Pitter Keller's Beer and Lamb

“7pm, time for a drink!” … I’m Italian and I love to have an aperitivo before dinner. True is that I don’t drink alcohol very often, my drink is just DietCoke with ice and lemon… but still, I like sitting in a nice bar at around 7pm to sip my soda, chat, observe the other costumers…

During my stay in Salzburg my boyfriend and I discovered a nice Gasthof–Bierhaus near the Mirabell Gardens: Pitter Keller.

Opened in 1911, this underground Bierhaus (=beer cellar) is decorated with traditional Austrian furniture that makes the atmosphere warm and casual. I love the big and heavy dark brown wood tables or the checked napkins!

The first time we came here we were dead tired so we stopped only for a drink a to rest our poor legs before walking to the hotel. But since the waiter left the menu on the table we had the opportunity to take a look at it… and decide that before leaving Salzburg we had to come back to Pitter Keller for dinner! The night before leaving we came back and we stuffed ourselves! Yes, stuffed! Because at Pitter Keller the servings are HUGE! From the snacks to the main courses and from the soups to the desserts, everything here is kind of “supersized”! I don’t mind it if the food is good, and here it is: the Brezel with Obazda (=Bavarian cheese mixture that tastes like Camemebert seasoned with paprika) was REALLY GOOD! I love creamy cheese, it’s taste of butter, its soft texture… and it goes very well with the “rough” taste of the Brezel! Thank God that we ordered only one serving: there was enough cheese in one serving to feed 4 people!

Since it was “Lamb Week”, both my boyfriend and I had Lamb as main course. He chose the Braised Leg of Lamb with Vegies and Rösti. The meat was so tender and well cooked that melted in mouth! Juicy and tasty, a joy ride for the taste buds! The vegies were al dente and the rösti crispy outside and soft inside but nothing special.

Braised Leg of Lamb with Vegies and Rösti

I chose the Grilled Back of Lamb with Vegies and Croquettes. The meat was very tender and juicy too but not as tasty as the one of the leg. More, the subtle taste of the grilled meat would have gone well with some grilled vegetables or some salad… unfortunately my vegies were the same as the one for the braised leg: cooked into the sauce of the braised leg!!! Well… I’ll remember to ask for a salad next time…

Grilled Back of Lamb with Vegies and Croquettes

Even if I was quite full after the main course I wanted to order a dessert. It was my last evening in Salzburg and during my stay I didn’t get the chance to eat a piece of Topfenstrudel… so when I read Topfenstrudel with Vanilla Icecream on the menu I had to order it! It was PERFECT: the dough was thin like a veil, the stuffing warm, soft, not too sweet and airy… heaven!

Topfenstrudel with Vanilla Icecream

PITTER KELLER
Auerspergstresse 23
520 Salzburg
Austria

Diner Chez les Cerfs

 L'Hotel-Gasthof Zum Hirschen (=Chez les Cerfs) occupe un joli bâtiment de la fin du 16ème siècle, à deux pas du Hotel Belmondo (où j'ai passé mes trois nuits "salzbourgiennes").

Ayant passé toute la mâtiné à Hellbrunn et l'après-midi sur le sommet du Untersberg Mountain mon copain et moi, on n'avait pas vraiment envie de passer la soirée au centre-ville à la recherche d'un restaurant. Affamés et morts de fatigue, quand l'on a vu qu'il y avait une Gasthof à 200m de l'hôtel on n'a pas réfléchi deux fois avant de franchir la porte d'entré.

La carte avait l'air très traditionnelle (Wienerschnitzel, Goulasch, Paillarde, Apfel et Topfenstrudel, Knödels, etc etc.) ma la salle assez grande et à moitié vide nous à fait frissonner: à Paris un restaurant qui ne fait pas salle pleine ne survit pas plus d'une année! Mais ici on à Salzbourg: malgré la salle presque vide le diner à été très bon et gai. Le serveur souriant et bavard nous à servi une Paillarde avec Légumes du Marché et une Wienerschnitzel avec Pommes de Terre au Persil et Sauce de Cannaberges tendres et savoureuses. 

Certes, ne sont pas des mets d'haute cuisine mais franchement la viande était excellente, et les Légumes du Marché assaisonnés de façon aussi subtile qu'ils gardaient leur bonne "saveur de légume" (bien trop souvent on rajoute autant d'épices qu'on n'arrive plus à dire si l'on est en train de mâcher une carotte ou une pois-mange-tout!). 

Wienerschnitzel avec Pommes de Terre au Persil et Sauce de Canneberge

Paillarde avec Légumes du Marché

Vu la dimension pantagruélique des plats on n'a pris qu'un seul dessert qu'on a partagé: un délicieux Apfelstrudel avec Crème Anglaise. C'est bien plus difficile de ce que l'on ne croit de trouver un BON Apfelstrudel: souvent la pâte n'est pas assez fine (=elle est mouillé par le jus des pommes); parfois il y a trop de cannelle (=la saveur des autres ingrédients disparait); ou encore les pommes ne sont pas assez sucrées ou assez cuites (une farce aigrelette se peut compenser avec de la crème anglaise mais des pommes presque crues sont simplement immondes!). L'Apfelstrudel du Gasthof Zum Hirschen est l'un des meilleurs que j'ait jamais mangé: la pâte fine fine et bien cuite cache une farce de pommes raisins et noix cuite, sucré et aromatisé à la perfection. La crème anglaise que copain a rajouté à sa partie du gâteau avait un délicat parfum de vanille et une consistance aussi soyeuse et légère qu'elle ne cachait pas du tout les autres saveurs mais bien les rehaussait. Je suis une "puriste" du Apfelstrudel, je l'aime nature, mais je dois avouer que quelque larme de cette crème lui allait vraiment bien!

Malheureusement l'estomac à été plus vite que le cerveau: pas de photos de ce merveilleux dessert! 

... Ça sera pour la prochaine fois, car je compte bien faire une halte Aux Cerfs (Zum Hirschen) la prochaine fois que je passe pour Salzburg!

HOTEL-GASTHOF ZUM HIRSCHEN 

Saint-Julien-Starsse, 21-23

5020 Salzburg

Autriche (Österreich)

Hellbrunn Palace: Water Games and Lunch in the Sun

I'm 25 but I'm still a kid: I love fairy tales, flowers, gardens, swans and legends. That's why one of the things I like the most in Salzburg is the Hellbrunn Palace and its jeux d'eau (water games). 

This magnificent palace is only 20 mins away from Salzburg city center, you can get there with the bus 25: you really should go there if you stop in Salzburg. 

The palace and its gardens have been built in the 17th century by the prince-archbishop Markus Sittikus. Sittikus discovered the jeux d'eau during his stays in Italy. He created his own water games in Hellbrunn's gardens and adapted them to his sense of humor: each game is studied to be a practical joke to be performed on Sittikus' guests.

The water games aren't the only thing you can find in this wonderful summer residence: there are also many grottos, each of them dedicated to a particular mythological legend. 

After having spent the morning enjoying the gardens, my boyfriend and I decided to sit in the sun at the Hellbrunn's Gasthof to have a bite. 

Usually, I don't "trust" this kind of restaurants: you pay the view and the place, not the food, which is pretty industrial and tasteless.

But this time I was wrong: the "Menu of the Day" at 16€ was delicious! 

The Creamy Wild Garlic Soup tasted just right: creamy but not heavy, tasty but not salted, and its nice "spring-green" color was emphasized by the white china bowl.

Creamy Wild Garlic Soup

After the soup I had some Boiled Beef with Rösti and Spinach. The meat was very tender and the rösti homemade (often in France you get frozen rösti or frozen pommes dauphines at the restaurant! Yuck!) but unfortunately the spinach were puréed... I'd have preferred some spinach leafs sautéed with garlic, more suited to a earthy dish like the boiled beef.

Boiled Beef with Rösti and Spinach

The French Chocolate Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce and Vanilla Icecream was HEAVEN! When I read "French Cake" on the menu I was afraid to get some chocolate&cream-loaded cake, hard to swallow after a starter and a main course and even harder to digest. Luckly I was mistaking again (I like this kind of mistakes!): The "French Cake" was a moelleux au chocolate perfectly cooked (rich and moist). The slightly sour taste of the Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce was perfect to balance the rich and sweet French Cake. 

French Chocolate Cake with Starwberry-Rhubarb Sauce and Vanilla Icecream

What a wonderful day!

I hope I'll be able to come back to Hellbrunn very soon!

Meaty lunch in Salzburg

Today, after my "Apfelstrudel-Breakfast" I decided to go visit the Festung Hohensalzburg. This is a fortress that has been built in the 11th century and it has saved as a fortification and temporary residence of the prince archbishops for many years. It has also served as military barracks and a prison. Sinc exit's situated on a hill you can get there by funicular. I went up with the funicular but descended by foot: it's a very nice walk and since it's downhill it's not heavy at all!

Once back to the city center it was around 1pm so my boyfriend and me, we decided to look for something to eat... and near our hotel we found the MUNDENHAMER RESTAURANT

Serving typical Austrian food, this nice place made the happiness of two starved tourists: GOOD FOOD,  FRIENDLY SERVICE and HONEST PRICES!

My boyfriend took the Grilled Duck Breast with Creamy Red Cabbage and Bread Dumplings. The duck was a bit overcooked but it was still very tender and juicy. The dumplings were just delicious, slightly buttered and roasted, they were perfect to dip into the creamy sauce of the cabbage.

Grilled Duck Breast with Creamy Red cabbage and Bread Dumplings

I had the Three Grilled Steaks with Fresh Vegetables. One of the steaks was a piece of grilled chicken breast, very tasty and juicy; then there was a piece of pork cutlet that was very good too (really tender!). And in the end a piece of beef steak, which was a bit overcooked but still very tasty (they must have let it marinate to make it so tasty, but I'm not sure...) 

Three Grilled Steaks with Fresh Vegetables

I really enjoyed this lunch, I wish I could take also a dessert but I was so stuffed after the big main course that even a mint would have made me explode! This just to tell you that you won't leave the restaurant hungry, believe me! even Shrek could find his joy and satisfaction at Mundenhamer's!

Just one last thing: remember that in Austria the service is not included! The tip is not obligatory but... it's always very welcome!

Restaurant Mundenhamer
Rainerstraße 2 

5020 Salzburg
Tel.: +43(0)662/ 87 56 93

Trip to Salzburg: Day 1

Good morning everyone!

I've left my Mom's house to spend a couple of days in Austria.

My home town, Udine, is only 1h away from Austria so when I lived here I used to spend there at least a day every week. I like a lot the Austrian lifestyle: they are more polite than Italians and Parisians, they are also less stressed (and stressful!) too! More, the gorgeous mountains, trees and valleys that they have here make this country really special to me.

Since I grew up eating Austrian food I find it delicious! Not only the pastries and the Mozart Chocolates, I like EVERYTHING! I can't understand those who tell me that Austrian food is just potatoes and sausages: it's not! There are soups and grilled meats, roasts and vegetables, gratins and much, much more!

I got in Salzburg yesterday night and today I got up very early,  CRAVING OF AN APFELSTRUDEL SO BAD!!!!!! 

I didn't have to walk to much to find a very good one: just around the corner of my hotel there is a nice  Konditorei (=bakery) that makes a DELICIOUS APFELSTRUDEL and also a VERY GOOD COFFEE (a large black coffee here is called Grosser Schwarzer).

Apfelstrudel

Black Coffee&Newspaper