During my semester abroad in the fall of 2019, I had the pleasure of taking an excursion to Austria, a gorgeous, culturally rich, and quite frankly, underrated, country in central Europe. The climax of the brief but enriching trip was an overnight stay in Vienna, the nation’s capitol.
There’s much to love about this city of two million. I was lucky enough to visit in early December, when holiday lights shimmer throughout the city and one of Europe’s most grandiose Christmas markets is in full swing. It’s a time defined by community fesivities, shopping local and merriment to the fullest degree.
As one might expect, this time of year is also marked by cold, blustery weather. Luckily, many of Austria’s culinary highlights suceed in soothing the soul amid the plunging temps.
After many hours of wandering, I stumbled upon Heindls, a bustling, family-oriented eatery known for it’s Palatschinke (An Eastern European iteration of crepes) and Schmarren (A dastardly delicious dessert that resembles mutilated pancakes). I forwent both of these in favor of their Käsespätzle, a renowned German comfort food that could warm even the most bitter soul.
Spätzle, the knobby German dumplings often served as a side dish, are the star of the show. These noodles receive the luxury treatment in the form of a rich cheese sauce made with Gruyere or Emmentaler. At Heindls, they take the dish a step further and bake the whole package in a massive skillet, resulting in an impossibly crisp surface. The final touch is a fistful of cripy fried onions.
The final presentation is best thought of as German Mac and Cheese; gluttonously rich and satisfying on a cold winter day. In contrast to the giant plate of noodles and cheese, Heindls serves a tiny (to the point of being comical) salad on the side dressed with a (very) vinegary dressing. In spite of the greenery, I walked out of the restaurant much more slowly than when I walked in.
Fast forward to the present day: winter is offically over but the weather has yet to receive the message. In a couple weeks, spiking temperatures will render rich and cheesy comfort foods far less effective. This yearning for one final winter meal led me to the best German restaurant in New Hampshire.
Tucked away in the Granite Hills business center in Hooksett, NH, Bavaria restaurant is a cozy spot providing southern New Hampshire residents with a taste of old world German cooking. The menu houses substantial classics such as Wiener Schnitzel, Currywurst and Sauerbraten, the vinegar spiked, slow-roasted beef dish with a cult following from those in the know. It’s all served with plenty of German beer.
Seated among the meaty, saucy dishes on Bavaria’s menu is Käsespätzle; humble in description but gutsy in flavor. Bavaria’s take on this amped-up spätzle is served unbaked and is a bit smaller than Heindls’, but the result is no less spectacular.
Intensely cheesy and toothsome with the slightest bit of crunch from the shards of fried onion perched on top, it only took a few of forkfuls for the dish to transport me back to that busy Viennese restaurant from years prior. This is simplistic comfort food executed correctly.
Much like at Heindls, Bavaria serves their Käsespätzle with a lilliputian green salad. Scarred by my vinegar-laced lettuce experience in Vienna, I instead opted for a side of blaukraut. As an avid defender of all things cabbage, this bowl of red cabbage braised with apples and red wine until tender and unctous sent my palate to a new dimension.
The extended cook time translates to a plate of cabbage that’s equally sweet and vegetal, with a soft texture resembing caramelized onions. After taking my first bite, I was overtaken with a sense of disbelief; bewildered from the complexity obtained from such an ordinary vegetable.
You’ll feel every calorie when dining at Bavaria, but it’s an amazing spot for hearty plates of comfort food inspired by a culinarily overlooked region of Europe. One visit had me planning my next visit to central Europe.
Find Bavaria at 1461 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, NH, inside the Granite Hills business center.
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