Moser's Austrian Cafe & German Cuisine

When some friends told my parents about a restaurant in New Carlisle serving Austrian and German Cuisine, they never would have guessed that the owner used to work at a shoppe they frequented in my mom's hometown in Germany. Moser's Austrian Cafe & German Cuisine is a great place for those who want to try Austrian and German cuisine for the first time or for those who, like me, just miss the food from this region. We began our meal with the "Hot Wurst Platte," a sampling of sausages including bratwurst; weisswurst, a Bavarian sausage made with minced veal and fresh bacon; thueringer, who's ingredients vary, but must come from the state of Thueringia in Germany; and debreziner, a finely minced pork sausage seasoned with paprika that has a kick. I really like the bratwurst and weisswurst, and while the debreziner and thueringer were good, they were too spicy for my palate (have I mentioned I am a wimp?). We also shared the "Bavarian Meat and Cheese Platter," which included sandwich meats such as Speck (German prosciutto), Landjaeger (a dried sausage), and several other cuts similar to bologna with add ins like mushrooms, served alongside cubes of cheese, and swirled rye bread; and I encourage you to try the bread, because I don't usually care for rye, but thought swirling it with white bread mellowed it out. And this is what our platters looked like AFTER we had our way with them!

The menu is extensive and includes choices such as Austrian Gulasch (Beef and pork tips in a brown sauce over drop noodles called spaetzle), Paprika Chicken, and bratwurst with saurkraut, but I went straight to the section with schnitzel, which is a pork or chicken cutlet that is breaded and fried. Moser's offers many varieties such as the Jaegerschnitzel that is covered with a mushroom sauce and the Schwaebisches (the region in Germany my family is from) schnitzel which is covered in anchovies and a white wine sauce. I ordered the plain, traditional pork schnitzel because that is how we have always eaten it in our family, which was a little under seasoned, but cooked perfectly with a crisp crust and juicy inside. My meal came with a side of spaetzle, which my little man ate, and I opted to sub my red cabbage (yech!!) with a side of the biggest, crispiest homemade chips I have ever eaten.

Wiener Schnitzel

 

Homemade Chips

While it was almost an hour drive, I still highly recommend Moser's in New Carlisle, Indiana for a delicious German meal, not to mention a completely unique dining experience, because the only place you will get a better German meal is at my mom's house!!

Culinary Mill Market & Deli

As early as the 1880's construction began on the factory building that today make up Coppes Commons in Nappanee, and while there is no longer furniture being made in this factory, it offers plenty of other treasures in it's many shoppes ( Remember Rocket Science Ice Cream? http://albertassessment.blogspot.com/2012/11/rocket-science-ice-cream.html ). One of the shoppes located in the former Coppes factory is Culinary Mill Market & Deli, which is part small town grocery store, part deli, and entirely delicious! We entered the shoppe to find lots of bulk snacks, and moved through the aisles to find locally made pickles, jams, and sauces, cheese from the Guggisburg Cheese Factory, lots of candy, even sugar free, and a gluten free section (including bulk bags of GF flour); I haven't even made a dent in what the market side of Culinary Mill Market & Deli offers, but I can assure you that there is something for everyone. When you find yourself at the deli there is much more to offer than just sliced meat and cheese, between 11am and 2pm, be sure to check out what is being smoked for lunch, we were lucky to find that the lunch specials were pulled pork and spareribs, plus there is a list of sides for a dollar each including chips, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and several other options that go great with barbecue. My Hubby chose the pulled pork sandwich with a side of cole slaw, the sandwich was ample and smothered in barbecue sauce, my husband isn't always the biggest fan of barbecue sauce, but he did like this sandwich and got his money's worth at just over $4.00 for the sandwich.

I am a sucker for ribs and couldn't resist a half rack for just $8.00, the ribs are served dry rubbed, and while the seasoning had a little kick, I still thought they were delicious, and were VERY well smoked...there is just something I love about seeing that beautiful pink ring on smoked meat. Culinary Mill also offer's three different BBQ sauces, I truthfully couldn't pick one favorite because they were all scrumptious and complimented my already delicious ribs nicely.

Not only did we have a delicious lunch at Culinary Mill, but we also picked up one of their take and bake pizzas for our stay at home date night, I couldn't tell you the exact size, but it was huge and well worth the $10.00 we paid for it. We chose the 4 meat pizza, which we were pleasantly surprised to find had real meat on it; actual salty ham, big chunks of bacon, rich pepperoni, and tasty hunks of sausage and lots and lots of cheese. We baked the pizza straight on our oven rack and were incredibly happy with how crisp and tasty the crust came out, truthfully my only complaint about this pizza is that it was so chocked full of toppings that it became a little rich, which ultimately meant I could only eat one slice, so I suppose in the end that turns out to be a plus (at least for my waist line, anyway!). So next time your family is begging for pizza, head to the cooler at Culinary meal, because you won't find a better deal on delicious pizza, with gobs of real toppings anywhere else.

Culinary Meal Market & Deli might be a small shoppe, but they have a lot to offer so do what we did, browse for groceries, sit down for a hot lunch of delicious barbecue, take home a pizza for dinner, and embrace the pace of Nappanee.