Waiting for a visa can sometimes be a bit tedious. At the moment I have my lovely husband home for most of the time again. His two week on  and two week off roster in PNG is on hold as there has been a crackdown with work visa’s. Bad news is less work for Roy, good news for me I get to see him more!

Last week he started doing some work in the city, which will be three days a week, to keep the mortgage ticking along. We were invited out to dinner to get to know who our partners work with and meet the other halves. This is my first outing for Roy’s work apart from one Christmas party – which doesn’t count. Dinners are intimate there is only 8 of you at a table, people you have never met before surrounding you.

As Roy and I have lived in Brisbane before we were the tour guide to our destination through the city. Our destination for dinner was the Bavarian Bier Cafe. I had to laugh, were else do you take 4 blokes who work engineering and mining all day – to a pub, but a fancy pub to impress the ladies. NICE.

The Bavarian Bier Cafe has never been on my to do list, now that I have visited there I will definitely be going back. Set on the Brisbane River looking over the Story Bridge with tables inside and out. The bar’s decorated with beer glasses from the ceiling and the odd pretzel. The place is humming when we arrive at 6.30, beer flowing, food carted out on massive trays. People laughing and having a good time, the atmosphere is unbeatable. It is the posh version of the German Club in Wooloongabba.

Once we all settled down at the table and I had sampled all the tap beers to figure out which one I should drink for the night, it was time to order. Our starters were shared out among the table, we all wanted to save room for dinner and a few for dessert. Being the meat connoisseurs that we are the meat platter ended up near us, slices of roast pork, salami, cured ham and pickled vegetables were perfect to accompany our beers. The veggie flat bread was pretty good to, but I can not resist mushrooms.

Flammenbrot Crispy Pastry, Ricotta Spread, Caramelised Onions & Forest Mushrooms & Sautéed Garlic – $17.50

Conversation lingered around how they all deal with their partners work rosters, the kids and how they live in and out of the country. Gardening was brought up and growing up as a hippy was a hot topic for the evening. There are more people like Roy out there!

Succulent Slow Roasted Pork Knuckle Sebago Mash, Sauerkraut & Löwenbräu Bier Jus  - $37.5

Münchner Brauhaus Platter Crackling Roast Pork Belly, Char-Grilled Kassler, Sausages, Chicken Schnitzel, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage,
Sebago Mash – $37.5

The meals were generous in size and not gigantic. The pork knuckle was definitely the stand out on the menu with the meat very tender under the hard shell of crackling. The list of schnitzels was another thing to try, when in Rome. Other tables around us also favoured the schnitzels and the sausages.

Jäger Schnitzel Pan-Fried Veal, Mushroom Sauce & Sautéed Potatoes 29.5

Crackling Roast Pork Belly Sautéed Potatoes, Red Cabbage, Löwenbräu Bier Jus & Granny Smith Apple Compote  - $29.5

Can you guess which one I had? The crackling roast pork belly of course, once I had ordered from the waitress she explained to me how seductive people are when they order the ‘crackling roast pork belly’. The emphasis on the word crackling just seems to turn people childish, the desire and knowledge of how good and devilish pork crackling is.

Two more people at the table followed with ordering this after me, due to the waitresses story.

Walnut & Date Pudding Honey Ice Cream  - $12

Apple Strudel Homemade Vanilla Anglaise  - $ 12

Two of the ladies had dessert, while I sat there full of pork and crackling and over a litre of beer. I ended up drinking Lowenbrau for the night. Another beer of choice from the table was the Spaten München. Beers come in three sizes 300ml, 500ml and 1 litre.

This Friday they are starting to celebrate Oktoberfest check out the website for more details.

Bavarian Bier Cafe