My friend Brian is a pretty savvy chef, and he is constantly in the kitchen trying to improve his dishes. I also love to experiment in the kitchen, so the two of us often enjoy to get together to discuss food and cooking. We’re also both fans of Kenji Lopez-Alt who is well known for doing the same thing (and we both own his cookbook too!), and I knew that Brian wanted to try Kenji’s German restaurant in San Mateo, so one night when my husband was away on a work trip, I took the plunge to figure out if he wanted to venture there to finally give it a try. Thankfully he did, so we headed there on a Tuesday night to check out the place.
Who knew that parking in San Mateo was a nightmare? (I’m sure a lot of people actually.) Also, I was pretty shocked to discover that the place was fully packed on a Tuesday night. Apparently it’s THE place to go, but thankfully they said it would only be around twenty minutes to wait for a table. (I am really not a fan of places that don’t take bookings, but I was willing to try it because I was eager to see how it was.) I did grab a beer at the bar, and Brian helped me to choose a great German beer that he knew I would enjoy. He was a bit disappointed by the beer list though, as he expected a whole lot more from a place that touts itself as being a German beer hall.
We were finally shown to our table, and of course we decided we needed to order and share quite a few things. It is massive communal dining tables (another turn off really, but I get it for what the restaurant concept is) and the people next to us insisted we order the deviled eggs. I do love a good deviled egg, so it was pretty much on the list anyway. We also decided we needed to try the pickled vegetables. Other things on our list of must tries were the spaetzle and Kenji’s fried chicken. The fried chicken was mostly because Brian is also working on the perfect fried chicken, so he wanted to see how Kenji’s compared. I then chose to order some Currywurst (as I fell in love with it in Europe), and of course, we had to have a sausage, so we went with the traditional bratwurst with sauerkraut. We ordered a feast for German kings, and we couldn’t wait to see how the food was!
First to arrive were the devilled eggs and the pickled vegetables. I do love a good devilled egg, so I was eager to dig in. For me, sadly, the egg fell somewhat short of eggcellence (yes I went there). The eggs were a bit too acidic for my tastes, especially with the mustard seeds on top. They felt like they needed something fatty or smoky to offset the massive amount of acid that was in the deviled egg mix. Instead of mustard seeds on top, a bit of bacon would have helped. I guess they are trying to make them vegetarian, but there must have been something they can do that is also vegetarian to balance the flavor profile somewhat. The pickles were really good though as they were still crisp and there was a great variety of vegetables.
Next to show up at the table was the chicken and waffles and the spaetzle. The chicken did sound exciting on the menu as the waffle was described as a cornbread scallion waffle, but sadly, the execution of the waffle also didn’t work that well for me. Cornbread batter doesn’t really cook well in that sort of environment, so the waffle was overall a bit soggy. I feel the dish would work better as either just cornbread or a non-cornbread waffle in order to get the right texture. Just because the chicken and waffle concept is popular doesn’t mean it will work for everything! (See the chicken and waffle calamity from August 1 Five.) I did enjoy the flavors, and the chicken was moist. I would have also preferred a more korean sauce with it as it seemed a bit pedestrian for my liking. Or don’t call it Korean. I’d be okay either way. The fusion aspect of the dish just ended up being too wishy-washy.
Now onto the spaetzle. I went to Germany in high school and learned about spaetzle on my trip there. I am a huge fan of the light, small pasta dumplings as they really soak up a lot of flavors of gravies or sauces that you may have on your plate. These spaetzle are pan fried after cooking so they have a slight char on them which adds a lot of flavor. I also really liked the cheese sauce and the Parmesan crisp was better than any I have ever done with a great, hard texture and even more cheese flavor. However, the texture of the spaetzle felt a bit too dense and chewy. Brian apparently did his final project in spaetzle in culinary school, so he was the most disappointed by this dish. I suppose if you aren’t familiar with them, it’s a nice cheesy dish that is a great substitute for macaroni and cheese (and with a better cheese sauce than most macaroni and cheese dishes you get at restaurants as well).
Now it was finally time to try out the sausages! The first that arrived was the currywurst. For those that aren’t familiar with it, it’s a pretty common street food in Germany, and it usually consists of fries with a sliced sausage on top covered in a curry ketchup sauce. I’ve had my fair share living in Europe, and I’m always a fan, so this was the one thing I was insistent that we order. This one was more of a fried potato chunks with bratwurst and a home made curry sauce, but honestly, it was fantastic. The potatoes were rich and buttery and the curry sauce was sweet and a bit spicy. The brat was nice and was there for traditional purposes I suppose, but I would have just been happy with the potatoes and sauce. It was definitely our wow dish of the night, and Brian was flabbergasted at how well the potatoes were cooked.
The bratwurst sausage was not quite as exciting for us. It’s a standard brat in a bun (although it’s been poshed up a bit with the addition of a brioche toast bun). I guess I wasn’t expecting the same sausage to be on the currywurst, so having the same sausage was a bit of a letdown (but that was more our fault on the ordering side of things). The sauerkraut we got as the topping was nice, but nothing better than I’ve bought from the supermarket. The potato salad and salad side were also fine, but overall it was just an okay dish, with nothing really spectacular.
Of course, I forced Brian to try the dessert. There is only one, so I expected it to be pretty good. It is a pumpkin seed sundae consisting of vanilla ice cream, pumpkin seed brittle and pumpkin seed oil. The sundae is actually pretty nice as the pumpkin seed brittle is really tasty and done really well. The ice cream was a bit grainy, but it made for a nice end to the meal.
Overall, I don’t think the meal met up to my expectations. I guess knowing about Kenji and having the cook book, I really just wanted everything to have that extra something special, where a lot of the dishes were just a bit simple. Perhaps that is what he was going for. I think I would go back and try other things (although I would definitely be getting that currywurst again…perhaps just getting one for myself). I am a bit interested in the sandwiches and to see how the Impossible Donar Kebab would taste. But I’m also not really in a hurry to rush back, especially as they don’t take bookings and, in my opinion, the quality of food isn’t worth waiting that long for. I suppose if I was in the area, I’d be tempted, but the trek from the city is a bit of a pain. Overall, it’s an interesting interpretation and modernization of German food that could be worth trying out if you’re really that interested!
Score: 3.5/5
Recommendation: Currywurst. Then get a second order.
Wursthall
310 Baldwin Ave
San Mateo, CA 94401
Too bad your tastebuds were disappointed, because this post was really fun! I’m glad you ordered such a variety of food. At least the presentation was well done on the dishes. š
I checked out their menu and noticed that the currywurst was in quotes… So they know it’s not *real* currywurst.
It was a lot of fun. You know I love trying out new things. And yes, it was in quotes, but it was probably better than *real* currywurst!
Hey, Kenji here. Thanks for the great and honest review. Very well written. I will follow your adventures! Meanwhile we are working on a lot of the things you had issues with, so please do stop in again when out new menu hits within the next couple months.
Hey Kenji! Thanks for reading and responding!
Sounds like a return visit should be in the works! Looking forward to trying the new things you have in the works.
We will definitely go back- you are a huge inspiration and constant go to resource for my recipe development!