When Maria von Trapp sang about crisp apple strudels and schnitzel with noodles in The Sound of Music, she was talking about her ‘favorite things’, delicious German dishes. In the Treasure Valley, you can enjoy those same dishes and more at the Schnitzel Garten in Eagle. The restaurant, located just off of State Street in Eagle, is a nice place to go, either for a Bavarian pretzel and a few German beers or for a full German meal. During warmer weather, there is a nice patio for dining, allowing you to sip your beer and feel you are at a casual biergarten in sunny Munich.
With the menu at Schnitzel Garten in Eagle, they have wisely decided to mainly concentrate on two types of dishes, supplementing them with a few weekly specials and a small list of German specialties. The namesake schnitzel covers one category, while würste (sausages) is the other. Most dishes will come with a choice of soup or salad and a choice of a potato side dish such as warm potato salad, pan fried potatoes, fries or mashed potatoes. Another option with many of the dishes is spätzle a type of German noodle that is hearty and delicious.
Schnitzel, in its basic form, is meat pounded thin, breaded and fried and served with either a squeeze of lemon (Vienna style, Wiener Schnitzel) or one of many sauces. Any of the preparation styles will work with the meat choices of pork, veal or chicken. Perusing the menu at the Schnitzel Garten in Eagle, there was a Gypsy Style Schnitzel, Zigeuner Schnitzel; an interesting baked schnitzel with bacon and cheeses, Schinken Käse; and also a Chef’s Schnitzel as a weekly special. Being a big mushroom fan, I opted for the Jäger Schnitzel the traditional Hunter’s Style dish.
There are several appetizers on the menu including a Bavarian Pretzel served with a sweet mustard. An interesting appetizer was the Flammkuchen, or literally ‘Flame Bread’. It was highly recommended and rightly so. The thin, crisp flatbread dough is covered with crème fraiche, then topped with bacon, caramelized onion and Swiss cheese. It was crisp, flavorful and really delicious and well worth trying.
For my starter choice, I decided on the weekly soup, the Beef and Cabbage Soup. When it came, the aroma hit immediately, spicy and rich. The deep reddish-brown, almost black thick soup had lots of pieces of cabbage and beef up to the top of the bowl. The soup was delicious, with the characteristic sweet and sour tang characteristic of many German preparations accented by a nice spicy kick from white pepper. This was a hearty bowl and really was a nice start to the meal.
The main dish came next on a nice platter. To the left, a nice mound of glistening spätzle stood. The veal schnitzel I had ordered was barely visible, covered by a thick rich gravy with lots of fresh mushrooms in it. Cutting into the veal, I marveled at how the tender veal still had a crispy breading even though it was covered with the sauce. A nice bite of veal, mushroom and sauce had a hearty flavor, with the tasty sauce seasoned just enough to still allow the flavor of the mild veal to come though. This is German comfort food at its best.
One of the most traditional sides in German and other Northern European cuisines is red cabbage. At the Schnitzel Garten in Eagle, they keep it simple, the tender braised cabbage cooked with a few chunks of apple and a very mild vinegar-based sweet and sour flavor. It was good, an excellent side dish to cut through the richness of the schnitzel’s rich gravy. Another nice side was the Cucumber Salad, with fresh cucumbers and some chopped dill in a creamy dressing.
If there is one dish that most people identify with German cooking, it is the würste,which means sausages in German. Würste covers a lot of area and can be made from many types of meats. To most American, when they think of German sausage the Bratwurst is the first one that comes to mind. At the Schnitzel Garten in Eagle, all of their sausages including their Bratwurst are made in-house. The Bratwurst are available either simply cooked or smoked and then cooked.
My dining companion decided on the smoked bratwurst. They came to the table as two huge, somewhat reddish brats, with small pieces of herbs showing through the the translucent skin. The skin had just the right amount of ‘pop’ to it. On the side was a mound of sauerkraut and fries, on of the recommended potato choices with the dish. The smoked flavor was actually quite mild and the brat went well with a bit of the coarse brown mustard at the table.
Another choice is the Weisswürste, a white veal sausage with a very smooth veal filling (as opposed to the brat’s coarser grind pork), served with a hot broth/water bowl, sweet mustard and a Bavarian pretzel. On the menu is also one of Germany’s most popular street foods, the Currywurst. Influenced by their large immigrant population, these beef or pork sausages are sliced and then covered with a ketchup curry sauce and a dusting of curry powder. Rounding out the choices are the Hühner Wurst, a chicken sausage. They also have a sausage sampler plate for 2-4 with several choices of sausages to share.
We tried to resist dessert, but were told the apfelstrudel was something special to try. Apple strudel is a common dessert in Europe, with many different versions. The Schnitzel Garten makes theirs in the true Austrian-German style, with a thin dough instead of the puff pastry used elsewhere. The presentation was superb, with the strudel flanked by two nice scoops of ice cream and decorated with crème fraiche and powdered sugar. The strudel itself was filled with chunks of fresh apples, sweetened and cooked just long enough that they still retained a little bite to them. Raisins in the filling also gave some nice flavor and texture. This was an excellent strudel and a great way to finish the meal.
The service at the Schnitzel Garten in Eagle was attentive and well paced, with the server very knowledgeable about the offerings. There is a nice list of German beers, both in bottles and on tap as well as some German wines, including a nice Gewurztraminer, a deliciously fruity white wine that goes quite well with a variety of foods. The owner, very friendly and with just a touch of a German accent, made his rounds of the room and visited with all the tables. He enjoyed showing a traditional Glühwein Bowl and Cup Set used in Germany for making mulled rum and wine punches at Christmastime and telling us about it. It made for a very pleasant meal and a desire to come back again to try more of the Schnitzel Garten’s delicious food.
Schnitzel Garten German Restaurant
1225 E. Winding Creek Drive
Eagle, ID 83616
(208) 629-8855
Schnitzel Garten Website
Schnitzel Garten Facebook Page
