Upscale Goose

I had always wanted to try Martinigansl at Stockerwirt. Unfortunately, something constantly prevented that. Sometimes it was weather (there is no point going to Sulz unless one combines the visit with a hike; my favorite is walking back to Vienna through Naturpark Föhrenberge), sometimes it was the tempting alternative of going to Postschänke (which is quicker to reach and, let’s face it, legendary), and sometimes it was the unfeasibility of booking that highly popular restaurant.

Today I was lucky to get a table at Stockerwirt at 11:30, which is half an hour earlier than my self-imposed earliest time for drinking alcohol (of course, I had decided to make an exception for the occasion). Despite the early time, the restaurant started to fill up very quickly, mostly with traditional, well-to-do families. Stockerwirt is clearly an upscale – though not super-expensive – restaurant, as was evident by the number of waiters, comparable to the number of guests.

The restaurant prides itself on serving Austrian Weidegänse (pasture-raised geese), which – in contrast to more common Hungarian geese – are not fed with grains, resulting in their growing slower and having longer, more fulfilled lives before meeting their inevitable end. The lengthier and more difficult process gets reflected in higher prices, but I must say that at 44 euros, the once-happy goose of Stockerwirt was not that much more expensive than its less lucky Hungarian mates available elsewhere. Another proof that Stockerwirt takes goose-making seriously was the fact that I witnessed an entire roasted goose delivered to a nearby table and carved by a waiter. Restaurants that try to save money often purchase frozen goose parts, and subsequently serve nothing but goose legs, as if geese were some sort of spiders.

The Gansl had to be pre-reserved while booking the table, so obviously my expectations for it were quite high. They were raised even higher by a truly excellent starter of headcheese from Duroc pig. Once the main dish arrived, I, according to my ritual, tried the cabbage, then the dumplings, and finally a small piece of meat – and… felt disappointed. The red cabbage was lukewarm (a tradition I don’t completely agree with), devoid of any strong flavor apart from slight sweetness, and not especially crunchy. The potato dumpling was a bit sticky and flavorless, as usual, and the bread dumpling (for which I usually have better hopes) tasted like fresh but bland bread. The goose, on the other hand, did not have crunchy skin and contained some fat under it.

However, maybe it’s a feature of a slow-growing Weidegans, but the dish somehow grew on me. The quality of the meat was the main driver. The meat was lean, firm, with real deep goose flavor and no disgusting hard-to-identify bits that cheaper geese sometimes suffer from. The lack of crispiness in the skin annoyed at first, until I realized that the skin had been perfectly salted, and the limited amount of fat below it ensured that the entire skin-fat-meat combination was perfectly balanced. The portion was quite big (hardly any annoying bones!), and the more I ate, the more I accepted that the goose had been prepared according to the cooks’ intention and solid expertise. Eventually, I started to appreciate the red cabbage, too, for, boring by itself, it went with the meat surprisingly well. The dumplings, on the other hand, could never convince me – not even as an absorbent for the sauce. The problem was, the sauce, as good as it was, was insufficient; I would have very much welcomed an extra jar of it.

While I cannot say that Stockerwirt’s goose knocked my socks off, it was, at the end, a very solid and enjoyable offering. If you are looking for a classy, relatively quiet and not overly expensive location for a Martinigansl and do not mind a short trip out of Vienna, Landgasthaus Stockerwirt is a really good option. Book well in advance, however.