The Bauernschmaus Restaurant, Edmonton AB - Feel like a stuffed bratwurst afterwards... Ja!

Posted by Rating Service 8/10, Food 8/10

My fellow foodie had a hankering for a mess of decent sausages, and where better to look for good sausages and beer than a German restaurant named for "Farmer's Feast"? We popped our heads into this cozy quaint restaurant awash in warm tones of brick, amber woods with plenty of rustic touches - wooden carvings of sheaths of wheat, a baker's paddle with bread and light fixtures made out of miniature plows... we debated if they were miniatures, or antique ones for mules or smaller plow animals.

Service was friendly and informative - the staff seem more comfortable speaking in German, which alas, my mangling of the menu items sounded more like I was gargling with rocks, with my head underwater. A family friendly place, little kids from a neighbouring table were happily exploring the place and petting the handcrafted carved and painted flowers on the back of every chair.




the FOOD

Having seen a menu from previous years, I suspect the menu has been reorganized based on portion sizes for their entrees. My first clue? Sandwiches are now classified under appetizers. The in house chef does not believe in small serving sizes, nor do they believe in large portion sizes. They believe in big, huge, unbeschreiblichm.  All entrees come with salad and choice of side. Sadly, they were out of red cabbage, so we went with dumplings and in house made sauerkraut.  We sat back, and shamelessly oggled at the decor... much like the little kids at a neighbouring table, and noshed on some rye bread and dinner buns while we waited for our food.

The salad had gorgeous slices of heirloom tomatoes that were so ripe, they looked like a food photographer had been working on them. The tomatoes were simply paired with some cut up iceberg lettuce, peeled thin slices of cucumbers and tossed in a super tangy vinaigrette of oil, white vinegar, sugar and some dried herbs that added a sparkly sheen to the salad. A spoonful of potato salad - sliced boiled potatoes coated in a light homemade herbed mayo with diced onions to give it texture rounded out the salad nicely.

I passed up trying fried liver, roast pork loin, pork cutlets and chicken entrees to try the traditional Wienerschnitzel. The humble schnitzel is served a variety of ways at The Bauernschmaus, but I like mine with a wedge of lemon to cut the grease a little. My slab of schnitzel comes out nearly toppling off the plate. The veal cutlet is tenderized to a thin, moist meat patty, lightly seasoned and breaded in a light crisp coating. The seasoning was a bit light, but the small pool of gravy it sat it made up for it. The dumpling was reminiscent of turkey stuffing, but smooshed into a compact ball, and still super fun to drown in gravy resistant to resembling a pile of mush in the process.

You can ask for individual sausages on the side for ~$2 to add to your meal, and we added on two out of the three sausages they had available. The pale bockwurst sausage (shown on right) was boiled, then scored and grilled lightly. While juicer and less lean the the bratwust, it had a mild flavor and texture that we both likened to a chicken hotdog.  I prefered the bratwurst - a leaner, savory sasuage with a falvor I always associate with good European food.

The Bauernschmaus or Farmer's Feast had a good 6oz slice of roast pork, another 6oz slab of smoked pork loin, a pile of sauerkraut, and a bratwust sausage all somehow nestled onto a plate. The roast pork was lightly seasoned and cooked to a well done. Parts of it was dry, but was saved by a good douse of gravy over top of all the meats. The smoked pork loin had a nice earthy sweetness from the smokehouse and seasonings, while the lean grilled bratwurst added in a mild spicy note to all the meat on the plate. The sauerkraut was studded with bits of ham or smoked meat, tying in the wine and spices in with the tangy sauerkraut nicely, and acted as an aid with digestion of all the meat on the platter.  The carrots were blanched, and yes, we remembered to eat them Mom. 

Needless to say, with the inclusion of a fist sized turkey-dinner-like-stuffing-dumpling, we had plenty of food to pack home for lunch the next day. With a cute and fun twist, our waitress gave us the dessert menu and our leftovers wrapped in... a foil swan. We finished the Warsteiner beer she recommended - light, smooth with very distinctive and strong flavor of hops, and happily ordered one of our favorite desserts out of the three the chef makes in house daily.


the DESSERT
The apple strusel we ordered was a spin on the traditional, and I wasn't one to complain! A good bowlful of sliced caramelized apples with a hint of cinnamon was wrapped in a thin layer of flaky phyllo pastry, drizzled with simple sugar to give it a rich sheen, garnished with a generous blob of sweetened whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. Simply delicious. Despite our lack of tummy space, we finished off that strusel in record time. I'm not sure how anyone could finish off a full strusel - the piece we had was cut off of a larger pastry!




the VERDICT
A cozy family friendly restaurant that radiates warmth and comfort. Just be sure to bring your appetite or be prepared to take at least half of your meal home for lunch. Oh, and don't be late for dinner - its a family restaurant, so it closes early. Nom!

The Bauernschmaus Restaurant
Address 6796 99 Street Northwest, Edmonton, AB
Phone (780) 433-8272
Hours Open 5pm-830pm daily


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