Being a German translator, I appreciate good German food. As the organizer of the Cleveland German Language Meetup group, I scheduled a trip to a German or ethnic restaurant once a month. We used to meet at Der Braumeister on Lorain Avenue. The food was consistently good, but seems to have dropped in quality lately. Apart from the Jägerschnitzel (I’m allergic to egg and the sauce reminded me of shrimp with lobster sauce, which contains lots and lots of egg), I have never been disappointed by the food here, but some of my friends have.
Any German restaurant worth its salt has to offer a good variety of German beers. They offer good German and Belgian beers here on tap and 50 bottled import beers. I went with the Reissdorf Kölsch this time, which is a light, refreshing beer. It is supposed to be served in a Stange (a tall, narrow 200-ml beaker that gives it more head), but I will overlook that because it is just nice to be able to drink it here in the U.S.
Der Braumeister has three rooms. You enter through the bar, followed by a dining area that is filled with cozy wooden booths and tables, followed in turn by the mural room. The mural room is ideal for large parties and features a mural of Neuschwanstein Castle (probably Germany’s most famous castle – located in southern Germany).
The Landjäger Platte features German smoked sausage, Swiss cheese,and crackers. It’s hard to go wrong with sausage, cheese and crackers. I’ve also had the sauerkraut balls, and they are delicious as well.
Der Braumeister has several vegetarian options on the menu, which is gratifying since several of our members are vegetarians. The vegetarian Maultaschen (a Swabian delicacy that looks like large ravioli) was a hit.
The dinners all come with your choice of potato or dumpling and a salad. The salads are really fresh and good, and the bread rolls were crisp and delicious as well. I ordered the Sauerbraten. Although I wasn’t really enthusiastic about the meat itself (it was good, but a little too sweet and sour for me), the spaetzel (dumplings) and red cabbage were delicious.
You can always judge a German (or Austrian) restaurant by how good their Schnitzel is. The Schnitzel at Der Braumeister is delicious. Here is the Schnitzel with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.
One of my members ordered the Rahmschnitzel, which is a Schnitzel with a creamy onion and bacon sauce. She loved it.
If you want to be adventurous, you might want to try the Schweinshaxe, which is a classic Bavarian dish that features roasted pork knuckles (ham hocks). I can’t bring myself to order it, but I know several men who love it. Bob thoroughly enjoyed his. It is also called Eisbein outside of Bavaria.
Another dinner that looked delicious was the Rheinlander Platte, which features a grilled, smoked pork chop and grilled bratwurst.
Several of us ordered dessert. I had the Bavarian Cream Torte (Frankfurter Kranz) this time, which was huge. German cakes are not as cloyingly sweet as American cakes. This one catered a bit more to the American palette. Several others ordered the apple and cherry strudels, which are served with a dusting of powdered sugar. I failed to photograph the desserts, because I was too busy chatting with my tablemates.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 