Friday, February 25, 2011

Schnitzel with a Side of Gulasch

It was my turn to host this rotation of Supper Club Six.  I wanted to choose a type of restaurant that we had not yet reviewed so I went to my roots.   My German roots.  Besides an occasional Brat, none of us indulge in German food so it was a new experience for all of us.  When you think of German or Austrian food, you probably don't envision a fine dining experience but rather you think of Sauerkraut, Weiner Schnitzel, Bratwurst and Strudel.  Well, I'm not going to kid you but you will find some of those on the menu at Grünauer but there are some other surprises.  I may have grown up with some German meals but Austrian is new to me.

We met at my place for some wine before heading to the Freight House District.  Grünauer is located next to Lydia's where the City Tavern was located.  The original Grünauer's is in Old Vienna  but it has been replicated by a family in Kansas City.  The space is very warm with brick walls and dark wood with very high ceilings.  The space remains very similar to how it looked as the Tavern City.

We began the meal with the smoked trout appetizer served with sliced apple, cucumber salad, and apple horseradish. The trout was flaky , moist and very smoky.  Almost as good as my Dad's smoked trout.   The apple horseradish was very tangy and a unique flavor.  My only complaint is there wasn't enough for five of us to have more than a taste.  (We were down a member that night).  We also had a plate of litauer cheese and pate served with rye bread.  Both were delicious and we ordered our first bottle of red--a nice Pinot Noir.  It was a Friday night and the place was hopping which is always nice to see in Kansas City restaurants.

Service was fine except for the amount of time between bringing out appetizers and taking our entree order.  We surmised they must have a very quick turnaround given the smaller menu.  For entree's, we ordered Cordon Blue, Wiener Schnitzel, Hungarian Beef Gulasch and an unfortunate special of the evening.  By unfortunate I mean, it was definitely not what one member expected.  The rest of us were mooning over our platters and practically licking our plates dry (don't worry, we only do that at home).  However, Kim opted for the Sauer Braten and the sauce on the sauerkraut was a clovey cinnamon flavor and the meat was doused with some kind of sauce that Kim said tasted like "#$%".  This coming from someone who likes everything.  So by unfortunate, I mean we all devoured our food and she was left with a plate of bland mashed potatoes and beef that was drowned in a sauce she couldn't escape.  It just wasn't what this German gal was expecting.      

Now back to the entree's we loved!  I opted for the Wiener Schnitzel.  Besides just loving to say Wiener Schnitzel, I do love it.  My plate arrived with two humungous  breaded pork cutlets that did not taste fried at all (I know they were but they tasted "light").  They were definitely not greasy.   Several of us selected for a side dish the trio salad which is small servings of a tomato salad, a cucumber salad and a potato salad.  Very fresh and a nice compliment to the Schnitzel.  Maggie opted for the Cordon Bleu which was a pork cutlet stuffed with smoke ham and emmenthaler and  gruyere cheese.  It was excellent.  Michelle and Holly both ordered the Hungarian Beer Gulasch.  I think it could have served all of Hungary.  (How is that German and Austrian?  I'll check my European History source Wikipedia at a later date.)    Tender chunks of beef drowned in paprika sauce.  (I do think drowning things in sauce is a German thing--and if you like the sauce all the better.  Not so much if you don't.)

There is a Biergarden that was obviously closed for the winter but I suspect some of us will return to check it out and watch the trains go by while we sip our cold German brews.   Although we stuck with red wine with dinner the beer list included many German Bieren such as Weizen, Pils, Hofbrau and Warsteiner.   We capped the evening off by moving to their full bar called the Wunderbar.

We encourage you to try out Grunauer and a great place to take out of town folks.  The service in both the restaurant and the bar was friendly.  Come hungry because the serving sizes are very generous.  We skipped dessert so I plan to save room next time.  It is a nice change of pace from the typical Americano/European fused generic restaurant.  Anytime you can enjoy some authentic ethnic food, I think you should jump right in because it's nice to have the variety.   Go for the great food and stick around for the atmosphere.  Even Kim who was disappointed with her selection, thought the space and the atmosphere would bring her back.  She just may stick with the Schnitzel.

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