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Thursday, May 03, 2012

Rhinedorf German Restaurant, Beverly Hills

Pork knuckle at Rhinedorf German Restaurant

Let's face it: the best part about ordering schweinehaxen is the excuse to pronounce it in the thickest German accent you can muster. Say it right and you’ll be rewarded with a massive hunk of roasted pork knuckle gift-wrapped in golden crackling.

Alpine decor at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Decor inside Rhinedorf German Restaurant

Get your pork knuckle on by putting the top down and cruising past the palm trees that welcome you to Beverly Hills 2209. Rhinedorf is towards the end of the main strip on King Georges Road - a blip of Germanic respite in a sea of Chinese restaurants. Inside you’ll find a kitschy slice of Bavaria crammed with every stereotyped knick knack you can think of: alpine prints, hanging pot plants, wine barrels and wagon wheels mounted on the wall.

Alpine decor inside Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Alpine kitsch

The wooden tables are covered in green-and-white checked tablecloths and yes, even the waitresses get around in traditional German dirndl dresses. The crowd is a mix of local families and large groups of friends, especially on weekends when Rhinedorf is often fully booked.

Boiled pork knuckle at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Berliner eisbein $24

The schweinhaxen ($23) is a meat-lover's challenge. Here, the stump of pork knuckle is served with a pile of sauerkraut, a scoop of pan-fried potatoes and a lake of thin gravy. The portion size is big enough to share but you’ll probably still end up squabbling over the generous skirt of brittle crackling.

Where the schweinhaxen is all crunch, the Berliner eisbein ($24) is its polar opposite - a pork knuckle boiled until soft, like a mellow ham-on-the-bone.

Deep fried camembert at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Deep-fried camembert $10.50

Mains are big enough on their own, but it’s hard to resist the lure of entrees, especially when they include deep fried camembert ($10.50) which are triangles of crumbed gooey cheese served with sweet cranberry sauce.

Stuffed cabbage rolls at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Kohrouladen stuffed cabbage rolls $9

The kohrouladen stuffed cabbage rolls ($9) are fair, if a little greasy, but you’re better off avoiding the roesti potato cake ($10.50), which is more like a dense hash brown.

Roesti potato cake at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Roesti potato cake $10.50

German wheat beer, lager and pilsener at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Erdinger dark and cloudy weissbrau $7 for 0.5L, Kostritzer dark lager $4.50 for 0.3L,
and Bitburger premium pilsener $4.50 for 0.3L

If the salt-crusted pretzels ($4) make you thirsty, then a stein of bier will make it all better. The bar has a huge range of German beers on tap, including golden kölsch, bitburger, DAB lager, Erdinger dark and cloudy and the coffee-tasting köstritzer dark lager (all $4.50 for 0.3L or $7 for 0.5L).

Apple strudel at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Apple strudel $8.50

The dessert menu has all the usual suspects, like Black Forest torte and apple strudel (both $8.50). But we reckon the Bienenstich, or bee sting cake ($8.50), is a good way to finish. How could you lose with a light sponge cake sandwiched with custard cream and topped with flaked almonds and honey?

Bee sting cake at Rhinedorf German Restaurant
Bienestich bee sting cake $8.50

Rhinedorf German Restaurant Beverly Hills


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Rhinedorf German Restaurant
485 King Georges Road, Beverly Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9570 6763
Opening hours:
Tue-Sat 6pm-10pm; Sun 6pm-9pm


This article appears in the April 2012 issue of Time Out Sydney in my monthly Food & Drink column Eat This! [read online]

More Time Out Sydney reviews:
Akash Pacific Cuisine, Liverpool (Fiji Indian cuisine)
ATL Marantha, Kensington (Indonesian fried chicken with edible bones)
Balkan Oven, Rockdale (Macedonian burek)
Battambang, Cabramatta (Deep fried pork intestines)
Cyprus Community Club Aphrodite Restaurant (Roast baby goat)
Dos Senoritas, Gladesville (Mexican street-style tacos)
Durban Dish, Baulkham Hills (South African cuisine)
Everest Kitchen, Marrickville (Nepali cuisine)
Good Kitchen, Hurstville (Hong Kong cafe)
Hijazi's Falafel, Arncliffe (Lebanese breakfast)
Island Dreams Cafe, Lakemba (Christmas Islands cuisine)
Kambozza, Parramatta (Burmese cuisine)
La Paula, Fairfield (Chilean empanadas, lomitos and sweets)
Mario Tokyo Pizza, Strathfield (Bulgogi Korean pizza)
Misky Cravings, Fairfield (Peruvian cuisine)
Olka Polka Bakery & Deli, Campbelltown (Polish cheesecake and rye bread)
Sea Sweet, Parramatta (Lebanese sweet kashta cheese burger)

Sizzling Fillo, Lidcombe (Filipino pork hock crackling)
Taipei Chef, Artarmon (Taiwanese smoked chicken)
Tehran, Granville (Persian cuisine)
Tuong Lai, Cabramatta (Vietnamese sugar cane prawns)
13 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 5/03/2012 12:30:00 am


13 Comments:

  • At 5/03/2012 9:54 am, Anonymous Hannah said…

    I think this is going to further display the depth of my strangeness, but the berliner eisbein? I can't stop thinking that it reminds me of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

     
  • At 5/03/2012 10:31 am, Anonymous chocolatesuze said…

    i cant stop staring at the layer of cream in the bee sting cake!

     
  • At 5/03/2012 1:34 pm, Anonymous Eha said…

    Have post-lunch giggles! This is gorgeous: 'so süss', as the Germans would say!! And, experienced for more decades than I care to admit, I'll take the 'Eisbein' over the 'Schweinehaxen' any day of the week without feeling ALL that guilt tripping afterwards!!!! Except the potato 'cake' never, ever comes in this format :( ! Wonderful post, Helen!!

     
  • At 5/03/2012 1:39 pm, Anonymous Karen | Citrus and Candy said…

    Absolutely adore the Rhinedorf for their super cheap schweisenha... er pork knuckle esp with the to-die-for pan fried potatoes. And their schnitzels rock.

     
  • At 5/03/2012 5:22 pm, Anonymous gastronomous anonymous said…

    oh my... i do like the look of that pork knuckle! YUM!

     
  • At 5/03/2012 9:53 pm, Anonymous Sara - Belly Rumblesw said…

    I have driven past this place so many times, but have yet had the courage to venture in. Doesn't look too bad. I will never get tired of deep fried camembert :)

     
  • At 5/04/2012 8:50 am, Anonymous Tina@foodboozeshoes said…

    Hmm, not so sure about the boiled knuckle - but love a bit of hearty German food with a beer or three ;)

     
  • At 5/04/2012 2:36 pm, Anonymous SarahKate (Mi Casa-Su Casa) said…

    I'm thinking that the boiled pork knuckle looks kind of freakish. But the crackling on the other one... yes, please!

     
  • At 5/05/2012 12:14 am, Anonymous Dee@foodinhand said…

    Oh that Roesti looks so weird! I almost thought it was those fish/tofu cake. I've wondered what this place was like, it seems so different on that street of chinese restaurants. Nice to see all the classics :9

     
  • At 5/05/2012 11:08 am, Anonymous JasmyneTea said…

    This is my dad's favourite restaurant. He and my step-mum can eat a whole pork knuckle each! I didn't know they had the bee sting cake though, I'll have to order it next time:)

     
  • At 5/06/2012 8:34 am, Anonymous Christina @ The Hungry Australian said…

    The best ever German endearment I've ever heard is actually from an old Fraiser episode when one German character refers to Merris as 'mein kleine lieber knodel' - literally, 'my little liver dumpling.'
    i think there's something in that for everyone - lol :D

     
  • At 5/06/2012 9:42 pm, Anonymous The Food Sage said…

    The Berliner eisbein just doesn't look as unctuous as the schweinehaxen. Love you description of it as being gift-wrapped in golden crackling.

     
  • At 9/26/2012 6:47 pm, Anonymous Kim @ cleanspoon said…

    Oh this all looks delicious... I think this is going to go near the top of the must eat list!

     

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