Few weeks ago, we had short getaway to Bogor-Puncak area and visited this German-themed restaurant called Bavarian Haus Bratwurst ‘n Grill, which opens in December last year. Located just approx. 1.3 kilometers from Puncak-Ciawi toll exit, it took us about 1.5 hours from Jakarta to reach this place. Prior to our visit, we already did our researches about this restaurant and everything got us very excited and honestly, we had a very high expectation on this place.
Claimed to be the first and only authentic Bavarian Haus in Indonesia, Bavarian Haus Puncak building truly lives to its claim. Inspired by real traditional Bavarian house in German, it is said to be the biggest Bavarian house in Asia, wow! Managed under Cimory Group, which is already famous for their agricultural livestock and dairy products, Bavarian Haus Puncak stands tall together with few themed-restaurants in the neighborhood managed by same company (e.g. Cimory Riverside, etc). Apparently the CEO of Cimory Group, Mr. Bambang Sutantio, had experience of studying in German, and paired with Mr. Claas Meinke, the head chef of Bavarian Haus, have confidence to bring us the authentic German restaurant with premium taste.
The majestic building of Bavarian Haus Puncak, herzlich willkommen!
If you are coming from Jakarta, Bavarian Haus Puncak is located at the right side of the road, and it’s definitely difficult to miss since the building is very big and there are many signage. We didn’t expect that the place would be THAT grand, so we felt even more excited after seeing outer building. The parking space is available but I don’t think it can fit so many cars, just come early to get a spot and better seating position, especially on weekends/public holidays.
Coming inside, we were stunned to see what lays upon us: a semi-open, high ceiling building with thick European atmosphere, perfect for a getaway! From the tall wooden entrance gate, the friendly greeters dressed in Bavarian costumes, the German hut styled building, the hanging flowers and docks, so lovely! You can choose to sit in the middle (smoking area), the bar and lounge area with sofa and snugly warm cushions, and the main restaurant area (ground and second floor) with regular wooden furniture.
PHOTO TOUR!
When you walk past the gate, though, the first thing you’ll notice is the big glass area in the middle of the place, where you can witness the real process of making sausages. The open kitchen is actually the Bavarian Haus Butchery, where visitors can see how the meats are being processed with the right way and correct procedures. This makes it understandable why the meat quality in Bavarian Haus Puncak is said to match with German standard, which has been proven by their achievement of receiving “Fleischerhandwerk“ certificate: which marks professional standard of Butchery of The German National Butcher Association. Better yet, Bavarian Haus Bratwurst ‘n Grill is *currently* the only restaurant in Asia owning this certificate.
After walking around and taking photos, we browsed through the menu and found out that their menu is quite complete, from choice of Appetizers until Desserts. Interestingly, the menu are written only in English & German languages, probably because the restaurant is targeted for medium upper class visitors who are assumed to understand (at least) English. However, we were very quite disappointed though, to know that this restaurant serves strictly NO PORK, because (correct us if we are wrong), German food are so closely associated with pork and it would be strange to find nothing at all here. Understandable that this restaurant is built in Bogor-Puncak area but if you are brave enough to claim authenticity, we think you should go all out bringing the most real, most authentic one without any double standard.
F&B price range from IDR 25,000 to IDR 395,000.
Cinnamon Tea IDR 29,000
One of recommended drinks from the staff, we must say this one was quite “unacceptable”. XD The original menu comes with hot version, but since it was pretty hot and humid that day, we requested a cold version, which the staff described as “tasting as good as the hot one”. NOT! The cold version had this strange, overpowering cinnamon flavor that went directly to your mind and ruin everything else you eat/drink in the next 5 minutes. Will never order again.
Farmer’s Green Vitamin IDR 39,000
With our upcoming orders of meat, meat, and meat, we decided to give love to our bodies by ordering this healthy drinks made from fresh fruits and vegetables. I forgot the actual ingredients of this drink but it was good! If you like sour healthy drinks with hint of natural sweetness, go for it. Besides, it will make you feel less guilty eating all those calories in the restaurant. XD
König Ludwig Weissbier 500 ml IDR 90,000
So tell me, if you come to a German restaurant, would you miss the beer? The hell NO! Bavarian Haus only have 3 options for the beer, this one and 2 other local brands. Konig Ludwig beer is well-known Royal Bavarian weissbier made with exclusive ingredients from Southern Germany, and we don’t normally find this brand in Indonesia. The beer only comes in 1 option of serving size: 500 ml, and served chilled. Personally I really like the fruity flavor of the beer and considerably low alcohol content of 5.5% only.
Before our food came, a basket of complimentary bread and butter were served on the table. Not that I am complaining, but I prefer hard and chewy German bread to kick start my appetite!
Assorted Cheese Platter IDR 75,000
The platter contains of 3 types of sliced cheese, and toasted buttered bread. We assumed the cheeses are the types of Rauchkase a.k.a. German smoked cheeses, that are made with different fillings and ingredients such as chili, paprika, and other herbs and spices. Although cheese is not exactly my favorite side, I must admit that I enjoyed these 3 types of cheeses as much as I enjoyed my meat platter there! They were very fresh, nicely flavored and didn’t have this overwhelming milky, heavy smell or taste on them. The texture was soft, supple, almost velvety. Better yet, dip them into the provided Bavarian mustard to compliment the flavor to maximum deliciousness!
If you prefer to mix the cheese platter with cold cuts, they also have that option on the menu for slightly lower price.
Grill Platter for Four IDR 280,000
Here comes the purpose of our visit to Bavarian Haus: the almight Grill Platter for Four! Consisting of different sausages, meat, sauerkraut, apple red cabbage, Bavarian cabbage salad, and potato wedges; the platter certainly looks huge for 2 person like us yet so intriguing! If you ask us why we ordered this platter for four instead the one for two person, the problem is because we were hungry as hell and the staff said this one will not be too much if you happen to be REALLY hungry, LOL!
We were so pleased with this platter from the first bites, the sausages were very well-made and well-seasoned they tasted so good even without any additional salt, pepper or any other seasonings. The meat consists of meat loaf (so delicious!), and grilled chicken with super juicy and tender meat, I seriously couldn’t find any flaw here. The sausages are the long and slender types and already cut into halves when served. I laughed hard everytime I remember how happy Mr. K looked, eating all the glorious meat on this platter. Good food certainly makes people happy, don’t you agree? 😉
Nuremberg Sausage on Sauerkraut & Roasted Potato IDR 90,000
The Nuremberg sausage is originated from Nuremberg since 14th century and has a unique characteristic of smaller size. Only specialized pork butchers were allowed to produce the Nuremberg Bratwurst and due to high demand, these Nuremberg sausages later became very special, and the smart Nuremberg citizens eventually make them smaller.
Taste-wise, the Nuremberg sausages here have distinctive flavors of mixed herbs and spices that made them so memorable. The roasted potato was well-seasoned although I prefer eating my Nurember sausages with more “plain-tasted” potato bed, to create a contrast between the sausage and the sides. If you don’t care about specific type of sausages, we recommend you to order the platter for maximum satisfaction.
Chicken Escalope with Potato Wedges & Sauce IDR 80,000
Or, Chicken Schnitzel, if you like. Chicken Escalope and Chicken Schnitzel are basically similar, the difference is:
– Schnitzel: German term for pounded meat, breaded, and fried
– Escalope: French term for pounded meat, breaded, and cooked (can be fried, or other way of cooking)
And since the one we have here in Bavarian Haus is also fried, I still don’t understand why they name it Escalope instead of Schnitzel. *confused*
Aside from the confusing name, the chicken was actually good. It was thin, nicely breaded and fried, giving a crispy skin and (surprisingly) juicy inside. We can choose our preferred sauce, from mushroom, cheese, or gypsy sauce; and I opted for the basic, safe mushroom sauce. I couldn’t afford to dislike the dish if I chose the wrong sauce, so yeah.
Serving portion was quite big, as the side dish like potato wedges are also very fulfilling. If you are not a big eater, it’s the best to bring a partner and share the dish for two.
Apple Strudel IDR 42,000
As if all the food above weren’t enough, we were determined to finish our meal with, at least, one dessert. The Apple Strudel was okay, I appreciated the generous fillings but I found it too dry. There is almost no connection between the fillings and the pastry, and I didn’t see any beautiful roll in between the layers. I assumed they only used pre-made pastry skin and put the fillings before bake them. The thing is, I wasn’t impressed and most probably won’t order it again in my next visits.
After you finish eating there, you can visit the Bavarian Haus Butchery Shop which is located by the right side of the entrance. The shop offers many kinds of frozen meat, processed food, seasonings, and many others. When we were there, we saw expatriates browsing through the shop looking for good bargains. Apparently, every different day of the week, the shop holds different discounted promotion for different stuffs, so make sure to check them out when you visit Bavarian Haus!
Overall, our short visit to Bavarian Haus Puncak was a satisfying and memorable experience. The location is not too far from Jakarta but we recommend to go as early as possible because the traffic can be painful sometimes. The place is amazingly beautiful and the service is superb, with extremely polite and helpful staffs. The only thing bothered us so much was the music playing in the restaurant! Bavarian music is identical with lively, cheerful festive songs, but why did we have to hear rather sentimental songs like Auld Lang Syne (Scots poem made into traditional folk song), and other French songs instead of Bavarian/German tunes? Honestly, totality is important in building true image and character of a place, and Bavarian Haus is still lacking of details, not only the songs, but also the tidbits and small decorations shown in the restaurant area.
Anyway, we truly recommend this place for getaway, or just for trying their delicious food. We hope that they will add more options on the menu and maintain the quality of the meat so more people will know about their existence and so one day they can open another outlet in Jakarta! Danke!
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* All prices are subject to 5% service charge & 10% government tax
** This review is written based on our visit on 17 March 2017.
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BAVARIAN HAUS BRATWURST ‘N GRILL
Jl. Raya Puncak KM 72
Kampung Cibogo RT 06/RT 04
Cipayung Datar, Megamendung
Jawa Barat 16770
Indonesia
Ph.: +62 251 8259805, 8259762, 8250485
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
Opening Hours:
Monday – Friday 10AM – 10PM
Saturday – Sunday 9AM – 10PM
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