Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, is a surprisingly tricky place to find a Brettljause. You would expect it to be no more difficult than finding pizza in Italy, but nope – once you visit a couple of very obvious places, Brettljausen become rather elusive. Yesterday, a promising restaurant away from the main tourist streets turned out to be completely booked. Today, I climbed a hill on the outskirts of the city just to find an equally packed restaurant. I waited for an hour for the crowds to disperse and then was told that the Brettljause was not available in winter, despite what the menu said.
Invinum (I don’t feel like using all caps for the name, sorry) was my plan C, if not D, and at the end of the day it worked out. A centrally located wine bar serving wines from Lower Austria and Burgenland (strangely, I could not find a Styrian wine on the list), Invinum provides a number of simple cold snacks, of which the Brettljause is the most expensive one.
As the picture shows, it was not a sophisticated Jause to any extent. A half of it was Tyrolean Speck, as can be expected in Innsbruck. In addition, it contained some light salami and three types of cheese. No pickles, no eggs, no horseradish – not even a salad leaf. In truth, none of them were really necessary, but what I actually missed was some sort of a chutney for the strong mountain cheese, one of the two highlights of the dish. The second highlight was, of course, the Speck. Without its authentic Tyrolean taste I would have given this Brettljause a much lower rating.
All in all, it was an average Brettljause at a ridiculous price, which could only be explained by the bar’s exclusive location. On the other hand, the other dishes did not look that pricey, so maybe the Brettljause has been envisaged as a dish to share. Indeed, considering its lack of variety, it could have been smaller. Instead of nearly twenty euros, I would have happily paid ten for a half of it and maybe added a small Grammelschmalzbrot if I were still hungry. The way it was served, it required hard work to finish, even with quite a lot of accompanying wine.
I can now cross Invinum off the list of Brettljause places to visit, but there is a good chance I will go there again during my future trips to Innsbruck. There is something cozy about the place; the wines are good, the other snacks look appetizing, and the coffee is of nearly Italian quality.
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