Paulaner Brauhaus @ V&A Waterfront, 28.11.1

Cape Town’s been dragging her heeels on the summer front but yesterday was a beautiful day in the Mother City so we retreated to Quay 4, an old stable at the Waterfront. We ordered a few drinks next to the calm waters but were told that the gas was off so we couldn’t order anything other than seafood! It was a sign for us to move on and thank goodness we did.

Paulaner Brauhaus has been a venue on the edge of my mind for a while as I have popped in for a few beers over the years as well as tasted their beer at the Cape Town Festival of Beer but never eaten there before. Having spent a few years in Namibia I’m always looking for a decent eisbein in Cape Town and Paulaner had been recommended to me. We took a seat on the restaurant’s upper level where the weather and view couldn’t have been more beautiful. Watching the sky change colour, the Robben Island ferry dropping off passengers, the bridge allowing boats to pass a warm atmosphere really setup a perfect dinner.

Although I’m not a big beer fan, I do enjoy entering into the spirit of an occasion so we decided to continue the tradition of enjoying Paulaner’s in-house brewed beer, with their taster beer selection. For R25 it includes samples of Weiss, Lager and Dunka, allowing patrons to sample their beer without getting stuck with a pint they might not like.

For starters we tried the freshly baked pretzel, a popular dish at Paulaner which I had never heard about! The large pretzel is served with salted butter and pork lard, both delicious but deceptively rich. Also, “that” pretzel taste is quite unusual when it’s not coming out of a celophane packet in a supermarket isle! For mains, we ordered the roast pork knuckle with sauerkraut and potato dumplings. Paulaner’s version of eisbein is not smoked as it is actually a Bavarian, restaurant not German as so many locals believe. The meat was incredibly tender with crispy crackling although it seems nearly impossible to get it crispy all the way through since it keeps the pork moist whilst cooking on the bone. I love the combination of mustard and sauerkraut. Paulaner didn’t use strong (dijion) mustard so it wasn’t too burny so I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The potato dumplings were rather unusual, they were smooth like mash but looked like boiled potatos,tasty with the gravy! We also ordered the pork schnitzel which was perfectly crumbed in a crispy, golden covering and cooked beautifully, however, a sauce  would have added another dimention to the meal. Perhaps this is a bad South African habit of adding sauces to everything or maybe it’s ok by Bavarian standards? Not sure.

I was too full to indulge in some dessert but the pleasant service and reasonable prices for fantastic food made the beautiful day sweet enough.

Pauler’s In-House Brewery Indoors.           Beautiful V&A Waterfront Sunset.