Sauceless

For me, Knödelglück was a love at the first sight. A small restaurant located above Merano and providing a fantastic panorama of the surrounding mountains, yet very easily reachable, it did not disappoint me with its Brettljause two days earlier and left a strong impression that its spare ribs could be good.

Those first impressions did not lie. The ribs were smallish for the price (but I did not mind as I was not especially hungry) but well cooked, and separating the meat from the bones was an easily manageable undertaking. A lot of effort had obviously gone into the marinade, since the ribs tasted very good by themselves without a strong need to “improve” them in any way with sauces.

Not that there were any sauces. The side dishes included two slices of dumpling (as the restaurant’s name signifies, dumplings are its main specialty), a plate of salad and a small plate of something red that I took for red beets at first but turned to be pickled onion in red wine. I liked the way the marinated cabbage salad was very finely cut, yet taste-wise it did not add much; a stronger salad would have been more appropriate. The dumplings were perfectly prepared and spiced, and provided a viable alternative to spare ribs’ most popular side dish – potatoes. The spicy pickled onion, on the other hand, was a fantastic idea and in my opinion eliminated the need for a separate sauce altogether.

This being South Tyrol, no meal is complete without bread, particularly the hard Schüttelbrot. While fairly useless with spare ribs, it always serves as a perfect snack to accompany wine either before or after the main course.

If I were to return to Merano – and I am seriously considering going back still this year – Knödelglück would be the first restaurant I visit; I really liked it that much. I would probably also take the spare ribs again and recommend that given a chance you try them too.