This past Saturday we traveled about 27 miles to the Dorf Haus, a German restaurant located in Roxbury, WI.
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| On Hwy 12 driving toward Roxbury, WI (and the rapture). |
First Impressions: Beautiful drive out on a lovely spring evening. There was an hour-wait for a table, so we took advantage of the bar (per Brian/Kristin tradition). Also per Brian/Kristin tradition, we each started with an Old Fashioned. These were nothing to write a blog post about, so we moved on to beer. We choose the Hacker-Pschorr Dunkel Weisse from Munich, one of five German beers on tap. Good move. Repeated that a few times.
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| Entrance to the Dorf Haus. |
Ambience: Olde German restaurant meets Wisconsin supper club. Cheesy collections abound.
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| Cheesy collections abound. |
Food: All dinners come with salad bar and choice of soup. This was Kristin's first experience with a Wisconsin salad bar staple: cheese spread. Also new to her was the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. She found the former to be delicious and the latter to be too sweet. Brian especially liked the salad bar chopped liver, spread on a garlic breadstick. Kristin did not go there. Most of the menu is German food (though there are some traditional supper club entrees for the less adventurous). Kristin had Beef Rouladen; it was quite delicious and reminiscent of her grandmother's cooking. Brian had Sauerbraten; and found it delicious, however Kristin found the ginger snap gravy to be cloying. In terms of sides: we both agreed that the Spaetzle was delicious. Brian liked the red cabbage and German potato salad, in keeping with his sweet tooth. Kristin left those virtually untouched.
Service: Kerri was wonderful; we recommend asking to sit in her section.
Madison Doppelganger: Essen Haus, but barely. The Dorf Haus outshines the Essen Haus in every way.
Kristin's Worth-the-Drive Rating: 6 out of 10 sporks
Brian's Worth-the-Drive Rating: 7 out of 10 sporks
Bottom Line: We would both go back. Of particular note would be the Smorgasbord (1st Monday of every month; twice monthly during the summer). Next time we will pair it with a trip to the Roxbury Tavern (just a block away).
Love this blog concept!
ReplyDeleteWas the cheese spread Merkt's, or was it their own? Also, did they offer tomato juice as the first course? Also, any WI beers on tap -- or mainly German ones?
@Martha: Ooo, I didn't think to ask about cheese spread origins. Will do on the next trip. No tomato juice -- is that a thing? If so, cool. No WI beers on tap according to my memory, but Brian might correct me.
ReplyDeleteKristin, for whatever reason, I think of 2 things as typical supper club: the tomato juice option ("French onion soup or tomato juice?"), and the relish tray! I am guessing, with a salad bar, this place did not provide a relish tray. So I was wondering about the tomato juice, because it would tell me if the place is more German restaurant or more supper club.
ReplyDelete@Martha: Ah, I see. I think more German restaurant than supper club. I'd say German restaurant with a supper club vibe. I'd be curious to hear what you and Pete think. It seemed pretty family-friendly, too -- on Saturday there were a lot of kids running around playing pool, pinball, etc. Generally pretty casual atmosphere.
ReplyDelete@Martha: The cheese spread is not Merkt's - much more buttery and a milder cheese flavor. There are only German beers on tap, however, they are all very good. I have been there before and sampled all of them. The place is really more of a German restaurant, but on Friday for fish fry, I'm sure it has more of a supper club feel. Think of it as a hybrid with good things from both!
ReplyDeleteAnything else in Roxbury? 6.5 sporks alone seems not worth the trip.
ReplyDeleteDrop me off and pick me up in a week
ReplyDeleteNine of us are waiting for your next adventure!
ReplyDelete