Well, this is an interesting one. The Izakaya is/was a Japanese restaurant in Wachenheim, in the heart of the Palatinate wine region. They got a star pretty much right after opening, but then changed their concept to be more casual again, “costing” them their star (still listed on the guide Michelin, though). Now, they once again made a big change and started cooking interpretations of classic Palatinate dishes, even changing their name to what roughly translates to “bread bun, sausage and wine” from Palatinate German.
The menu started with what I would interpret as “fine dining versions” of well known dishes from the region and culminated in a straight up feast including a gigantic piece of beef shoulder tender with triple fried potatoes and a pancake with soft ice cream. The atmosphere is very welcoming and casual, with some people just stopping by for a glass of wine with their dog etc. so I understand, if this doesn’t qualify as fine dining for some. But the quality of the food was so good, that I thought I’d share the menu anyway.
Images in order:
-
Pork terrine with duck liver and blood sausage, puff pastry, pickled vegetables and homemade mustard: a lot of these ingredients were nightmare fuel for kids in the area, but this interpretation was a winner, probably closer to Foie Gras in flavor than terrine.
-
homemade neck ham: some of the best pieces of ham I ever had, the fat was basically melting in my mouth.
-
sourdough bread with sour cream butter and sea salt.
-
marbled trout carpaccio and gently smoked trout, sauerkraut broth with trout caviar and horseradish oil: probably the dish closest related to the restaurant’s Japanese origins and one of the highlights. Never imagined the combination of sauerkraut and raw fish to work that well.
-
soup made from boiled meat broth and potato miso that has been fermented for 2 years, mashed apple/potato with crispy potato skin and parsley oil; the soup was served on top, also came with a slice of braided yeast bun with plum electuary: probably the best soup dish I have ever had. Umami is such an overused term at this point, but it was pretty much made for this dish. The sweet yeast bun was the perfect counter to the salty soup.
-
cooked white asparagus with gently cooked pork neck and sauce hollandaise ice cream: another winner for me, but I’m a sucker for ice cream made of things that shouldn’t be ice cream.
-
beef shoulder and raw marinated rib eye with herb butter, triple cooked roast potatoes and braised onions with ox marrow: buttery soft meat with potatoes straight from heaven, but I think I would have preferred a smaller prime beef cut instead.
-
palette cleanser: shot of unripe grape juice with frosted foam.
-
fluffy rhubarb pancake with vanilla soft ice with salted caramel: in similar vein to the beef, just throwing the fine dining aspect out the window and serving a good old pancake as the finale is certainly a choice, but a more successful one than the beef shoulder. Super fluffy and the acidity of the rhubarb was a nice twist.
by Einzelkind90