Review: Gasthaus

The Rouladen from the Gasthaus is a braised top-round beef rolled and filled with bacon, onions and a pickle, with sides of spatzel and red cabbage. (Credit: Matt Stone)

Kitsch-a-phobes, before you enter the Gasthaus, prepare yourself.

If you’re somehow afflicted with a childhood aversion to cutesy knickknacks, the atmosphere at this Brownsboro Road eatery could come as quite a shock. Seldom has a space been so thoroughly packed with teddy bears, toys and assorted trinkets. Decked out in red, white and gold, populated by dirndl-clad waitresses, the Gasthaus is as much fairy-tale theme park as dining room.

But if you can get past the deep-seated fears of things precious, you’re in for warm, German hospitality of the first order.

Michael and Annemarie Greipel opened Gasthaus in 1993, and 15 years later it still has the feel of a family business where every employee (including the six family members) takes personal pride in cooking and serving distinguished German cuisine.

The menu is short: about a dozen entrees, a handful of soups, sides and salad and a selection of marvelous desserts. But the menu’s brevity may account for the flawless technique that attends every dish.

A quarter of the entrees are schnitzels — thin cutlets of pork or veal coated in breadcrumbs, sautéed, then garbed in a variety of sauces by turns elaborate and breathtakingly simple.

Jager schnitzel ($19.95) consists of fork-tender pork in a creamy, faintly sweet, faintly smoky bacon/onion sauce. A drizzle of luminous, nearly translucent cream sauce covers wiener schnitzel — just enough to intensify the veal’s delicate flavor but not enough to obscure the crunchy, juicy combination of crispy breadcrumbs and juicy meat ($20.95).

Beef dishes strike an exquisite balance of robust flavor and delicate texture. House-made stock, cream, long-simmered onions and beets create a luxurious brown sauce for beef stroganoff. The dish is served with narrow, handmade egg noodles (spatzle) that glisten on the plate like golden chains ($19.95). For rouladen, beef is slow-braised to a spoon-tender consistency, then rolled around a stuffing of bacon, onions and tart minced pickles ($19.95).

Chicken ragout ($15.95) is an unfettered exploration of fresh, light flavors. The chef simmers chunks and shreds of chicken breast with a colorful array of vegetables — slivered leeks, carrots, mushrooms and asparagus — and dresses the whole affair in a white sauce as sheer and light as fine lingerie.

Side dishes, included with most entrees, are generously portioned for sharing. Still, you won’t go wrong if you order some bratkartoffeln (crispy fried potatoes with bacon and onion, $5) for the table. Likewise, house specialties like kartoffelknodel (soft potato dumplings) and rotkraut (red cabbage simmered with apple juice and onions) are rare treats and not to be missed.

More important, though, any prudent visitor to Gasthaus should heed this advice: Don’t wait until meal’s end to order dessert. As you walk to your table, stop for a moment at the front of the restaurant to take a gander at Annemarie Greipel’s daily selection of Napoleons, cakes, strudels and tortes ($7.95-$8.50).

At the beginning of the evening, the bounty looks unending. But — trust me on this — it doesn’t take long for those desserts to disappear. If you crave a slice of Black Forest cake (layers of moist chocolate cake, rich whipped cream and slightly sour Morello cherries), a slab of true homemade cherry strudel or a towering slice of bright red strawberry Napoleon with feather-light puff pastry and roasted almonds, lay your claim at the very beginning of the meal. You’ll be glad you did.

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