Bavarian Chef

Bavarian Chef
5102 South Seminole Trail
Madison, VA 22727

What is this German restaurant doing out in the middle of nowhere? On Route 29 between Washington and Charlottesville, you'll come across this wooden structure with a Bavarian look. Hungry for German food and beer? You've come to the right place.

Now, the food at the Bavarian Chef is extremely heavy as is most German cuisine but it is quite tasty. I have had the Zigeuner Lendchen (pork medallions in a zesty mushroom, onion, diced pepper, tomato, and bacon sauce) and the Karlsbadener Sahnegoulasch (veal, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and fresh cream). Both were very good. The Zigeuner Lendchen was well cooked and held together while the veal was very tender and almost melted in your mouth. Orders come with a bunch of sides. I think it's something like 2 sides per entree. The potato dumplings (pictured here) are really, really good. They're a bit gooey and have a similar feel as mochi on the outside. The potatoes are wonderfully done and I just could not get enough of this dish. The zucchini was cooked with onions and came in a nice tomato sauce. String beans were fine. I generally don't like red cabbage and these guys did not give me a reason to. Nothing against how they do it though.

I do have to say that these people could be friendlier to their guests. I wasn't impressed by the service. To be fair, they were packed and they did wear some German outfits, which did not look comfortable but even the receptionist needed to work on the "willkommen" attitude. The place is also kindof expensive. If I'm paying a lot of money for good food, remember that I have to consider the energy costs because this place is far away from almost anywhere. Perhaps a friendlier staff would make me happier to pay their operation costs.

The place itself is really cool. A lot of the seating is upstairs in the attic and there are all these little nooks with tables and mini lamps. It's all very cute and it all has a nice Bavarian feel. A bit dark so not a good spot for photographs but pretty nice atmosphere.

I didn't get the beer although they had a wide variety of German ones. Don't order the HUGE steins because they are indeed gigantic and you could not possibly drink it on your own.