When I travel to an unknown place, I usually do not plan much in advance. At most, I look for a restaurant to spend the first evening at. In Sölden’s case, that restaurant was Gampe Thaya, suggested to me by Tripadvisor as the number two in the area. I honestly tried to reach it right after my check-in, but the stated closing time of 18:00 (a lie – in fact it’s 17:00), made that impossible. Gampe Thaya is a solid hour and a half hike away from Sölden, and that only if you are some sort of a mega-fit hiking superman.
It is not your typical mountain hut. It looks like a hut at first (and the nearby Gampe Alm is even “huttier”), but a mere glance at the perfect tablecloths, nicely printed bilingual menu (which you may take with you as a souvenir) and comfortable sofas should convince you that we are talking about a proper restaurant here. And not a cheap one too.
The Brettljause – sorry, the Marende – costs over 20 euros and looks like a rip-off until you start eating it. One can mention the nice dried beef (from own cows!) or the variety of cheeses, but in my case, the small hot baked potato totally won my heart. It was absolutely perfectly made – so perfectly that I seriously considered ordering a separate potato dish afterwards. I loved the spreads too – all three of them were tasty and very light. After the heavy Brettljausen of the past few days, I was very happy to find one that was not a struggle to finish.
Finally, all my reservations about the restaurant’s use of the South Tyrolean word “Marende” instead of Brettljause evaporated when the dish was delivered not only with the usual dark bread (very fresh, but the way), but also with the traditional Tyrolean Schüttelbrot. I finished it all with the beer, with little regard to my teeth. I even did not mind that the beer was only served in small glasses and at a premium price.
I very much doubt I will ever eat at Ice Q, Tripadivsor’s top restaurant of Sölden – I am sure it is good, but at least a part of its popularity must stem from its overly fancy dishes and the location at the altitude of 3000 meters. On the other hand, if I visit Sölden again, Gampe Thaya will be at the top of the list of places to re-visit. It is a deluxe mountain hut that has not lost its down-to-earth roots.
But if I had to make a suggestion… Serving wine in 0.1 liter glasses on a mountain is, frankly, mad. And charging five euros for a glass is doubly so.
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