Austrian Cuisine

From České Budějovice we hopped on a train to Austria eventually aiming for the Croatian city of Zagreb. The awesome thing about train tickets in a lot of western Europe (Except Italy) is that they are good for a month and you can hop on and off the train anywhere you want. We decided to break up our trip to Zagreb by stopping for a few days in Linz, Austria and Salzburg, Austria. After almost a month in the Czech Republic where a big dinner costs 4 dollars and a beer is a dollar for a half liter it was a bit of a wallet shock to step off the train in Austria.

We met up with a Couchsurfer, Christian in Linz and he took us on a long walk around ancient Roman churches and over the hills in Linz and finally to this amazing restaurant for traditional Austrian food. After a 2 hour hike through the hills and a stroll down the Blue Danube (it was really more of a slate gray color) I was more then ready for a heavy Austrian lunch.

Jess got a Sauerbraten with a semmelknoedel (bread dumpling) and potatoes. Sauerbraten literally is sour beef, or pickled pot roast. This particular one came with a huge hunk of fat on the side which I think is awesome but did not please Jessie too much. However she said she was soo hungry that she ate it and enjoyed it.


Christian got a Schitzel, but instead of a pork cutlet or veal cutlet this was made with a brined and smoked hamsteak.
I got the Farmer's plate, basically it was everything the Sauerbraten that Jess ate as well as the smoked ham that they used for Christiane's schnitzel plus another cured pork meat. Served with potatoes and a semmelknoedel, as well as a completely unnecessary hot dog on top. While the hot dog was pretty, it seemed a bit of a strange addition, I kind of think it was just the waiter screwing with me.

Christian and the waiter had a grand old time forcing me and Jess to pronounce the dishes we were ordering. All over a great lunch and a great time.
Thanks Christian,

-NOM!