To say that Hallstatt is touristic is a bit of an understatement. It must certainly be featured in the “Europe in 8 days” guides of some countries, in particular Japan, Malaysia and the USA, since the number of visitors from these countries is overwhelming. It’s so over-the-top touristic that the tourists quickly become easy to ignore, and the village starts to look normal.
The Rudolfsturm, located some 350 meters over the village on the path to the famous salt mines attraction, is a pinnacle of touristicity, with the Polish (or possibly Slovak) waiter feeling much more comfortable with English than German (my awful German at any rate).
Considering the circumstances, it’s hard to blame their Brettljause, no matter how “creatively” they call it. After all, it’s the only Brettljause served in the entire village, and serving anything remotely different from the visitors’ Schnitzel and Goulash expectations requires some courage. Not that it’s a good Brettljause, of course. It’s far too spread-oriented, the Liptauer and an unidentified creamy white spread featured as two balls each, requiring all the available bread. The meats – Schweinsbraten, pretty standard ham and quite authentic Geselchtes (must be quite a shock for the Malaysians) – as well as a boring cheese with holes have to be either put on top of the spread or eaten separately from the bread. There is neither horseradish nor mustard (not to scare our tourist friends even more, I guess), their place taken by baby corn and cocktail onions. Still, the Kalte Platte seemed to be favored by Austrians around me. One pair was even knowledgeable enough to request an extra slice of bread.
This Brettljause is hard to recommend, to be honest, but if you are in Hallstatt, let’s face it, you have no choice.
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