double cream ($12) was quite cheesy but perhaps a little on the dry side for me. The Creamy apple strudel with berry compote & chocolate sauce ($11) was nice but I generally prefer the pastry to be a bit more crispy and flakey like Gelato Bar Bondi and preferably served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I can’t say I was a huge fan of the Traditional Munich-style white sausage salad ($17) but maybe if the sausage was warm rather than cold and there was more dressing on the salad it might have been better liked. It was funny seeing the carrots in the Pan fried Cone Bay barramundi fillet ($31.50) cut like you might find in a Chinese restaurant but the fish seemed to have a crispy skin as hoped. The Char-grilled steak of cured pork belly ($27) was tender but I really liked the Bavarian white cabbage salad that came with it more. Good depth of flavour was found in the Brewmaster's bier stew served with bacon & sauerkraut napkin dumpling ($24) but I was clueless what a napkin dumpling was. Apparently if the dumpling is cooked in a napkin it’s known as a napkin dumpling in central European cuisine. The Pork loin with sautéed onion & potato gratin ($26) was tender and tasty but would have preferred more crisp bits on the potato gratin surface.
My strategy when ordering the Schnapps was to go for the strongest ones — why, because they had twice as much alcohol for about the same price on the list. My taste buds were left in Germany after sampling the Friesengeist 'Friesen Ghost' 56% ($8), Teufelskrauter 'Herbal' 50% ($8), Gletchereis 'Glacier Ice' 50% ($8) and Bergfeuer 'Mountain Fire' 50% ($8). All totally lethal but perhaps there’s taste bud value to be had in the more fruity and less alcoholic ones which might be more enjoyable on the palate. For dessert the Vanilla cheese cake with sour cherries and double cream ($12) was quite cheesy but perhaps a little on the dry side for me. The Creamy apple strudel with berry compote & chocolate sauce ($11) was nice but I generally prefer the pastry to be a bit more crispy and flakey like Gelato Bar Bondi and preferably served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Other visits to the Bavarian Bier Café:
• 25 Oct 2011 - O'Connell, Sydney, Oktoberfest Menu
• 6 Dec 2010 - O'Connell, Sydney
• 21 July 2009 - Entertainment Quarter, Sydney
• 18 April 2009 - York St, Sydney
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Good variety of biers produced using the Bavarian Purity Law, Buzzing atmosphere and grand décor, Great range of schnapps, Comfort food to keep you warm on a cold day
CONS: Not sure about the background music of Nickelback and Wolfmother which I think I heard, Lack of dressing on the salad makes it a bit boring, Not sure where to look when the service ladies have their top shirt button undone
MUST TRY: The bier, Other schnapps next time
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Every time is bier time at the Bavarian Bier Café
Freshly baked Bavarian Pretzel with butter ($3.50)
Roast beef with fried potato, served with a side sald & Bavarian Mayonnaise ($18)
WORTH TRYING :-)
Traditional Munich-style white sausage salad, served with char-grilled rye bread ($17)
Pan fried Cone Bay barramundi fillet on sautéed kipler, snow peas and carrot served with aioli ($31.50)
Char-grilled steak of cured pork belly with dark bier jus, sebago mash & Bavarian white cabbage salad ($27)
Brewmaster's bier stew served with bacon & sauerkraut napkin dumpling
Pork loin with sautéed onion & potato gratin, served with a side salad ($26)
Schnapps - Friesengeist 'Friesen Ghost' 56% ($8), Teufelskrauter 'Herbal' 50% ($8), Gletchereis 'Glacier Ice' 50% ($8), Bergfeuer 'Mountain Fire' 50% ($8)
Vanilla cheese cake with sour cherries and double cream ($12)
Creamy apple strudel with berry compote & chocolate sauce ($11)
Ice cream ordered to have with apple strudel — you can't have strudel without ice cream or cream I think
Oktoberfest menu
Schnapps menu
Small plates menu — seems like a good idea
Nice central bar area
Decor and casual seating
Loving the tall ceiling in this place
Downstairs seating
You can never have enough cuckoo clocks
Interesting and crazy tiling but badly designed placement of urinals — seriously too close for comfort in my books
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3 comments:
I love their mango beer there! The Brewmaster's bier stew looks really food, never tried it though despite the number of times i've been there!
I really like the giraffe style tiles.
The Bretzeln look good. I had one in Hahndorf, a German town outside of Adelaide and it was really disappointing. Hard and cold. They should be the tiniest bit crusty on the outside, soft and warm in the middle with butter Mmm.
hi food is our religion, sounds like your a regular. i think i prefer the o'connell restaurant because of the high ceilings although the central bar at York St is pretty cool too
hi miss kimbers, i was wondering what kind of tiles they were, i was thinking leopard print. sounds like they do them right at the Bavarian Bier Café to your liking — warm, soft inside with a slight crust.
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