A Party Hut

I visited Ramsau at the end of September a couple of times, and it was firmly in the shutting-down mood: many hotels were not available, the huts’ opening times were sporadic, and most hiking buses had already stopped their operation. At the end of October, Ramsau is all but asleep: despite the sunny (though chilly) weather, the number of tourists has decreased to the minimum, the marmots are in hibernation and most of the restaurants and hotels as well, and the only bus left is the one travelling between Schladming and the lower station of the Dachstein cable car.

Walking around the Rittisberg mountain is a lonesome experience, with only a few other hikers sharing the path. In fact, I was not at all sure that Sonnenhof, one of several huts on Rittisberg was open, despite all the assurances on its website. I was therefore quite surprised when upon opening the door I found the hut full of drinking and dancing people and a few musicians entertaining them. The reason became clear when I noticed a parked tourist bus on my way back and read the Sonnenhof’s website more carefully: the restaurant is specializing in organizing group and company events, and the celebrating crowd came from far away, possibly from the city of Leoben.

Still, there was a spare table and no problem at all getting a Brettljause and a few beers to wash it down. A decent Brettljause it was, too – not pretending to be a super-authentic one, but quite on par with the average Jausen of the area (which is quite an achievement). Variety-wise, it did not particularly impress: the Schmalz and the Liptauer shared the wooden plank only with the slices of Speck and cheese and a few small pieces of a hard sausage. It was only later that I discovered that the Speck was of two sorts, one slightly fatter than the other. The cheese was clearly the weakest link, having no taste and possibly coming out of a supermarket. Honestly, the Specks could have come from a supermarket as well, but their quality was good enough to make me almost sure that local farmers were involved. The Liptauer and the Schmalz were great, on the other hand (the Schmalz would have benefited from a bit of extra salt), and made the dish for me. Just be aware of the small green (or red) pepper that you find alongside the other ingredients: it’s hot. I mean, really deadly dragon-like type of hot. If you repeat the stupid thing that I’ve done and chew the whole thing at once, make sure there is a bit of Schmalz left. It’s the only remedy against the burning mouth and uncontrollable hiccups; not even the good quality complimentary Schnapps helps.

Don’t go to Sonnenalm expecting a lovingly produced Brettljause made out of self-made ingredients. It’s not a farm; it’s an event-organizing business, albeit a very friendly, authentic and enjoyable one. However, if the weather is good and you feel like having a nice time getting drunk and eating reasonably well, Sonnenalm is perfect.

Update from 3 March 2023

Somehow, I completely forgot that I had visited Sonnenalm already. I was about to write how fantastic it is to discover a previously unknown Brettjause in Ramsau am Dachstein – a place that I had visited so often that it became a sort of a Zweitwohnsitz to me. A simple search showed however that I had the pleasure of brettljausing at Sonnenalm four and a half years ago and called it a “party hut” for its extraordinarily joyful atmosphere.

No COVID lockdowns could change anything about that ambience. The owner (or one of the owners) is a real professional: one moment he was playing accordion and dancing with the visitors, the other he pretended to be drunk and “accidentally” fall on a table spilling a cup (an empty one, as it turned out), then he switched to a sort of a standup comedy, making everyone laugh (well, those who understood him, at least). The true talent, however, was that he could perfectly judge who needed entertainment and who, like me, was best left alone. Just for that, I am eternally grateful.

The Brettljause did not change much since my previous visit either. The hot paprika was unfortunately gone, and the spreads became much smaller than before, but the other ingredients remained, and the price stayed surprisingly low, especially considering that the Brettljause included a complimentary Schnapps.

If today I had to reevaluate the rating, I would have probably removed half a star for the Brettljause’s taste and authenticity and gave an additional half a star for the value for money. The overall rating, however, still holds and I continue to recommend Sonnenalm to anyone visiting Ramsau. It is touristic, but in a nice way.