Starnberg: German Food in Santiago, Chile

Upon a visit to Santiago, fans of Bavarian food will be happy to see an abundance of bars and restaurants that mimic the appearance of some of the traditional restaurants in Bavaria itself. The numbers seem even larger when you factor in all the bars using what one assumes is a traditional German-Gothic font in their signage.

But for the most part, these other restaurants fall short in the quality of food and ambiance offering some German influenced sandwiches.

But at Starnberg, you get the real deal.

Located just north of Las Condes, Stargberg, like many Santiago restaurants sits with a backdrop of the snow capped Andes mountains. If one didn't know they were in Chile, they could be easily fooled to think they were in Starnberg, Germany with an view of the Alps.

What makes Starnberg so appealing is the variety in the menu but done so in an easy way as to not be overwhelming. For example, entree options are broken down by type of meat. But you're not locked into a recommended accompaniment or even sauce. Just turn the page to the side dishes and make your selection, then on to the sauces to find the perfect match. The helpful staff will gladly recommend a pairing for you, but only when asked: they don't force anything down your throat!

Like with Aqui Esta Coco, which I wrote about last week, Starberg was worth a second trip.

For the first visit, our meal selections were the Pernil dorado (roasted pork shoulder), with spazle and a creamy muchroom gravy,"Starnberg". We also had the Lomito Starnberg, pork loin with mashed potatoes in the same Starnberg sauce.

Lomito Starnberg

Pernil dorado (roasted pork shoulder), with spazle and a creamy muchroom gravy named "Starnberg"

For my second visit, I got the Muncher bratwurst with chopped pernil dorado, spatzle and the Starnberg sauce.  

Muncher bratwurst with chopped pernil dorado, spatzle and the Starnberg sauce.

Kostritzer at Starnberg, Santiago, Chile

Starnberg, streetview

Starnberg, front room

Needless to say, if you are in Santiago, with all it's great food options, you should certainly give Starnberg a try.

To learn more about this restaurant, check out their great online menu at Starnberg.cl. This might be my favorite online menu. Easy navigation and an image of each food item without having to click 3-4 deep to see a specific plate. Here's a sample from a screenshot:

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Costilla Ahumada Kassler at Restaurant Dackel in Montevideo, Uruguay

Gaze upon the greatest pork chop ever cooked. One wouldn't expect Uruguay to have a good German restaurant, but Dackel is real good.


The specialty at Dackel is the Costilla Ahumada Kassler. This pork chop is almost 3 inches thick and slow cooked in a smoker. They then finish it off with more dry rub (mostly pepper) on the grill. The sides are Papas a la Suiza which is a hash brown by US standards, and apple sauce.


Dackel has a good selection of traditional German cuisine that you seldom find in Buenos Aires. While the photo doesn't show it, they have lots of more traditional German breads...which I ate before the photog

. As Dackel is 2 clocks from the beach in Carrasco, there's also some seafood selections. The neighborhood is a good 30-40 minute cab ride from Ciudad Vieja, where most tourists are in Montevideo. But it's well worth the trip. Besides, you can just head to the beach and walk off all that pork fat.

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Suppenküche

Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce &Venison Medallions with Potato Pancakes

Just like pizza, pastrami and Virgil's BBQ are necessary components of every New York trip I go on, Suppenküche is the key to my trips to San Francisco.

I always try to plan a SF trip with a Saturday involved, since it's the only say they serve their special Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce. I've posted about this perfect meal before. Here's my most recent Saturday Suppenküche trip from 1/8/11.

You can't go wrong with the rest of the items on the Suppenküche menu. 

When I'm fortunate enough to be in the Bay Area for a few days, I usually go there for the venison medallions for my second trip. Swapping out the spätzle for potato pancakes is a big win.

UPDATE: June 24, 2011

It's time for a new dish to be added to the Suppenkuche mix here. Behold: roast goose in bier sauce with potato pancake and red cabbage. This dish is perhaps even better than the suckling pig, which is saying a lot.

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Wild Boar & Apple Sausage from Rosamunde Sausage Grill

Glad I found this place. I was looking for a change from the Chorizo and Morcilla of Buenos Aires. And sure enough, I randomly saw the Rosamunde Sausage Grill on Haight St., in San Francisco.

For my first trip, I went to the Mission St./24th location. I kept it simple with the Wild Boar & Apple grilled sausage on a perfect piece of French bread, soft to the touch. Perfect for the Köstritzer bier I ordered.

My second was a spicy Italian with grilled onions and peppers.

I took a photo of the menu...so many more options I wish I had time to try them all.

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Home Cooking: Suckling Pig in Bier Sauce

One of the last meals I prepared while living in Los Angeles:


Slow roasted suckling pig in 
Spaten bier sauce


Sides:
Knödel
Green beans (instead of sauerkraut or red cabbage)

Recipe to come later.

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Suppenküche

I've almost always made sure when I travel to the Bay area, that I goto this place. In fact, I've driven and flown from LA just to go there. I've had little luck finding a comparison to te fine Bavarian food from Germany and Suppenkuche is a fine alternatative to flying to Europe.

A quick reminder...Saturday is the only day for the Roast Suckling Pig in beer sauce with the bread dumplings. I recommend swapping sour kraut in favor of the red cabbage...it's a better pairing in my book.


525 Laguna St
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 252-9289


Photo by Lolia S. on Yelp

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