Restaurant Linderhof – German Cuisine

We’d recently dined at Roland’s Bistro, a German restaurant in Maryville Tennessee…and it was a positive experience.  So when our friends Karen and Charlie asked us out for dinner at a well-known long standing German restaurant in Farragut Tennessee, we readily agreed.  Would this be another positive experience with ethnic food in East Tennessee?

We had dined at Restaurant Linderhof previously, when it was in its old location in Farragut.  Its new location is in the Renaissance Center, a 29 acre campus style development located on Kingston Pike in Farragut. 

I took this photo of Karen, Charlie and Laurie at our table at Linderhof.  Note the Germanic décor along the walls. 

Our previous dining experience at Restaurant Linderhof at its old location was not a positive event.  A really bad, overly personal waitress, mediocre food and high prices combined for an unpleasant evening out…  That negative experience was 3 or 4 years earlier and we were hopeful on this occasion.   

Other than where we were sitting, the German themed decor did not carry through the rest of the dining area.  Still, it is a pleasant and colorful space with decent spacing between the tables.  Besides, in the end, isn’t it all about the food and the service?

Laurie and I started out with a small bowl of some very tasty beer cheese soup. ($4.50) Our waiter also brought us some decent bread and soft butter to enjoy with our soup.

Available salads ranged from the Linderhof Salad Tasting Plate which included red and white cabbage slaw, pickled dill cucumber and German potato salad ($6.50) to Herringsalat with pickled herring with shaved onion, gherkins, sour cream, and dill. ($9.50)

Appetizers were many and varied.  They included: Bleu Chips with house-made kettle chips topped with bleu cheese sauce, Neuske’s bacon and green onion ($9.50); Hof Wings, their version of classic Buffalo wings cooked with micro pork shanks served atop a bed of house-made kraut ($13.50); Best of the Wurst with a choice of 3 sausages served with a tasting of condiments ($15.50), and; Bratatouille, bratwurst simmered in their house-made ratatouille sauce on top of a potato pancake with red kraut and Swiss cheese ($12.50)

As it turned out, everyone chose a Schnitzel Platter for their entrée.  There was a choice of a thin-pounded breaded veal, pork or chicken cutlet topped with traditional lemon wedges or one of Linderhof’s signature sauces.  They were accompanied by 1 side.  Prices were as follows: Chicken $17.50, Pork $21.50 and Veal $25.50. 

This was Karen’s Jäger Schnitzel…schnitzel with a creamy, lightly sweet mushroom sauce known as “Hunter Style”.

Laurie went for the veal schnitzel, ordering it with Paprika Rahm sauce, creamy tomato sauce flavored with paprika—sweet and a little spicy.  It was a nice sized portion and Laurie liked it but as the menu stated, the sauce was a bit sweet…a little too sweet for her taste.  She was used to a slightly less sweet and a little spicier version that we’d experienced when we lived in Chicago.

Charlie also had the Jäger Schnitzel…but for his side he went for the Käsespätzle…basically spatzle with cheese melted into it.  Spätzle are a soft egg noodle found in the cuisines of southern Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Alsace, Moselle and South Tyrol.  Käsespätzle is a bit like American macaroni and cheese.

Charlie also had a side order of Red Kraut. ($4.50) I tasted it and it was very good. 

Besides the schnitzel options, Restaurant Linderhof offers a wide variety of German dishes.  These include: Schweinshaxe, roasted pork shank served atop their house-made kraut with one side ($31.50); Fürstenteller Schweinshaxe, Kassler Rippchen, Bratwurst and Thüringer sausages served with house-made kraut, red kraut and German fried potatoes ($42.50); Kassler Rippchen, a 10-ounce smoked pork chop served on a bed of house-made kraut with one side ($19.50), and; Veal Rouladen, thin-pounded veal stuffed with Neuske’s bacon, their signature ale mustard relish, red kraut and one side ($26.50).

Although I went for the schnitzel too, I just had to be a little different.  Although a fried egg usually only comes with Holstein schnitzel, I ordered an easy-over egg with my Kapern pork schnitzel and Käsespätzle.  Kapern sauce is a sweet and tangy caper and cream sauce with hint of lemon.  The combination worked quite nicely.

We all had schnitzel and therefore had a somewhat limited exposure to the overall menu.  We all enjoyed our meals and that is a big change from our previous experience at Restaurant Linderhof.  The food was very nice and the service was more than competent.  The prices are a little eye-catching though… We will have to return to try something else on the menu in order to really evaluate a range of their offerings.

Restaurant Linderhof is open daily.  They are located in the Renaissance Center at 12740 Kingston Pike in Farragut Tennessee.  Phone: 865-675-8700.  Website: http://restaurantlinderhof.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to see what was for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave