Disclaimer: According to the (still unpublished) policies of this site, we do not review Brettljausen unless they are explicitly offered in the establishment’s printed menu. According to the Addendum 1 to the (still unpublished) policies of this site, which is, obviously, also unpublished, exceptions to the above policy may be granted as long as the reviewer did not exercise significant authority in the composition of the Brettljause, where the meaning of the word “significant” above is left to the discretion of the reviewer.
To put things simply, Pfaffl does not have a menu, so I went to the lady at the buffet and asked her to make a Brettljause for me, taking into account that I am (1) alone, (2) hungry and (3) like strong cheese. The outcome of this request is described below. It is clear that should you try to repeat my endeavor, the result may be quite different depending on the availability of the ingredients and the above-mentioned lady.
The Brettljause (or a Tellerjause as the Brettl was nowhere to be seen) turned up to be spread-heavy, featuring no less than five spreads. Out of them, the pinkish creamy berry spread was the absolute highlight, only slightly marred by tiny tough seeds that annoyed my less-than-perfect teeth. The paprika “Liptauer” spread was quite standard, and the egg spread tasted of nothing except eggs. The meaty spread frankly tasted of nothing at all, and the cucumber-cream spread was completely acceptably creamy and cucumber-y.
The meat part surprised by containing cold Rostbeef, slightly too fat and tasteless to my liking. Actually, the other four meats – the ham, the Schweinsbraten, the Speck and the Blunzen tasted quite fat, too, and unfortunately quite bland too. It was a bit like eating the same type of meat painted differently. I admit that all the meats were very nonindustrial, and probably someone with a finer taste would appreciate their subtleties, but personally, I still prefer my sausages to have distinct characters.
It was the cheese that stole the show at the end: the buffet lady kindly cut me thick slices of a Bergsteigerkäse and some Raclette-type cheese, both of which tasted stronger than any other cheese I had ever tried outside Styria. With at least five other types of cheese available, I strongly suggest you visit Pfaffl for a cheese plate alone and forget about the meats. If you go for a full-pledged Brettljause, however, do you forget to order pickled cucumbers, mustard, butter, horseradish and enough bread, since these are not included by default. You will end up with a rather hefty bill, but the cheese will almost make it worth it.
I would also recommend you visit Pfaffl in summer and during the working week, because this Sunday it looked as if the whole village of Stetten had decided to go to the Heuriger. Despite its size, the place was completely packed, with people, kids and dogs constantly passing by my table, and the waiters looking quite stressed. The result was a rather non-relaxing experience, which probably also made the Brettljause and the wine taste worse than they deserved.
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