Although the German word “Jause” literally means a snack, it is never a good idea to visit a Brettljause location when full. It is the same sort of snack as, for example, a double-cheeseburger with french fries. If you are regularly eating them between your “normal” meals, you are not living a healthy lifestyle.
My lifestyle is anything but healthy, but I still hesitated about ordering a Brettljause at Weinhof Scharl less than two hours after eating a salad with breaded chicken filets. That was, however, before I walked past the Weinhof’s modern and somewhat pretentious main entrance, through the lovingly decorated courtyard and onto the roofed terrace with a lot of greenery and just a few tables, only one of them occupied. A red tabby cat immediately appeared, let me stroke it briefly and departed on some other important cat business. The place looked so peaceful that I decided that no one was going to make me eat my Brettljause fast, so I might just as well sit, enjoy the ambience and spend a couple of hours reading, while sending a slice of Speck into my mouth every now and then. That approach has worked perfectly.
Perhaps, the success was partly due to the fact that the Brettljause was not too big. It looked beautiful, with quite a lot of green stuff arranged in an appealing way. As for the taste, the Verhacktes was the absolutely champion, while the other cuts were fresh and of good quality but not memorable. I ate them slowly, but with pleasure, and at the end it was only the liver spread – not strong in liver flavor but still not quite to my taste – that I left almost untouched. The only decision of the cook that I found questionable was to spread red peppercorns all around the plank. I am not sure if they were intended to be a decoration or a spice, but their flavor was so strong that it drowned out the taste of nearly everything else.
Weinhof Scharl is lovely. Even lacking an impressive panoramic view, it has an amazingly relaxing atmosphere, and the service is both very efficient and non-intrusive. It’s a perfect place for sipping wine and taking slow bites.
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