Eating off the Hill: Ein gutes deutsches Essen bei SchnitzelWorks -- schnitzel lunch!

I again found myself with a rental car today before I head out of town for the long weekend tomorrow, and so my thoughts of course turned to where can I go for lunch that I couldn’t easily on transit? Having been watching a lot of German food videos lately, some googling lead me to SchnitzelWorks on Cyrville Road in Gloucester, which was rated highly and well-reviewed for its namesake dish.

That’s what they specialize in, and if you don’t like schnitzel you should probably go somewhere else. But I do, so this was the spot for me. It’s in a unassuming standalone building in an industrial area, as good food often is, and they look to do a brisk lunch business with lots of regulars – and indeed, are only open for breakfast and lunch.

The menu is long, but it’s all pretty much variations of schnitzel. You can get pork schnitzel or chicken schnitzel, on a bun or as part of a platter with sides. You can get a dizzying array of toppings; the traditional Weiner Schnitzel just takes a lemon wedge.

I went with a platter though and with what was a favourite of mine when I lives in Germany – beef gravy with mushrooms. Also known as jaeger schnitzel or hunter schnitzel. The platter comes with Spätzle (an egg pasta I always choose over fries in Germany) and red cabbage.

My drink came quickly, and my lunch wasn’t far behind – they run an efficient operation. The pork schnitzel was the size of my plate, pounded thin and breaded then shallow fried, and smothered in mushroom gravy. It sat atop a half plate of Spätzle and another half plate of red cabbage.

Truth be told, I had missed the cabbage in the menu description and wasn’t a fan – I would have just had them hold it if I’d realized. But that was the only down note.

The schnitzel was generous and tasty, the mushrooms plentiful, the noodles filling. Definitely as good as I’m likely to do outside Germany – and much better than the pretenders that serve schnitzel on Sparks Street.

With entrée and drink and tip it ended up near $35 (plater was $22), but it was a hearty meal. For a lighter lunch without a side, schnitzel sandwiches start at $15.

I left thinking I wouldn’t be back any time soon as I don’t regularly have a car, but I realized driving back home that it was maybe a five minute walk from the Cyrville O-Train station. So maybe I’ll say los gehts! again sooner than I thought.

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Eating off the Hill: A German Imbiss in the heart of Scarborough

There's a lot of great food in Scarborough, and I'll be chronicling it through the election this Fall. Cuisine in Scarborough has evolved with the community. As the Greek and Italian communities have moved on to the suburbs, so has their cuisine. Today's Scarborough food scene reflects today's Scarborough: a lot of Filipino, Hakka, Indian and other South Asian options -- much of it Halal.

But last week, while down a YouTube rabbit hole of Bon Appetit cooking videos, a sudden craving for deli led me to Goggle and to happening upon one of the last remaining outposts of old European Scarborough (apart from several surviving Scottish Fish and Chips reasturants): Vienna Fine Foods.

I've actually gone by this unimpressive from the outside grocer on the bus many times and never noticed it, buried in an industrial area on Birchmount, just North of Eglinton. While they do offer a deli and a wide assortment of imported German foodstuffs that brought back many memories of my years there, what caught my eye was the Imbiss.

Literally translated as snack, Imbiss coloquialy refers to a snack bar or lunch counter, and in the back of this grocer is a small lunch bar serving up a variety of homestyle German specialties. There are a few small tables, but they do a booming takeout businss with nearby workers stopping in for a schnitzel on a bun or other popular offerings.

For my first meal last week I brought back a schnitzel dinner to the office. The traditional lemon wedge was on offer, but I went for the gravy and paired it with two sides: scalloped potatoes and mixed veggies. The schnitzel was large and nicely breaded and fried to order, and the potatoes were. The peas-heavy mixed veg tasted like they may have been there awhile (I did come mid-afternoon, after the lunch rush). Still, a very tasty meal.

This week I returned with a friend, and was pleased to see the special of the day was potato pancakes with sour cream or apple sauce. I went with the sour cream, and paired it with a bratwurst. The wurst could have used a little more flavour, but the pancakes were buttery delicious crispy goodness. I don't usually eat much potatoes anymore, but I could eat these every day.

It's unfortunate that I lived in Scarborough for a decade and never knew of this outpost of German cuisine, but it will be a regular stop when I'm in town from now on. And I'll be bringing some dry Spätzle from the grocery back with me to Ottawa for sure. Schmeckt gut!

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Eating up the Hill: Hunter Schnitzel at Bier Markt

Down the block from the office on Sparks Street is a franchise of Bier Markt, which I would probably visit more often if I liked beer. But I don't. Sometimes, however, duty calls, particularly during patio season, and I visit this Belgian-inspired restaurant. And I'll just say, there's a reason they don't call it Food Markt.

I'm sure the beer is great. Lots of varieties of beer. Dark beer. Light beer. Micro this, macro that. I don't know. Like I said, I don't like beer. I do like food though, and Bier Markt always leaves be underwhelmed.

It's not that the food is bad, necessarily. It's well prepared. It's just that it's both pricey, and limited in variety. I always seem to be left with just a few reasonable possibilities, and it often comes down to the schnitzel.

Now I lived in Germany for four years, and went back for another three months on exchange during high school, so I love my German food. Jaeger Schnitzel with Spaetzle was my go-to when the family went out for dinner. I remember my Cola Light used to cost more than my Dad's beer, but that's Germany for you.

They do an approximation of this at Bier Market, but it's not quite right. Maybe the Belgian version is a bit different, I don't know.

You start by choosing your schnitzel, chicken or pork. Pork is the more authentic choice, but either is fine. You can choose two sides from a list that includes fries, fingerling potatoes, Emmental cheese spaetzle, mashed potatoes, cabbage or market veggies. Not sure how authentic a choice mashed potatoes is, but the rest are reasonable. I go for the spaetzle and the market veggies.

Finally, you can choose your sauce. Or go sauceless, I suppose, but that would just be weird. A squeeze from a lemon wedge is an authentic choice, which I guess inspired the Capers and Lemon option. Tomato Jam does not seem German or Belgian to me, but Stout Pan Gravy would work. I go for the Hunter Sauce through, expecting the mushroomy Jaeger Sauce of my youth.

Instead, it's more like a mushroom gravy without the mushrooms. There are onions and cherry tomatoes (I don't recall the latter from schnitzels gone by) but no mushrooms. It's in enough quantity to complement the well-prepared and crispy cutlet, but the lack of mushrooms is a glaring omission.

On to the sides. The market veg is market veg. It's fine. It's vegetables, They're cooked properly. Besides whatever nutrients, it's less carbs to put me to sleep two hours later.

As for the spaetzle, it's fine, but it's nothing at all like what I remember. They sometimes have spaetzle in the Parliamentary Restaurant too, and it's also made like this. Small pieces of noodle instead of the long, stringy, more spaghetti-like formations I recall from Germany. Do they do it differently in Belgium? I never really experienced Belgian cuisine. I think we stopped for breakfast once on our way to catch a ferry in Holland, but that's about it.

Anyway, filling if pricey at $24, and tasty enough if not particularly authentic.

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