Salzkammergut’s Smaller Lake

There are two things many people do not realize about Austria’s picturesque Salzkammergut region. First, despite the similarity of names, most of the region is not located in Salzburgerland. In fact, out of the three federal states that Salzkammergut spreads across, the state of Salzburg has the smallest slice. Second, in addition to the famous large lakes like Attersee, Hallstätter See and Wolfgangsee, Salzkammergut has plenty of smaller lakes, many of them much less touristic but not less beautiful. Not all of the smaller lakes feature a restaurant though, but Schwarzensee, which is easily reachable from St. Wolfgang by foot in about an hour and a half, is lucky to have two, at least one of which has a Brettljause on its menu. Almstadl Schwarzensee also boasts a spacious terrace with a long bar table, sitting at which offers a great view over the lake.

The Brettljause is quite a pretty sight by itself. While the choice of meats is limited to three – dried ham, Geselchtes and Hauswurst – there are also four different types of cheeses, which is quite a rarity. I just wish that one or two of them had even a bit of a strong flavor, because I found them all too samey and not as interesting as they could have been. The meat part of the Brettljause was better. The Geselchtes in particular went very well with the fresh bread and butter (which was rapidly melting under the super-hot sun).

Overall, it was a completely acceptable Brettljause taste-wise, but at the premium price of 17 euros, I would have expected something more authentic or exotic. Schwarzensee is, honestly, not a type of lake one would visit very often (a one-hour walk around it should satisfy one’s interest for a few years), but should I end up in the area again, I would rather go the second restaurant on the lake’s shore and check out the pork knuckle that it claims to serve.