Step Back in Time and Eat in a German Castle (Restaurants Baden-Baden)

Member Name: i_heart_elo

Product:	Restaurants Baden-Baden
Date:	04/02/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's in a flipping CASTLE.....Food is outstanding...waitstaff extremely friendly

Disadvantages: I can't go there every week like I want too =(

Imagine yourself driving with your friends or family down a picturesque road through Eastern France on a blustery winter day in December. The windows are fogged up, the heat is turned up almost to the "too hot" level, and you've finally arrived in the Alsace region. Mmmm Alsace.....the region known for it's Reslings, Vins, and Gewürztraminer Vin's (Wines).

After you stop to sample far too much alcohol than a normal person should, you get back on the road towards the France-German Border. Here you'll cross that infamous (or should I say infamously stupid) Maginot line. You'll also visibly notice signs turning from French into German. Homes will go from that stucco w/ shutters look, to your typical tudor style Germanic ones. Once you cross the border, you are in Bavaria, yay!

I'm not sure if your familiar with Bavaria in Deutchland, but it really is the only part of germany I can say I absolutely love. Not too long after your in Bavaria your arrive to your destination, Baden Baden.

At first glance around downtown Baden Baden, it's pleasantly surprizing. You'd think there would be enough Hotels and Restaurants to feed and house a small country, yet they were only a modest amount of them. It's what some would call a "quaint" or "charming" town, and they would be right.

With all new places you visit though, there comes a price with them. With Baden Baden for me that was A.) You've never been here before and do not know the area at ALL. B.) English is NOT the first language, and for a lot of local people, isn't a 2nd , 3rd, or 4th. C.) Your GPS Navigation system isn't that great.

That being said, we set off to find something to eat. We figured "ok lets just ask some people at Hotels". That plan didn't work too well though. Since all the hotel employees would suggest their own hotels restaurants, which ummm in all honesty, did not look very tasty or have that "Authentic German" thing we were going for.

Fast foward 20 minutes of arguing between all of us and a chance encounter with one of the natives. I stopped to take a picture of some old looking Courthouse place as we argued seeing an older man petting his dog on a bench nearby. Now, i'm not an obsessive dog lover, but if a dog looks cute and friendly enough , i'll go to pet them. Thankfully my instincts were right, and this dog did not chew my face off. The dog owners name was Johan, (can't get anymore German than that can you?). The conversation a-went like-a so-a

"Umm Guten Tag. Umm Ich Wie Irhes Hund" (badly translates to Good day, I like your dog.....after two yrs of German in school I'm still pretty bad).

"Oh, Danka *then lots of German I didn't understand*"

"Umm, sorry, I don't speak German all that well" (Me)
" Dat's ok, I speak some English" (old man)
"Hey, do you know any good restuarants here in Baden-Baden? (Me)
" Well, Dare es a verry gud v'one at a castle at da top ov dis Moundtain right next to da city. It haz gud deutch food". (old man)

And that's allllll we needed to know....So, I thanked Old Man Johan and his cute non-biting dog, ran back to my family who were still arguing to give them the good news. In about twenty minutes we would be eating at a Castle in Germany, in Bavarian, In Baden Baden.

To give you a little background into the Castle and the Resturant i'm about to tell you about is not all that easy. There really isn't a "lot" of information about this castle anywhere in English. After being entranced by it and it's history so throughly I looked up some info on it.

The name of the Castle is called "Altes Schloss" , which simply means, "Old Castle". The other name for it is "Hohenbaden", but the locals and everyone else seems to simply call it Altes Schloss.

It was built in the 1100's and updated again in the 1300's, then in the 1500's, and partly destroyed in the 1600's. In the 1800's the main portion of it was restored, and it was made into a sort of "Half Ruin". The town has a "New Castle" that is not to far from the "Old Castle". Yet, it's the "Old Castle" that's the most impresive.

As we drove up the winding hill/small mountain towards the castle, you can tell your on the edge of the Black Forest. There was thick greenery and trees with some rugged outcroppings of rocks and slate cliffs. Once the castle comes into view, and you EW and AH for a few minutes, you notice that it is a "Half-Ruin".

The South, North, and East sections of the Castle have no roof on them. That being said, those sections were still surprizingly well kept and in tact. As a matter of fact I could almost say that if you just threw a stone roof on top of them, you could move in. (Ok, you might need a little more than just a stone roof=)

The Altes Schloss is surprizingly, tall with lots of levels to it. There's the dungeons , ground level, courtyard, 2nd level, 3rd, level, 4th level, Then the Tower portion/5th Level. Not to mention all the little vestibules everywhere. You could see that at one time, this was a very beautiful and architecturally splendid place. On the various levels they have random outdoor type tables and chairs where people will bring they're packed picnics to eat and enjoy the view while still being "inside" the castle. I really could go on for 1000 words JUST on this castle but this is a restaurant review isn't it?

On the West side was a magnificently kept ground level that housed a restaurant simply called ,

"Altes Schloss Restaruant"

A very generic name for a visually beautiful place. The entire level has this open courtyard in the middle with various artifacts and statues. On the outside walls of the restaurant you see ceiling to floor windows that overlook the rugged slash rolling hills Bavarian Countryside. It's so hard for me to put into words how gorgeous the setting was.

Once you enter through the courtyard and open the main doors to the restaurant, you are quickly and cordialy escorted to what looks like a 14th century table and chair set with exquisite place settings. An old piano that looked like something pre-mozart sits in the far corner, surrounded by other surviving antiques from the castle.

Our waitress comes over and speaks to us in perfect (or next to perfect at least) English. We all decide to go all in and get some beer to start. She recommends the local Hefenwisen and kindly hands us the English language menus.

*The Menu

The Menu doesn't seem to have any many choices but in reality it does. There were only two pages of Entree's and Side Dishes, but there was more than enough to chose from. You had german classics like;

Sausages with Potato Cakes and Creamed Spinach
Around 10 Euro

(My Mother and me had this one. It was HUGE and of course, completely delicious tasting homemade).

Broasted Chicken with German Potatoes and Apple Strudel
Around 12 Euro

(My sister order this-and wow- it was off the charts, amazing)

Smoked Salmon with Choice of Cheeses , over Salad with freshly baked bread

Around 9 Euro

(My dad ordered this and seemed to be in heaven. He said it was the best smoked salmon he'd ever had in his life.)

Unfortunatly, the website doesn't have a menu on it, so you really can't see what else they have to offer your tastebuds. Trust me when I say, you are bound to like 10 out of any 10 items you pick from the menu. There were lots of Pork dishes of course and other "purely" authentic German dishes to chose from.

With all the entrees averaging around 12 Euro each, it was an EXTREMELY reasonable. We had expected them to cash in on the fact that it is in a castle, but they don't seem to be pretentious about that fact.

I know this review might seem long and drawn out, but I IMMENSELY enjoyed this culinary delightful restaurant. We stayed for around 3 hrs talking, drinking German beer, eating Homemade German food, and taking in the ambiance that surrounded us. This wasn't just a "meal", it was an experience.

IF you EVER get to go to Baden-Baden, take my advice and GO to this Castle "Altes Schloss" and the restaurant there. I bet you a million dollars you'll walk away loving every single thing about it. =)


Altes Schloss, Alter Schlossweg 10, 76530 Baden-Baden
"Altes Schloss" Restaurant and small hotel, open daily 11am-10pm. Telephone +49 (0) 7221 26948.
http://www.schloss-hohenbaden.de/

Pictures

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Summary: A hidden gem iof a restaurant ,in a secret castle in the forest!