Bavarian Bier Café: Pure Bier Fest'12 Launch, CBD Sydney (2 May 2012)

16 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.bavarianbiercafe.com

Bring out the Bavarian in you

Thanks to James Cooley from Stellar* for inviting me to the launch event of Pure Bier Fest'12 at the Bavarian Bier Café O'Connell Street restaurant. I only had time to pop by for a quick Hacker-Pschorr bier and the more fruity Franzichaner Weissbier which would suit the summer months. Thomas Beissert (Bavarian Bier Café group head chef) demonstrated a camembert style canape served on pumpernickel bread to go well with just about any beer. From the canapes served I really enjoyed the Confit onion & roast beetroot tartlets with goats curd with excellent melt-in-your-mouth thin pastry and flavours that worked well together. I thought the Spiced beef tartare had potential but would have preferred a more rustic and lighter spread of the tartare over the cracker than the denser moulded ball — a bit like how Ms G's did their Ocean Trout Ceviche at March Into Merivale Launch Party.

Before heading off the chef was kind enough to provide a quick tasting of the Pork belly canape which was very good. I've had hit and miss crackling at the Bavarian Bier Cafe at different venues but he's restored my faith in coming back to try again. Meat was moist and juicy and the crackling perfectly crunchy. I thought if it was sliced half as thin it could have been served on a spoon with the condiment as a one handed canape perhaps. I also tried the Pure Bier tempura prawn which had good flavours and crispy batter as hoped — I'd be happy to have this one again at a function. It's the first time I've been introduced to canapés at this venue and I'd have to say I was quite surprised how well they did them when I always thought the place was more about big hearty style meals. A good place to perhaps keep in mind for a birthday function one day for myself.

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Hell

Thomas Beissert (Bavarian Bier Café group head chef) doing a cooking demonstration

Chef demonstration to bloggers

Pretzel

Ingredients for canape demonstration

Camembert on pumpernickel canape to go with bier

Lemon Goats Cheese Croquette with kafir lime mayonnaise

Roast Onion and Beetroot Tartlet, Goats Curd and Baby Watercress

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Asparagus and Black Forest Ham, Garlic Oil

Truss Baby Tomato, Rocket and Basil Pesto with Parmigiano Regiano

Spiced Beef Tartare with a Twist

Crisp Pork Belly, Honey and Thyme Flowers

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Sage Prawn Skewers, Wheat Bier Butter

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Shredded Beef Cheek Burger

Tarragon Chicken Sausage, Salsa Verde

Onion rings

Gotta make sure you use the correct spoon

DJ with a wicked moustache

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Bavarian Bier Café: Oktoberfest with Bier & Schnapps, CBD Sydney (25 Oct 2011)

16 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.bavarianbiercafe.com

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.

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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