For some reason, I had never been to Brisbane’s German Club. I’m not sure why exactly as I go past it every day on my way home from work. The pork knuckle is legendary. A while ago, Bon Vivant and man about town, John Birmingham wrote a witty piece about the harsh dress code rules of the German Club in a Queensland summer. So a few weeks ago, with appropriate footwear in place, we ventured into the Black Forest wilderness of Woolloongabba. Here are my 5 Top Tips for a visit to Zum Kaiser Restaurant at the Brisbane German Club.
1. Join The Club – this is a Club, not a restaurant. You need to sign in each time you visit. It doesn’t take long but if there is often a queue so the way to avoid this is to join. Social membership is $5 and at present, that will take to out to the end of 2018. Simples!
2. Book Ahead – Such is the popularity of Zum Kaiser that you need to grab a booking whenever you can and on the last occasion, it was on a Wednesday afternoon at 5.30pm. Though the table was secured for 5.30, there was no actual need to start eating at that hour so you can grab some drinks from the bar to warm up for the main event.
3. Go Native – There’s a huge range of German bottled beers as well as a selection on tap. Most popular are the pints of Erdinger Weissbier (wheat beer) from Bavaria. Not being a beer drinker, a ridiculous proposition in a German Club, I ordered a pint of Ampelmann Cider. For those who haven’t visited Germany, Ampelmann is the little pedestrian stop/go man on the traffic lights in East Berlin. Once again I fell for the marketing about the cider being crisp and well balanced. It was light and clean but too sweet for me. I have to give them props though as this cider is brewed specifically for the German Club from 100% Australian apples so, well done for supporting local business.
Legendary…
4. It’s All About The Pork Knuckle – Vegetarians are best left at home. It take at least 30 minutes (sometimes longer during peak times) but is worth every minute of the wait. Each pork knuckle arrives encased in crisp crackling with a side of potatoes, sauerkraut and gravy. Good filling food for the freezing Brisbane climate ; ) As it’s delivered to your table, you will draw admiring glances from all around. Though there is a big bone inside, it is still a large meal. If the pork knuckle isn’t for you, classics such as schnitzel, sausages and spaetzle are also on offer. Wear stretchy pants.
5. Dance This Mess Around – replete from your meal, there is an opportunity work off some of that excess energy so you can fit in a piece of strudel. Entertainer Andrew will get you up and dancing to classic pop tunes with a distinctly Bavarian twist to them. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a middle-aged man in Lederhosen playing Beyonce’s Single Ladies on his Roland keyboard. Hundreds of people descend on the Brisbane German Club each weekend to be entertained and join in the fun so get in early to grab a table. Wunderbar!
Visited: Wednesday 6th July 2016 – Dinner Service
Brisbane German Club
Zum Kaiser Restaurant
416 Vulture St
Woolloongabba Qld 4169
brisbanegermanclub.com
For $5 it’s totally worth joining. The pork knuckle looks scrummy 😀
It sure is. A coffee costs as much these days.
Looks like my kind of place! German food is always about the pork knuckle, and schnitzel of course. Luckily we have a German butcher in town that sells pork knuckles so we fix them at home now and then.
It’s lots of fun. There are a couple of German restaurants in Brisbane as well as a German butcher but we really don’t have a huge Germanic community so this was a real novelty.