I don’t think I would have willingly returned to St. Michael im Lungau, had I not had some unfinished business there. This business is to visit Rotgülden lakes, which I failed a year ago by searching for a non-operating cable car first and, having thus wasted half a day, going up the most obvious mountain next to the village. On the other hand, taking a short walk this evening, I started to recall some other things I could not do last time. For example, to visit Staigerwirt. During my last stay, this hotel/restaurant was closed, leaving me staring at its menu hanging outside and imaging how good the dishes could have been.
Today, however, the restaurant was open, and as the slight rain outside did not encourage staying outdoors, I walked in and ordered spare ribs, which the restaurant, for reasons known to its owners only, calls “spareribs-spareribs-spareribs.” Perhaps it is because they are served as three mini-racks, but honestly the racks are so short, that the name “spar-spar-spar” would have been more appropriate.
Generally, there are two ways to make ribs’ meat very tender and easily detachable from the bones. One, practiced by most restaurants, is to pre-boil the pork before putting it on a grill (or into a microwave). The second is to cook it on a slow fire for a very long time. Staigerwirt chose the latter, and kept the meat cooking for 12 hours. At least the menu claims that, and I can believe it, for these were some of the easiest ribs to cut in my life.
What is more important, they were bloody excellent. Perfectly grilled, they were covered in dill and red pepper, which made the taste quite unusual and counterbalanced the flavor of pork, which unfortunately still emerged from time to time. Potato wedges, which were served as a side dish, were amazing: super-hot upon arrival, they maintained a good temperature till the end of my fight with the ribs, and – being very crispy and expertly salted – could have been a great snack on their own. The complimentary mixed salad, though small, contained enough different ingredients to make it interesting, including a few tiny pieces of bacon and, weirdly, popcorn.
Maybe because the ribs were quite spicy by themselves thanks to the red pepper, the cook had decided to keep the dips more subdued. The white sauce, which I thought would be garlicky, was almost like cream, while the red sauce tasted like Balkan Ajvar or Georgian Adjika, making spicy things taste less spicy rather than the opposite. Being a fan of moderately spicy stuff, I am not sure I agree with the cook’s decision.
In everything else, the ribs of Staigerwirt truly excelled. Moreover, the other dishes that I saw being delivered to the tables around me also looked fantastic. A dinner at Staigerwirt alone might be worth a travel to St. Michael. As for tomorrow, I know exactly where I am going for dinner. The only question is whether I will take the spare ribs again or decide to try something different.
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