A few weekends ago I had my birthday weekend. I’m lucky as with the Australian and American dates, I get a two day birthday!
For my birthday dinner, Bill and I headed out to Queens to go to the Zum Stammtisch restaurant. It is frequently referred to as the best German restaurant in the city and I love German food. Back in 1999 when I first left Australia for London, I had my going away party at Hofbrauhaus and even donned Lederhosen and did bellringing!
We had been wanting to visit Zum Stammtisch since we drove past it two years ago but with it being a hard place to get into and two bus trips, we put it off. Deciding to brave it for my birthday, I rang to get a reservation and was told that they don’t take them for tables of two. Ok then. So we decided to leave here at 4.30ish and get there by 6pm as we have never been to a place here where we had to wait for a table at 6pm. We did our long bus trip and was so excited. We got there, bounced in the door and was told “40 minute wait!” SERIOUSLY!! We figured we travelled that far, they had a tv in the bar area so a 40 minute wait won’t be bad. The 40 minutes became 50 minutes and more… we were eventually seated at 7.30.
Although, waiting in the bar was interesting to say the least. When we first got there it was only us and a few other random people. Then it got more and more packed. Three very strange guys were there that looked like fake spies from some creepy 70s movie. They all looked alike with strange moustaches and pasty skin. Kind of like a mix of this –
The food was good – it didn’t disappoint. We got the five salad plate as a starter and a shrimp cocktail. The shrimp wasn’t the best but the five salad plate was absolutely amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Unfortunately, we didn’t order the goulash… but we should have. People seated near us all got it and it smelt fantastic. Bill ordered the three sausage platter with Sauerkraut and potato salad, I got the Jägerschnitzel which was served with just some plain potatoes. Both meals were just great. Next time I would get the jägerschnitzel with the mushroom gravy on the side as I like to enjoy the taste of the schnitzel more than the gravy itself. It was really good and would have been better without the wait.. so next time we go we’ll make it a lunch date. Here are some photos from our time there-
YAY Zums!
The very cozy bar while it was still quiet –
Loved the picture hanging above the bar –
Inside the back dining room –
I loved the placemats!
There is a huge schnitzel under that gravy!
While waiting at our second bus stop a police car sped past us. Then, our bus arrived and we kept going up the street and slowed down. There were police and ambulance everywhere and we could see inside of a barber shop with lots of commotion going on. Later we found out that while we were waiting for the bus just blocks away, there was a shooting inside the barber shop and the assailant was on the run! He was actually found a few days later using facial recognition software.
Mum and dad sent me an LL Bean voucher and this amazing stack of lollies! Dad goes to a shop in Essendon where you get all the good lollies in bulk and they send them over for us to share.
Check out the postage price though… Australia Post grrr –
As well as my Fiesta Ware salt and pepper shakers, Bill made me the most beautiful orange cake for a birthday cake. With lots of cards and phonecalls it was such a fab weekend – no complaints at all!