| Reviewing food can take you into some interesting venues – places where you never know what to expect. I like the posh, new restaurants just as much as I like the off-the-beaten-track spots, which is what led me to review Heidelberg Haus in the city’s northeast.
Situated in the German Canadian Club, the surroundings are really nothing to boast about. Across the parking lot there is a Hooter’s and the vista from the dining room is well… let’s just say, industrial. Clearly, the local atmosphere is not why I came to Heidelberg Haus. I came for one of my favorite dishes – schnitzel!
I asked my Austrian boyfriend to accompany me and we set out on our quest for German delicacies. We started with a cucumber salad in a dill sour cream sauce ($4.75). Consisting of paper-thin slices of cucumber spiced with paprika and green onions, it was a basic dish, but on that warm evening, it was refreshing, spicy and sinfully creamy. Next, we moved on to the smoked salmon appetizer with cream cheese, rye bread, capers, red onions and a hard-boiled egg ($7.50). Coincidentally, that is exactly what we have at my boyfriend’s parents’ house every Sunday sans the boiled egg. We liked it even though there was nothing spectacular about it – the salmon was good and there were generous portions of all ingredients. Our last appetizer was the beef goulash soup ($5.25). It was fantastic, the broth was thick and spicy and it was chock full of potatoes and chunks of beef.
Scanning the menu, there certainly aren’t many or any dishes for vegetarians, unless you want salad or soup. Oh forget it, if you are a vegetarian do not come here!
Entrées such as the bauernschmaus (farmer’s platter), featuring a pork cutlet, smoked pork and fried sausage with fried potatoes, red cabbage and sauerkraut ($16.75), could have been heartburn city, so we opted for some slightly lighter fare. Another interesting but possibly dangerous number was the rinderrouladen, which is sliced beef rolled in bacon and accompanied by pickles, mustard, onions, spatzle and red cabbage ($16.75).
I chose the traditional wiener kalb schnitzel with spatzle and red cabbage ($16.25). For those of you not in the German food know, kalb schnitzel is a veal schnitzel (rather than pork). You may also be asking yourself what spatzle is. It is pasta made with flour, eggs and salt, and is traditionally served in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get back to the schnitzel. First, the amount of food was substantial. The schnitzel batter was light and airy and the veal was tender. Served with a traditional wedge of lemon, it was a good schnitzel, though definitely not the best I’ve ever had. The spatzle, a plain side dish, is a good complement to the schnitzel and spicy red cabbage.
My partner had the hühner (chicken) cordon bleu with fried potatoes and vegetables ($15.75), a reasonable offering, but also fairly standard as far as a cordon bleu and its cheesy goodness is concerned.
For dessert, we had the traditional apple strudel with vanilla sauce and whipped cream ($5), a good-enough strudel, but once again, not very thrilling.
I guess I was kind of hoping to find a diamond in the rough. The food certainly was not bad, but not spectacular either. Our server was pleasant, but it was slightly shameful that she really had no clue about what wines the restaurant serves. The wine list consisted of 11 wines in total, ranging in price from $18 to $28. The list was bleak with no classifications indicating type – Gewürztraminer? Riesling? We took a chance and ordered the second most expensive bottle, which turned out to be a Riesling (Piesporter Riesling, $26 per bottle).
If you’re 50-plus, German-speaking and like your schnitzel in a quiet conference room-like setting, then the Heidelberg Haus is for you.
Heidelberg Haus is located at 2626-23 Street N.E.; phone, 288-2255. |
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