Owl Light Outings-Come for the journey and the food: Rheinblick German Restaurant
by D. E. Bentley –
Walking into Rheinblick German Restaurant at 224 S. Main St., Canandaigua, NY, one is greeted, not surprisingly, by the sound of German polka music. A hostess wearing traditional German dress also greeted us, and our waitress was right there behind her, similarly attired. German memorabilia is everywhere you look, and on the wall is a large mural of a castle on the shore of the Rhine River (Rhein in German, and Rheinblick means river view). The sturdy wooden tables were adorned with checkered tablecloths. This all seemed quite authentic, not at all overdone. *They found us a table and we quickly settled in.
There was a large selection of beverages to choose from, including white and red wines from Germany and Austria and eleven different schnapps. There were five German drafts on tap and a wider selection of bottled beers. They offer the draft selection in flights, and in growlers to go. We settled on a draft Warsteiner Dunkel, a dark amber beer with a smooth roasted malt taste. This was served, of course, in a ceramic ornamental stein.
We are not huge eaters – and like to save room for dessert. Since they do not offer a lunch menu on Sundays, we opted for a shared dinner entrée. The waitress was friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. My initial hesitation with eating at a German restaurant was the potential for limited menu options for my somewhat restrictive – by choice – diet. I had been vegetarian, but now eat fish and chicken as well. Rheinblick owners – **Gudrun & Gary Klemens – have taken the time to thoughtfully include Rhein region fare that is both vegetarian and gluten free for particular dieters. This includes a Vegan Schnitzel – Black Bean & Carrot Schnitzel, lightly breaded with vegan bread crumbs and pan sautéed, served with pan-fried potatoes – and Champignons Überbacken – fresh mushrooms in brown gravy with melted Swiss cheese served over spätzle. I was tempted to try to Champignons Überbacken, but since we both eat chicken we opted for a shared entrée portion of Hähnchenschnitzel ‘Jäger Art’ a grilled boneless chicken breast schnitzel, unbreaded, with Jäger mushroom gravy.
The Hähnchenschnitzel ‘Jäger Art’ was quite enjoyable, and the split portion was just right and allowed us to move onto dessert. We were divided between cheesecake and raspberry linzer almond torte. As we tried to decide, the waitress suggested their coffee, a delightful dessert-in-a- cup served with Asbach brandy, sugar and cocoa, topped with whipped cream. Asbach brandy has, we learned, a cult following among ex-British servicemen previously stationed in Germany. The combination of this rich drink and the shared torte was heavenly, absolutely heavenly. Despite the delightful presentation – which made it look almost as delicious as it was – we dug right in, after a quick pre-consumption photo op.
Some restaurants are loud and you notice other diners. Despite people coming and going, the conversational acoustics were great. A couple – who appeared to be on a first date – settled in at a nearby table and we barely noticed them. It seemed that the evening dinner and service was just for us – I suspect they felt the same.
*Reservations are suggested.
** Gudrun is a native of Kiedrich, a small village nestled in the vineyards of the Rhine Gorge area, close to Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Mainz. Gary, born in Berlin, also lived in the Wiesbaden area for 13 years, so they know the Rhein region and its cuisine.