Jerusalem Gal
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2015
- Messages
- 789
I'm finally back! It's time for...
Biergarten!
So here we are, still in Epcot, finishing up our meal at Les Halles and killing time until our 1:50 pm ADR at Biergarten.
We knew we had another Epcot day so we weren't rushing to go through every single pavilion in the World Showcase. Our goal was one: Food.
After feeling we had killed enough time and even though we were still early, we walked over to Germany to find our lunch. It took me a few minutes to find the entrance. Not sure why
We arrived about 20 minutes early but were seated almost right away. I was initially worried about the communal seating because I sometimes have a hard time striking up a conversation with strangers and even more of a hard time not striking up a conversation but feeling awkward like maybe I should be..? But mostly I was worried it would be too crowded for me to feel comfortable getting up to the buffet and back. Like maybe the tables and chairs were too squished together and we would be seated on the far end, having to get everyone out of their seats any time we wanted a refill.. (Ah, the wonderful state of mind that comes with growing up fat.)
I even posted my concerns here on the DIS a while before our trip but got some reassuring answers. I believe most people said it was no problem and there was room between tables but I also got a great tip saying I should ask to be seated at the outer edge of the table- even if that means waiting a little longer for our reservation. And that I did.
We ended up sitting with three friendly, talkative couples- two were friends travelling together and one other couple besides us. And everyone wanted to be seated at the end.
One woman was using a cane and our table was actually down some stairs, right by the performance area. Needless to say they were kind of pissed because the stairs were hard for her. I think they were hoping to be moved but they ended up staying. There was some discussion of who would sit at the edge and I was a little nervous we would be placed in the middle even though we made sure to ask before we were seated.
I don't remember how this happened exactly (uh oh- I'm already starting to forget stuff) but my sister and I ended up sitting next to each other at the outer end of the table. Yes! There was actually quite a lot of room and no one had any trouble getting up or sitting back down.
After we were seated our server took our drink orders and sent us up to the buffet.
I ordered a coke- my usual drink and I believe Shira had a Sprite. I loved the beer mugs they used!!
In general our mugs were almost never empty. We ordered lots of refills and got them fairly quickly.
Before moving on to the food, I'll just say that we stayed long enough to see the show twice! (Actually we didn't stay that long, but I guess the show runs pretty often.)
Shira was wearing her birthday button (I can't for the life of me remember if I mentioned this already so I'll write it again, just in case)- My birthday was in November and hers is in March (coming up actually! The 22nd!) so we both asked for birthday buttons since we were right smack in the middle of them and it's fun to celebrate any time of the year. I took mine off pretty quickly but Shira had hers on almost the entire trip.
I mention this because her birthday was noted and during one of the shows, the guy on stage wished her a happy birthday and sang for her! Pretty cool.
Anyway... on to the food.
The buffet was plentiful but very dark. I know that's part of the ambiance and I loved the restaurant theme, but when choosing food, I need light.
My first plate:
Lucky I wrote this down because I never would have remembered what anything is.
So, starting with the bowl- This is the famous cold beer cheese soup which was very thick and floury with a strong taste which I didn't really care for. Clockwise from there: Pickled cucumbers, a cucumber salad, meatball, sausage, potato salad, a tiny ball of butter (because butter), macaroni salad (because pasta) and sausage salad. Unfortunately they were all kind of meh. Maybe it's because I prefer hot food or maybe the flavors didn't really do it for me. Either way, I ate very little- really just tried a bit of everything and that was it. I'm also not a big fan of mayonnaise. (Blasphemy!)
Second plate, this time from the hot selection:
We'll start at the top and go clockwise again-
Pretzel roll, regular roll (cause you gotta try both, y'know?), mac and cheese, spatzle (what is this??), red cabbage, potatoes, pork schnitzel, 2 types of sausages with sauerkraut, mustard and meatballs in some sauce.
Verdict: Mac and cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yummmm!!!!!! That was definitely the best thing I had at Biergarten. I actually got seconds!! I probably should have just gotten a plate of it and called it a day.
Everything else was again kind of meh, I'm so so sorry to say.
The main reason I chose Biergarten beside it being a buffet (unlimited choices!) is because I love all types of hot dogs and I thought the sausages would be.. you know... similar? Just plain good?
They really disappointed. I'm not sure what it was about them- maybe the seasoning- but I didn't have more than a few bites. "A few" instead of just one because there are steps to follow before you can accept a disappointment like that.
Bite 1- "Yum! Oh, wait. Not that yum. What is that flavor/texture/smell?"
Bite 2- "No way- it was probably just a bad piece. The next'll be better."
Bite 3- "Noooo!!! It can't be!! It has to be good!!! How will I go on??"
*Two courses later*
Bite 4- "Nope, still not good." *sigh*
The schnitzel was too thin and a little hard. The spatzle reminded me of Passover food (why would we do that to ourselves more than once a year??) The cabbage was pretty good and the rest was really just ok.
Still, there was a lot more to choose from and I'm sure anyone can find something they like there.
Third plate is desserts:
The cookie on top was very soft and good. Plain but sometimes that's all you need. Clockwise- the cheesecake was pretty good, the black forest was ok- I'm not really a berry person, the apple strudel was good and the vanilla sauce was excellent. The pineapple I didn't try- I'm not even sure what it's doing on my plate- Shira might have gotten it for me. And the thing-in-the-cup is some sort of strawberry vanilla something rather but I didn't even care to write what I thought of it, so- probably meh.
All in all- the interior of the restaurant is beautiful- really blew us away (I was sure I had a picture somewhere..) And even though my review was mostly meh- I'd go back there.
I'd be prepared to try new stuff and even if I didn't like anything, there's always mac and cheese

And vanilla sauce for dessert!!!!
Next up- Shira almost has a breakdown and we end up at Nine Dragons!
(Yes! Two TS restaurants in one day!)

Biergarten!
So here we are, still in Epcot, finishing up our meal at Les Halles and killing time until our 1:50 pm ADR at Biergarten.
We knew we had another Epcot day so we weren't rushing to go through every single pavilion in the World Showcase. Our goal was one: Food.
After feeling we had killed enough time and even though we were still early, we walked over to Germany to find our lunch. It took me a few minutes to find the entrance. Not sure why

We arrived about 20 minutes early but were seated almost right away. I was initially worried about the communal seating because I sometimes have a hard time striking up a conversation with strangers and even more of a hard time not striking up a conversation but feeling awkward like maybe I should be..? But mostly I was worried it would be too crowded for me to feel comfortable getting up to the buffet and back. Like maybe the tables and chairs were too squished together and we would be seated on the far end, having to get everyone out of their seats any time we wanted a refill.. (Ah, the wonderful state of mind that comes with growing up fat.)
I even posted my concerns here on the DIS a while before our trip but got some reassuring answers. I believe most people said it was no problem and there was room between tables but I also got a great tip saying I should ask to be seated at the outer edge of the table- even if that means waiting a little longer for our reservation. And that I did.
We ended up sitting with three friendly, talkative couples- two were friends travelling together and one other couple besides us. And everyone wanted to be seated at the end.

One woman was using a cane and our table was actually down some stairs, right by the performance area. Needless to say they were kind of pissed because the stairs were hard for her. I think they were hoping to be moved but they ended up staying. There was some discussion of who would sit at the edge and I was a little nervous we would be placed in the middle even though we made sure to ask before we were seated.
I don't remember how this happened exactly (uh oh- I'm already starting to forget stuff) but my sister and I ended up sitting next to each other at the outer end of the table. Yes! There was actually quite a lot of room and no one had any trouble getting up or sitting back down.
After we were seated our server took our drink orders and sent us up to the buffet.
I ordered a coke- my usual drink and I believe Shira had a Sprite. I loved the beer mugs they used!!

In general our mugs were almost never empty. We ordered lots of refills and got them fairly quickly.
Before moving on to the food, I'll just say that we stayed long enough to see the show twice! (Actually we didn't stay that long, but I guess the show runs pretty often.)

Shira was wearing her birthday button (I can't for the life of me remember if I mentioned this already so I'll write it again, just in case)- My birthday was in November and hers is in March (coming up actually! The 22nd!) so we both asked for birthday buttons since we were right smack in the middle of them and it's fun to celebrate any time of the year. I took mine off pretty quickly but Shira had hers on almost the entire trip.
I mention this because her birthday was noted and during one of the shows, the guy on stage wished her a happy birthday and sang for her! Pretty cool.
Anyway... on to the food.
The buffet was plentiful but very dark. I know that's part of the ambiance and I loved the restaurant theme, but when choosing food, I need light.
My first plate:

Lucky I wrote this down because I never would have remembered what anything is.
So, starting with the bowl- This is the famous cold beer cheese soup which was very thick and floury with a strong taste which I didn't really care for. Clockwise from there: Pickled cucumbers, a cucumber salad, meatball, sausage, potato salad, a tiny ball of butter (because butter), macaroni salad (because pasta) and sausage salad. Unfortunately they were all kind of meh. Maybe it's because I prefer hot food or maybe the flavors didn't really do it for me. Either way, I ate very little- really just tried a bit of everything and that was it. I'm also not a big fan of mayonnaise. (Blasphemy!)
Second plate, this time from the hot selection:

We'll start at the top and go clockwise again-
Pretzel roll, regular roll (cause you gotta try both, y'know?), mac and cheese, spatzle (what is this??), red cabbage, potatoes, pork schnitzel, 2 types of sausages with sauerkraut, mustard and meatballs in some sauce.
Verdict: Mac and cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yummmm!!!!!! That was definitely the best thing I had at Biergarten. I actually got seconds!! I probably should have just gotten a plate of it and called it a day.
Everything else was again kind of meh, I'm so so sorry to say.
The main reason I chose Biergarten beside it being a buffet (unlimited choices!) is because I love all types of hot dogs and I thought the sausages would be.. you know... similar? Just plain good?
They really disappointed. I'm not sure what it was about them- maybe the seasoning- but I didn't have more than a few bites. "A few" instead of just one because there are steps to follow before you can accept a disappointment like that.
Bite 1- "Yum! Oh, wait. Not that yum. What is that flavor/texture/smell?"
Bite 2- "No way- it was probably just a bad piece. The next'll be better."
Bite 3- "Noooo!!! It can't be!! It has to be good!!! How will I go on??"
*Two courses later*
Bite 4- "Nope, still not good." *sigh*
The schnitzel was too thin and a little hard. The spatzle reminded me of Passover food (why would we do that to ourselves more than once a year??) The cabbage was pretty good and the rest was really just ok.
Still, there was a lot more to choose from and I'm sure anyone can find something they like there.
Third plate is desserts:

The cookie on top was very soft and good. Plain but sometimes that's all you need. Clockwise- the cheesecake was pretty good, the black forest was ok- I'm not really a berry person, the apple strudel was good and the vanilla sauce was excellent. The pineapple I didn't try- I'm not even sure what it's doing on my plate- Shira might have gotten it for me. And the thing-in-the-cup is some sort of strawberry vanilla something rather but I didn't even care to write what I thought of it, so- probably meh.
All in all- the interior of the restaurant is beautiful- really blew us away (I was sure I had a picture somewhere..) And even though my review was mostly meh- I'd go back there.
I'd be prepared to try new stuff and even if I didn't like anything, there's always mac and cheese



And vanilla sauce for dessert!!!!
Next up- Shira almost has a breakdown and we end up at Nine Dragons!
(Yes! Two TS restaurants in one day!)
