While the year-round Oktoberfest celebration at Busch Gardens theme park is enough to satisfy most people's desire for German food, a meal at Bavarian Chef is certain to be just as memorable and enjoyable. Sans the roller coasters and bird shows, of course.
If you have the stomach to try some truly heavy and filling food, then hop into your car and prepare for a drive down Rt. 29 to Madison.
Past Psychic Palm Readers, an industrial intersection and Charlottesville's very own Truck Stop, Bavarian Chef is located about 35 minutes away from the University.
Reservations definitely are recommended. Don't expect to walk in on a busy night and get a seat or you'll be forced to stop at Wendy's on the long ride back instead.
This cozy restaurant makes you feel immediately at home. The softly lit interior, although packed with diners, is surprisingly quiet and is full of unique stained glass windows and rustic chandeliers with matching candleholders on the walls. Even the bar is unique, with a built-in chessboard and a fine selection of German beers.
Service at Bavarian Chef is exceptional. The wait staff, dressed in traditional Bavarian attire, struck a nice balance between hospitality and professionalism.
Our server was quick to greet us and bring a much-appreciated basket of delicious bread. When taking our order, she even made sure to take the lady's order first, a nice touch that you sometimes don't see even in fancy eateries.
The menu is clear and concise, with enough diversity that most any diner can find something he likes. However, you must be willing to shell out some money. The appetizers run about $6.50 and the entrees average around $18.00, so unless you're ready to pamper yourself, this may not be the right choice.
The appetizer menu offers some traditional German dishes like the Ungarische Goulash Suppe ($5.95), as well as dishes such as Shrimp Cocktail ($7.95) for the less adventurous.
For the bold diner, there is one choice on the appetizer menu that truly stands out -- Snails in Beer Batter ($7.95). The dish actually is quite tasty, the batter delightfully crispy, and the snails easily mistaken for mushrooms.
Bavarian Chef divides the entrees into two categories -- one simply labeled "Entrees" and the other, "Unsere Spezialituten."
For the friend unwillingly dragged along to a German restaurant, the Entrees section offers good selections ranging in style from the pricey Filet Minon ($26.95) to the still hefty Jumbo Shrimp Scampi ($24.95)
You'll want to turn to the "Unsere Spezialituten" section if you're looking for authentic German food. Wiener Schnitzel ($19.95) is the most recognizable German dish -- a large cutlet of breaded veal served with burgundy sauce.
The meat, like in the rest of the dishes, was flavorful and tender, and the portion was large enough to satisfy even the hungriest eater.
For those who like to stay away from veal but still would like schnitzel, Bavarian Chef also offers Mandel Schnitzel ($18.95), pork breaded in a batter full of almonds with a strawberry gin sauce.
Though the meat again was excellent, the sauce was overpowering with its extremely sweet strawberry taste. The almonds gave it a unique flavor and fun texture, which helped to moderate the overwhelming sauce.
Another fruity and sweet dish was the Huhnerbrustchen Baden-Baden ($17.95) otherwise known as the "second one on the menu" for the non-German speaker. This chicken dish was beautifully presented, featuring stuffed chicken and a sweet orange sauce.
Like the Mandel Schnitzel, the meat in this dish was excellent, but stay away from it if you don't like sweetness.
For a more masculine taste, and the dish that comes to mind as soon as you hear "German food," we turn to the sausage.
While most of us enjoy our sausage with breakfast, here you're more likely to make it an entire meal. The Bavarian Sausage Platter ($17.95) comes with three large sausages -- weisswurst, bauerwurst and bratwurst -- over real sauerkraut. Unlike the garbage that comes out of the can, this sauerkraut is quite tasty.
Each sausage had a unique taste and it was a definite relief to taste some salty food after the intense fruitiness and sweetness of the two preceding dishes.
Among other entrees, Bavarian Chef offers Rheinscher Sauerbraten ($18.95), roasted marinated beef in a sweet and sour raisin sauce. All the selections came in large portions and filled us up with just a few bites, so we couldn't try this dish.
Our dishes came with a choice of vegetables ranging from delectable whipped potatoes to sautéed zucchini and German egg noodles. These side dishes were just as pleasing as the entrees themselves.
If, for some completely inconceivable reason, the entrees did not fill you up, the Bavarian Chef offers a mind-blowing dessert menu.
The flourless chocolate cake is intimidating even to look at, much less eat. They also have three kinds of cheesecake and a tasty Black Forest Cake that we tried.
The Bavarian Chef will leave you fat and happy, and it's the best restaurant this paper has reviewed this year both in food quality and service.
So if you feel ready to tackle some hard-hitting food and spend some big bucks, Bavarian Chef is the place to go.
Valentine's Day is one week away, so make your reservations, practice your German pronunciation and think up some witty car conversation. It's a long ride.
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