May 20, 2007
Wendel's German Bistro
SO's cousins wanted to treat us to a meal in exchange for going out of our way in Italy to bring back Prada goodies for them. They chose the well-known German bakery and restaurant in Tianmu. A leafy courtyard provided a calm buffer to the main dining room, lit with a mix of natural light from the full-wall windows and a few well-placed spotlights. Tables were set with burgundy and white real tableclothes, well-spaced and fully occupied with families out for a Sunday brunch or foreigners looking for a taste of home.
The menu featured a good selection of German-European standards, and some good-looking breakfast specials. The ladies went nuts and between the six of us ordered six entrees, three with the set-meal extras, and tossed in a mixed-sausage platter on top. The food was almost American in the portion size, but we actually managed to clean the plates, give or take some of the sides. The bread deserved a special mention, too, not surprising considering the place started as a bakery. A basket of various slices of legitimate European-style bread. The mixed-grain was especially fragrant and tasty after a quick toasting.
The rundown:
- I got the Hungarian Pork Goulash which came with spaetzl and a surprising decent green salad as sides. It's recommended as chef's favorite home recipe and the dish did have its homey charm, a simple meat stew colored deep red by paprika. Did find the pork a tiny bit on the dry side, though.
- Perhaps I should've just gone with wienerschnitzel which is my default option for Germanic restaurants. SO's sister did get the jagerschnitzel, which is just the same port cutlet pan-fried with a mushroom sauce instead of breaded and fried. The naked port cutlet was a bit dry, too, but the rich gravy helped. Probably easier to keep the thin, lean slice of pork meat with breading and frying instead.
- Pig's feet has always been considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine, so it's not surprising that the rustic German-style pig knuckle has become a popular dish here, perhaps more so than its original homeland. A big chunk of pork feet, bone-in and slow-roasted to crisp the skin and render out the fat, which bastes the meat to make it rich and moist.
- I usually pass on sirloin steaks since they're usually just there to offer a cheaper alternative to the good cuts of meat. Wendel's treats it right, though, grilled perfectly medium rare and smothered with good gravy and fresh-fried onions. Would've totally taken it over my own main had I known since it's not easy to get a good steak around here.
- The SO wanted something a bit lighter, and she likes pesto, so she chose the salmon fillet with creamy pesto sauce. A thick slab simply pan-fried and drizzled with the green cream sauce for flavor. Nothing fancy but the portion was generous, and the stuffed sweet pepper side was interesting. Roasted potatoes aren't interesting, but still tasty.
- So that was an entree for each of us (one of the cousins got the goulash, too), but how can you go to a German restaurant and not have a sausage, so we ordered an assorted sausage platter. The platter contained good mix of red and white sausages with sauerkraut, and yellow mustard for condiments, and a big mound of mashed potatoes on the side. Despite a mostly female audience and the American-sized entrees, we still managed to carve up and finish off the additional plate of meat. And tasty meat it was.
- We ordered three set meal combos added to the entrees, which got us additional soup, salad, and dessert to share amongst us. The green salad wasn't anything special but the veggies were fresh and refreshing in the face of the heavy mains. The mushroom cream soup had good chunks of shrooms and wasn't too salty which is about as much you can ask for from these deals. The dessert plate was a good piece of blueberry coffee cake with a scoop of mango ice cream on the side, so even with half portions it was plenty for each of us to have a good bit of sweets to end the meal.
All in all it was on the expensive side of the value line, but hey I wasn't paying. There were plenty of horror stories about poor service on the net but we were served at least adequately, although perhaps not quite up to a level consistent with the decor and pricing. Unfortunately we were off to do other things otherwise I would've loved to have picked up some pastries and breads at the bakery counter to take home, too.
溫德德式烘焙餐館
Wendel's German Bakery and Bistro
台北市士林區德行西路5號
02-28314592