Ludwig's Garten: Hefeweizen Heaven
Written: May 11 '04 (Updated May 11 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: great beer selection, good staff
Cons: hard to get to
The Bottom Line: Ludwig's is to German beer as Monk's is to Belgian beers in Philly. A great place to try a variety unlike others around.
|
|
|
| martytdx's Full Review: Ludwig's Garten |
Keeping with my pattern of having inadvertently moved reviews put back into the proper category (I swear it was under the Ludwig's Garten category before - now it's under PHILADELPHIA... not wrong, but not quite correct either). So, here it is - moved to the RIGHT category. Don't worry - NEW reviews are also forthcoming...
P.S. This was originally written in 2001, so I apologize for the newbie reviews of the beers...
___________________________________________________
After reading fuche_bu’s review of Ludwig’s Garten, I decided that a few beer connoisseur friends of mine and I needed to try the place. One of them had been to Germany, and was excited about revisiting some of the brews she had sampled there. I was simply excited about finding another place that didn’t serve Coors Light on three taps.
I consulted my favorite search engine, Google, to find out if there was a website for the place. Lo and behold, there is a very nice one at www.ludwigsgarten.com, complete with menus, beer menus and directions. After briefly perusing the wares, I was ready to head out.
We arrived at the place relatively late – about 7:45 – but were promptly seated in a booth by the window. Of course, there happened to be a dumpster from the nearby construction just outside the window, so the view wasn’t all that great, but that can’t be helped. Besides, there was more than enough to keep our eyes occupied inside the place. The waitstaff was dressed in traditional German garb to match the very German motif of the restaurant. Our waitress – Patty – was awesome and greeted us in her high, friendly voice and incredibly delightful manner which we would come to appreciate through the night. By the time we left, we felt like we knew her for months. Of course, she was bringing us something new every 5 minutes...
Anyway, we started with the beer menu, as any good beer lover does. Needless to say, it was impressive. Ludwig’s features over 35 beers in rotation for the taps, with 17 on tap at a time. These are all German beers, and a large variety to choose from at that. Patty took her time with us as we waded through so many choices, offering suggestions here and there. I had an uncanny ability to choose beers which weren’t on tap that night – I think I picked 5 in a row, including the Ayinger Celebrator. Eventually, we all ordered our beers, and once we had that first priority done, set on the food menu.
I have to admit that I was clueless, and to be honest, I’m not sure that I can order something called tafelspitz with a straight face. Our waitress was patient with us while we tried to figure out exactly what we wanted to try. My one friend mentioned (somewhat under her breath) that she had forgotten how God-awful most German food was – particularly when you don’t eat sausage. Finally we all got an order in and set about our beers.
I ordered something that Patty suggested as her favorite, with her assurance that if I didn’t like it, she would be more than happy to drink it for me. Victory - I’m sorry I don’t remember the exact style – was a fantastic German-style beer which was actually brewed in the U.S. by a German company. It was a dark color with a good finish and a decent amount of alcohol. It reminded me of a lager but had a different, sweeter character. The world traveler – JoEllen – ordered Bitburger, which she remembered from her visit, while Suz ordered the Spaten Oktoberfest. The Bitburger, a traditional German Pilsner was very light in color and in taste, in my opinion. I found it to be almost too weak of a beer. The Spaten, on the other hand, had a much better character to it and was fairly flavorful. Unfortunately, Suz was very particular about it, and I stayed with my Victory, which was determined to be the best of the lot.
Our food arrived and it was time to delve into the other half of this evening. I had ordered the Jagerschnitzel – a pork cutlet in ‘hunter sauce’, which was basically a brown, moderately flavorful gravy. I also got some vegetables and a kartoffelpuffer - potato pancake. The pork was tasty and huge, in all a decent meal. The potato pancake was decently-sized and about what I expected, and was good with a little hunter sauce on it. JoEllen ordered the Goulash, which came out as a meat soup, not unlike chili, and kartoffelpuffer, while Suz ordered the spatzle and a kartoffelpuffer. The spatzle was the hybrid of a hash brown and a gnocchi, but was very tasty as was the shaved cheese on top. Overall, the food was good, if difficult to pronounce. The restaurant also offers a variety of wursts and other German dishes, if you are interested in diversifying a bit.
After enjoying our meal, it was time to take a second look at that fantastic beer menu. It was difficult to choose what we wanted to order, with so many choices awaiting us, but fate smiled on us as we watched Patty walk by with a rack of beers for another table. Rack, you say? Yes – a small wooden rack with holes for (5) 8 oz. Glasses of any beer on tap. They are called flights, and the prices vary based on the beers that you get. Well, all of our eyes lit up at this prospect and we ordered three flights to sample everything else on tap. Our friendly helper smiled and warned us that that was a lot of beer, and we relented. Thus the feud began – we had 14 more beers to go, but only 10 spots to fill. After much debate, she was given the honorary duty of surprising us. I must say, she did a fine job.
We received both flights with a cornucopia of beers which we all spent time drinking and discussing in between our other oddball conversations (and believe me, with these two, there were always strange conversations). We would each take a glass, try it and then pass it for the next person. Here are our findings on those 10 samplings.
____________________________________________________________
Hacker-Pshorr Lager - When I first saw the German Lagers, I was a bit taken aback. They have a color not unlike a Pilsner, although they have a much better body and flavor to them. HP was a bit weak, without a good finish.
Jever Pilsner - This pilsner was definitely on the bitter side, almost too bitter to start but with a relatively tame finish.
Kostritzer Schwartzbier - This was the best of the bunch. It looked like the hybrid child of a American Lager (say Yuengling) and a hefeweizen, a dark, opaque brown which reminded JoEllen of chocolate. Getting this one away from her and Suz was a difficult task, but even the dregs of the glass were a delight. It was a stronger beer, but very flavorful with chocolate highlights and the hint of wheat beer flavor. And excellent choice which I will expand on in my next visit.
Paulaner Munich Lager - The Paulaner Lager was a much better lager than the HP. Again, the color was strangely light for a lager, but the body was there to make up for it. There was a much better finish with this version.
Paulaner Hefeweizen - I’d had this one before and enjoyed it immensely. However, I had never had it on tap, so I was curious how it would compare to the bottled version. To be honest, there is little difference. It is a light hefeweizen, with a hint of banana flavor (the ladies both disagreed with me on this, but I know that I am right). It’s a light, refreshing beer which is helped with a slice of lemon in your glass.
Paulaner Dunkle Hefeweizen - to be honest, I don’t remember this beer standing out from the Hefeweizen other than it wasn’t as light and didn’t seem to be as fruity.
Paulaner Salvatore - Another great beer with a caramel color. Good flavor and feel, it goes down smooth with a light flavor, even though it is a doppelbock. This one is probably #2 on my list of beers to get next time.
Schneider Aventinus - This was one of the stronger brews we tried, and you could tell from the first sip. There was a very evident hint of alcohol at the beginning, which then settled into a flavorful, full beer. A weizenbock, it’s basically a very full wheat beer, with a lot of flavor.
Spaten Optimator - This beer was full of flavor. A Dopelbock, it has a dark color and a lot of body, as well as taste. This one was similar to the Kostritzer, but with a more coffee-like flavor than chocolate. A good beer.
Warsteiner - This beer was one I called ‘a drinking beer’. It went down quickly and smoothly, with a light body and good flavor, but not necessarily one that required savoring or sipping.
____________________________________________________________
Overall, the restaurant was a welcome place to find a variety of good beers and decent food – although I can say now that I am not a German food fan. Still, what we had wasn’t bad at all – and if you like heavy food such as sausages and onion tarts, you might find the menu better than I did. However, the focus – in my eyes, at least – of this bar is their beer selection, and they don’t disappoint. In addition to their tap beers, they also offered a variety of bottled beers from Europe and the states (although why you would order a domestic in this place, I have no idea). The Duvel and Chimay, some beers from Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and of course, Germany. So your selections don’t have to stop at the tap, though that is the most evident place to start. They rotate their beers weekly, so your selections might be much different from what we had, but you should be able to find a number that you like, regardless.
The service was friendly, and Patty was a delight to talk to. She offered us suggestions and seemed genuinely interested in helping us find beers that we would appreciate. If you go when she’s there, make sure to tap her for her knowledge of the beers – she knows her stuff. The bar itself isn’t huge, but there is a decent crowd , even on a Tuesday night – and the crowd seems to know it’s beer, from what we could tell.
Overall, Ludwig’s has taken a place in my short list of great beer places in Philadelphia, just a notch below Monk’s Cafe. I look forward to my next visit to 1315 Samson St., to getting to know some more of the fine brews they offer.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations While the food was tasty, the real attraction of Ludwig''s is the beer. But I enjoyed the jaegerschnitzel.
Best Suited For: Large Group
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
martytdx
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Member: Marty
Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 478
Trusted by: 177 members
About Me:
Doing what I can to try new places, restaurants, books and beers.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.