Telephone 03 9663 3361
A recent post by Thanh over at I Eat Therefore I Am reminded me of an entry that has been sitting in my drafts since March (…such is the state of my drafts!). So I thought I would add my two cents.
Established in 1968, Hofbrauhaus is where you want to go if you have a hankering for slap dancing, yodeling and stodgy Bavarian fare. There is also beer, which you may very well need once the knee-slapping and live band starts up (is this what hell is like?). Despite that, it is an “experience” if one has a penchant for such things.
There is a lot of meat on this menu – schnitzels, hocks, meatloafs, bratwursts, frankfurters, krainers, debreciners, goulash, kassler, and stews. Then there are potatoes and sauerkraut. You get the drift. We spied the house special pork hock (which Thanh mentioned/ate in his post), and we were seriously scared. It quivered gelatiniously on the plate, the size of a football. That was one chunk of meat!
EG went the bratwurst, or beef sausage, which was served as a pair over a pile of buttery (!)mash and sauerkraut ($23.90). It wasn’t quite what he expected – the sausages were a little on the bland side, which was quite surprising considering the Bavarians are known for their wurst (well hey, they do boast over 1500 types of the buggers). The sausages and mash also sat in a pool of salty water, which unfortunately wasn’t sauce-like or flavoursome at all.
I couldn’t go past the crumbed new age pork schnitzel served with salad and mash ($26.50). Funnily enough, this behemouth is the small version (it also comes in a giant version for $29.50). The schnitzel wasn’t too bad – it was tender and nicely crumbed, although there was just a little too much of it. The sprinkle of chopped parsley on both dishes was also an interesting retro touch 
.
Hey Mellie, did you try out their beer. Their house Hobrauhaus beer was really nice.
You should have tried the pork leg. It was fatty heaven.
Did you get to see any dancing. I was waiting and waiting and by the time we left at about 9:30pm, they still hadn’t started.
If you like sauerkraut in your lederhosen, or a bit of yodeling with your rollmops, check out “The Cuckoo” up in the hills…
Gastronomically similar to this place, but cheesier..
Hard to imaging but true!!!!
hey there Thanh,
yeah I reckon we should definitely have gone the leg. I was very disappointed with the sausage.
Yep we had some HB beer and it was excellent, though I love almost all the German brews and can’t say that I’ve had a bad one yet
Didn’t see any dancing though cos we were there on a weeknight. Would have loved to see some Teutonic slap dancing, a la Chevy Chase in European vacation.
Another interesting place to try German fare is the Tivoli Club on Dandenong Rd. It’s an absolute mind-trip, complete with an aged accordianist playing oompah music, and bargain priced wursts and eisbein (pork hock). Great range of deutsch beers too, and a mean spirit called Goldwasser, which is clear schnapps that contains edible gold :p
Hi thanh – yes, I certainly did try out the beer (yummo). I can’t say no really
The pork hock on the other hand is probably a little too much for me. EG would probably go it, but I’m a fairly lean eating carnivore.
Hey purple goddess – lol…very true! I went to the Cuckoo as a youngster *shudders*…god, what a memory
Thanks for the tip Purple Goddess, I always love cheesy.
Elegantgourmand, our whole group was also waiting for the slap dancing. We had already started singing ourselves, probably due to having too much beer.
I’ve been to the Tivoli club, but in the day time and it was admittedly empty. I was there for the auditions for Deal or No Deal. I will go back now for a meal after your recommendation. Also, as you said last time how Shira Nui has cheap lunches, I’m actually going to eat there today for lunch with work mate.
Mellie, isn’t the term lean carnivore eating an oxymoron hahaha. For me it is anyway.
The word stodgy can have so many negative connotations…until it’s used to describe Bavarian food that is. THEN is spells (to me) comforting, fatty food. Mmmmm.
If you’re ever in Adelaide it’s worth heading out to Hahndorf in the Adelaide hills for some good German fare.
Hey again thanh – yeah, I know I am a disappointment to all good carnivores
I just can’t go the really fatty meats.
Hi there ali-k – I did ponder the use of the word “stodgy” – but it just seemed so suitable. But we all need a bit of stodge now and then
Thanks for the Hahndorf tip. I’ve heard of it but hadn’t made it there yet. It’s certainly on the list.