Andrea was shopping in Hayes Valley and I met here there for dinner. We were going to do a walk-in at Nightbird because it had plenty of reservations when I had looked earlier in the day (didn’t reserve because we weren’t sure what time we were going to eat), but they ended up being all booked by the time we tried to walk-in (and because I have FOMO, I booked a reservation for Saturday). Boo-hoo so we walked over to Suppenküche which we had been talking about for awhile. I don’t think either of us have eaten here for over 10, maybe 15 years (we old). I remember it having a very homey, pub kind of feel with communal dining tables. We walked in and it seemed pretty much exactly the same. The restaurant was pretty full and it was confusing to figure out to whom to talk to get a table (only 1.5 tables seemed available, one with a reserved placard). There was a couple standing around looking like they were waiting for a table so I asked them who to talk to and they mentioned “the blonde guy”. So I stood and the blonde guy came around and we ended up seated at the bar since there weren’t any more tables available. We did get a good bird’s eye view of the bar from our seating.
Andrea ordered a 0.5L of Pilsner and I ordered a Märzen. I definitely favored the Märzen since it had more flavor, but the Pilsner was decent as well. We ordered some Gebratener Rosenkohl (friend brussel sprouts) to start so that we would get some greens (albeit fried). This had some pickled shallots and aioli which made for a tasty dish. Andrea ordered the Sauerbraten Preiselbeerkonfiture, Rotkohl & Spatzle (the red wine marinated braised beef, red cabbage, & spatzle) so I went with the Jägerschnitzel, Champignonsofie, Spatzle & Griiner Salat (sauteed pork loin, mushroom sauce, spatzle, & green salad).
The preparation of the pork in the Jägerschnitzel wasn’t all that exciting (they did also Wienerschnitzel, but I was trying to eat marginally healthier), but it came with a mushroom sauce that I enjoyed. The sauce was thick and rich and came with chunks of smoked ham that gave a burst of flavor. I’m not a big spatzle fan, so I ate just a bit of that, but since it’s something we so rarely encounter, it was nice to try. The green “salad” was super basic (lettuce leaves with a bit of vinaigrette), but since I did eat that all since I suppose my body was craving some greens.
Andrea’s Sauerbraten was pretty good. The beef was falling-apart tender and there was a decent amount of cabbage. There was also a bit of cranberry jam on the side as well.
The surprising winning dish of the meal was the seasonal gingerbread cookie plate. Normally when I think of gingerbread, I’m either thinking of basic gingerbread cookies or gingerbread house (they can be quite elaborate like at the Fairmont!). They bartender said the cookies were all flow in from Germany. We started with the long thing cookie with the embedded almond half shown in front of the picture. This had bits of anise in it and was delightful! Each of the the other cookies had a variation, but all were moist like, well a bread or cake. You can see some were flavored with chocolate, or the square ones which was layered with a small bit of orange and perhaps marzipan. It sounds really silly, but this plate of cookies expanded how I thought of gingerbread (guess it also goes to show how ignorant I was about them).
All in all, it was an enjoyable winter (we’re braving 50 degree weather here!) comfort food meal, a change of pace/cuisine from our usual fare, and a chance to revisit a classic SF restaurant.
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