Glockenspiel – St. Paul, MN

D.Rough and I needed a date night and we picked Glockenspiel since we had talked about it every time we drove past. I am a big fan of German food (getting bigger), and I haven’t had much since I moved up here to the Twin Cities. We headed down to the place and stepped inside.

We immediately knew something was wrong. Very very wrong. There was a backroom filled with people and someone had a microphone of some sort. It was then that we heard the word “Eucharist.” We both looked at each other. Apparently, Glockenspiel hosts what appears to be (I’m not saying it is, I’m just saying it’s what it appears to be) some sort of catholic singles night in their back room. There were all sorts of announcements and such and a few recognition of recreation chairman and sports chairman (yes, seriously), and all kinds of applause and such. We considered leaving so we could have a peaceful dinner.

This random guy sitting at the bar starts talking to us and tells us to sit down ad raise hell with him. Hilarious. He was there trying to sell some sort of artwork, but got a big shoot down with the Catholic crowd there. So he was just going to sit and drink. This guy was really funny.

We decided to sit in the front of the bar, so we could carry on a normal-volume conversation. The really nice bartender was also our server and he hooked us up with some menus and drinks. I got a Griefswalder and D.Rough got an Aplfelstrudel Martini. For those without a lot of German background, I basically ordered a children’s beer. It’s half Kostritzer (a dark German beer) and half Coke – yeah, really). Don’t judge. D.Rough’s Alpfelstrudel Martini is Apfelkorn liquer, Crown Royal, and Frangelico. I really liked my kid’s beer and D.Rough was a little undecided on her martini. I kind of liked it, though.

We weren’t intending to eat a huge ton of food, so we decided we’d get an appetizer and split an entrée. Sounded easy, right? It only took us ten minutes to decide – they have really awesome looking things on the menu. We decided to get the Wurstteller - a sausage plate (the one without herring), and we’d split something called Schweine Cordon Blue. Didn’t sound too awfully huge did it?

Wrong.The appetizer came out on a huge wooden board and was packed full of meats. Knockwurst, Blutwurst (blood sausage), Venison Sausage, Salami, Garlic Summer Sausage, Leberkase, Jagdwurst, Ham, and Prosciutto ham. It comes with a basket of crackers (both Townhouse and Ritz – really), and a sweet ground mustard and a spicy ground mustard. Seriously, this thing was enormous. Everything on the board was delicious. I even ate most of the blood sausage – not my favorite, but it’s the first time I’ve tried it. I didn’t mind it, really. We didn’t eat all of the plate, but we did some serious damage to it. We decided that if we came back, we’d bring four or five people and everyone would just split that and drink some beers. Good plan.

Speaking of which, D.Rough gave up on the Alpfelstrudel Martini and ordered a Radler, which is a light lager with lemonade mixed in – it’s Germany’s version of a light summer beer. She was MUCH happier with that decision.

Then the entrée came out. It’s basically what it sounds like. Schnitzel Cordon Blue. A pork cutlet stuffed with prosciutto ham and cheese, then oven baked. It came with really amazing cooked vegetables, as well a delicious potato dumpling. The piece of pork was delicious, especially with all kinds of cheese oozing out of it and paired nicely with the more ham-my/salty flavor of the prosciutto. This was a delicious combination. I’m glad we got it, although, I have a feeling the Germans might not borrow anything from the French in reality. Just a hunch I have.

Towards the end of our meal, we watched the Catholic group wrap up their business. People stood around and chatted, but these two awkward guys stood at the door and made weak attempts at flirty conversation to any girl that tried t leave. The girls ended up leaving in packs to protect themselves. To be fair, they weren’t overly creepy or grope-y, just clearly predatorial and desperate. They found the most bizarre things to talk about or comment on as the ladies left. Super weird. Here, we photo-ed it, so you can see what we mean by them guarding the exit.

Overall, D.Rough and I were REALLY happy with our meal. She even commented she didn’t know why we didn’t come here more often, since it’s right down the street from our house. I plan to make it more of a habit, since everything we had had fantastic flavor (even for German food – hahaha).

Top 5 things about Glockenspiel
1. Wurstteller – Sausage plate
2. Schweine Cordon Blue
3. Griefswalder
4. Radler
5. Really nice staff – and customers for that matter

Bottom 5 things
1. The creepy single night deal happening
2. The creepy guys pouncing on ladies as they tried to leave
3. I wish I liked mustard – it apparently is a huge complement to various meats (which we had!)
4. Alpfelstrudel Martini – according to D.Rough – I liked it
5. Not sure why the sign in front says Czechoslovak American, incstead of German, but maybe the building itself is some sort of Czechoslovakian heritage center or something.
6. Our attempt to not eat too much failed miserably…

www.glockenspielrestaurant.com