Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Brotzeit @ VivoCity

The initial plan to embarrass me with a candlelit cake AND a birthday song sung by the staff of Brotzeit did not materialize fully. The cake was there, but the song did not come with it. I guess something went wrong in the planning and thank gawd for that! The cake, or the Weissbier Tiramisu (S$10.50) was exceptional.

I got a little suspicious when BeerGirl (aka BG aka Tasmanian Girl aka Xiu Long Bao) did not order dessert. How could she when there were a few interesting signature desserts on the menu?

Not rum or kahlua, the tiramsu was actually infused with reduced Paulaner! The creamy froth that topped it went very well with the soft sponges and chocolate. Lighter than most and sufficiently soaked in beer, it has got to be one of the better desserts I have had in restaurants recently.

BG loves exquisite beer, which is cool. So, I guess Brotzeit was a good idea from her since she was able to drown herself in the endless list of beers while I chomped (most of) the meat. I must admit that this is not a good place for photography as it gets really dark after sunset but hey, we are here to eat and to get drunk. If al fresco is your thing, reserve the table where you actually face the sea for an additional conversation piece.

So, happy hour it was and BG had the Hefe-Weissbier Paulaner (Halbe 0.5L - S$11.90), described as a typical beer from Munich; top fermented, unfiltered, made with wheat malt, naturally cloudy with vitamins and hints of banana. Oh, the number one Weissbier in Germany as well.

I like my beer dark and dense, like Portishead’s Sour Times. Looking at the menu, I guess the Original Munich Dunkel Paulaner (Halbe 0.5L - S$12.50), a dark lager beer from Munich which was made from caramel malts suited me best. It certainly did not disappoint with its rich malt taste.

The Brotzeitflade Bayern (S$18.50) must have been the German version of a pizza. I’m reading off the menu, “thin crust fladenbrot with tomatoes, emmenthaler cheese, black forest ham, mild green peppers, cocktail onions and mushrooms”. Certainly a multitude of toppings there, I must say. The texture of the crust was harder and tougher than any of them Italian savoury pancakes but I guess in general, after downing a few pints, everything should go soft in the mouth. The yellow mustard was a contrastingly delicious complement.

At S$36.00, the oven roasted crispy pork knuckle with sauerkraut and potato salad was quite a deal as it could easily feed four or two very hungry white-collar workers like us. Loved the moist, tender meat and the cauliflower-looking skin, roasted to crispy perfection. Slightly bland but then again, its German and not Chinese siew yoke.

When it comes to German food outings, I try to not miss the sausages. Since the birthday berry was allowed to choose whatever he wanted (from the menu), the thick-skinned him went for the kill and ordered the Würstelplatte (S$32.50), a platter of assorted sausages including spicy chicken, lamb, mini pork cheese, weisswurst and garlic. Each distinctively flavoursome yet shared the same commendable softly firm texture. It came with more sauerkraut (which I secretly wished it could be substituted with a bowl of rice) and mustard. We left the plate almost squeakily clean, save for some inches which we could really swallow no more.

Thank you BG for the beery porky dinner which was fantastic!

I heard she came again, the following week.

*Burp*

Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant
VivoCity, 1 HarbourFront Walk,
#01-149/151
Singapore 098585
Tel: (65) 6272 8815
http://www.brotzeit1516.com

Read BG’s take here.

21 comments:

Selba said...

*singing Happy B'day song in German*

"Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!
Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!
Zum Geburtstag liebe Nic...!
Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!"


:)

I miss German food!!!

J2Kfm said...

"save for some inches which we could really swallow no more."

LOL. even with a few mouths working in tandem? :)

choi yen said...

The roasted pork knuckle quite funny looking by it's cauliflower skin, why like that ar?

Xiu Long Bao said...

1 crazy pork knuckle, 16 pcs of flatbread and 8 pcs of german sausages. I really have no idea how we manage to wallop all the food. It's enough to stuff 4 average appetite guys *sweat*

Hairy,when are we biering out again???

Rebecca Saw said...

hey..Happy Birthday!! so when's ur celebration in KL??

GFAD said...

*groan*
For once, I come to a flog and not salivate!! Through no fault of yours, of course. Just that I had a very heavy lunch of Jap curry (never knew I would enjoy spice-less Jap curry, and it's supposed to be the hot version!! Even my dotter din think it was hot!) and a big mug of coffee. And the sight of all that carbo and protein is just a bit too much!! :D

*reading XLB's comment*
Gosh! You guys can really eat and drink hor?! Just the 2 of you and such skinny flers too!! :D

Anonymous said...

Ahh... nothing like a German birthday. I had mine when I was 23 and living in Munich and I've never been the same since.

... for one thing, I'm now a certified Babitarian! Hehe.

Happy Birthday Again, Nic!

Anonymous said...

hahahahaha! went for the kill! yeah lighting is so important for good photos. I haven exactly tried any German food before, looks like i must step out of my comfort zone of dim sum and cakes to try some other cuisines. lol!

Penang Tua Pui said...

Happy belated birthday.... heehee...

yaya... poor lighting is bad for food photography.....

the tiramisu look soooooo delicious la... can i have a bite....?

red fir said...

"it has got to be one of the better desserts I have had in restaurants recently"... sounds good!

minchow said...

There's no birthday like one bolstered by German bier and meat! I had a random thought of leaving all boring responsibilities in KL and visiting Berlin just yesterday... zis is pushing me over the edge! Happy Birthday!

HairyBerry said...

selba, awwww....danke danke! ;) haha, that's the only german word i know...ok, i know sauerkraut and bier too lah..heheh...

u like german food as well? cool!

j2kfm, haha! even in tandem, that's for sure. well, there was only a pair of mouths that day and i really think we did a good job that day. perhaps not 100%, but am glad we finished almost 95% of 'em..haha!

mimi, really looking like a cauliflower, right? haha! i think it shd be the cooking/roasting technique. i've seen similar cauliflower shapes on our local siew yoke as well! :)

xiu long bao, maybe cos we sat there for almost 3.5 hours and the fact that we talked a lot. i guess that helped digestion..haha!

when are we biering?? hmmm, when my cholestrol level is low again lar..haha!

thenomadGourmand, thank so much for the wishes!!! oh, kl celebrations ended already..i must thank all my friends for the wonderful time! ;)

GFAD, on the other hand, i wish i can have a plate of steaming hot japanese curry rizu in front of me now! haha! there's something about them j-curry that makes it so different. i'd say the rice and the chocolate! ;)

me skinny? hahaha! the last time i checked, my visceral fat level was 11! omg! haha!

HairyBerry said...

kenny, "never been the same since?"...woah, sounds like a really significant and fun 23th u had lah! ok, mine's pretty good too lah. ;)

thanks for the wishes, dude and long live babitarians!!! so contradicting hor, given all the lard that goes with it..haha! ;)

ladyironchef, yupe yupe, i think there are just so many kinda cuisines out there in singapore. i only wish i have the time to explore! *checking for next long weekend* ;)

penang tua pui, hey, thanks for stopping by and the wishes! ;) oh, i was cursing the lights at one point..haha! yupe, the tiramisu is greattt...come down to singapore for a taste of it! ;)

ice, do check it out! the last good dessert i had was the tiramisu from da paolo @ paragon. it's been a downhill after that til i met this beery tiramisu. interesting stuff.

550mljar of faith, omg, talking about spontaneity! haha! on another note, i did leave my responsibilites on tuesday night just to catch a special screening of muallaf in singapore. i thought, hey, life's too short and we shd just do it! so, berlin's a good plan, i'd say! ;) and thank you for the wishes! ;)

sc said...

that's quite a lot of meat for the 2 of you, no?

backStreetGluttons said...

You mean she came , a week later ?

Gawd we dunno thats good or bad , for the enthusiastic berryman a long week earlier might have been highly done in by one too many big sausages curved smooth surely not firm enough . Or was it the too much wonderful beer? You never know...
hehe

Faye fly said...

wah y so many birtday cake lah..
u wanna get older how many year leh?! ;p

HairyBerry said...

sc, haha, that is so true! i did a post-mortem with xlb and realised that we really ate ALOT that day..haha!

backstreetgluttons, hehehehe...the 5% has an effect on the texture of our food and sometimes, mustard and mayo comes in handy to make it tastier (softer?) but one might say who needs it for the taste is best left natural on its own. we like our sausages firm. and no sauerkraut. hahah...

faye, u have a point! i think i am already 4 years older this year! hahaha! hmmm, i wonder if smaller cakes are better..half a year then? hehehehe...

Simon Seow said...

lol, XLB so many nick name now.

Shell (貝殼) said...

Happy belated birthday~~

HairyBerry said...

simon, hahaha! more to come! ;D

Shell (貝殼), thank you so much for the greeting!! ;D

ling239 said...

u make me crave for pork!! argh !!!!!! >.<"