Hungarian Proverb
VISIONS OF JOLLY BAVARIANS, fists full of knackwurst, lederhosen stretched taut over beer-swollen bellies while whooping it up with St. Pauli girls, foamy steins in their capable hands, twirled through my head when I sighted King Ludwig's Tyrol Restaurant--promising Hungarian, German, and Austrian cuisine right here, in Seattle's beloved Maple Leaf neighborhood. Chef and manager Ka'roy Rideg delivers a little slice of that Bavarian storybook world (à la Leavenworth) previously available only during Oktoberfest.
Lurid imagery aside, this kind of traditional Bavarian food is honest. And it is the food of some people's ancestors. Although Frankfurt's famous smoked pork chop dish, Kassler Rippchen, bears my family name, I doubt my Jewish forebears had much to do with this decidedly Schwein extravaganza. I do, however, occasionally long for a story of origin, some kind of root or tradition that could anchor the loneliness I feel in the kitchen.
And so the polkas Johnny V. squeezes out of his accordion every Friday and Saturday can make me weep over the right plate of Rotisseried Broiled Pork Hock ($17.50). There are no flowers sculpted from blood oranges and gold leaf decorating the array of sauerkraut and spaetzle. You are paying for pure meat poundage, not sizzle. Which is fine by me. Most of the time.
The evening I visited the luminous King Ludwig's unfortunately occurred after Christmas prime rib dinner, immediately preceded by Christmas Eve ham dinner. To tack on a visit to Bavaria after a tour through suburban family holiday meals really pushes the envelope, or, more concretely, the esophageal flap. As I sat before the very thick menu and listened to our deliciously Bavarian-costumed young waitress recite the specials ("Our special tonight is a half-duck..."), my belly raised an angry fist and shouted, "How about a salad, asshole!" I scanned the glorious menu sections of Rindfleisch and Schwein. Needless to say, there is no Big Salad in Bavaria.
The booze menu annex toured Hungarian wines. For $139 you can tipple a half liter of the legendary Tokaji Eszencia, pronounced "King of wines, wine of kings" by Louis the XV. The Tokaj region has produced this sweet, golden dessert wine since the fifth century, while the Eger is known for its drier red wines, at everyday prices.
Our appetizer of Bismark Herring ($6.95) wafted up its oily fish and vinegar scent. Perfect in small amounts with ample cold draft Spaten beer, Ludwig's serves its herring in a boat-sized ramekin with gobs of sweet, red onions and sour cream. I hardly managed two bites before our sprightly server returned with my Letsho, a Hungarian vegetable stew ($14.95). Of course it came chock full of Debrecziner (Hungarian sausage), which I dodged as I plucked tasty peppers and buttered Galuska (spatzle) from the flavorful tomato-based stew. Rotkraut (red cabbage sauerkraut) rounded out the sweetness of the tomato- and pepper-based goulash with crisp, vinegary depth. I sopped up the juices with fresh rye bread and addictive crackling cheese biscuits (Poga'csa'k), even though I was no longer hungry.
My cohort in gluttony for art's sake was impressed with his Stuffed Pork Loin, Hungarian Style ($16.95). The cross-section of white pork meat with a perfect circle of red, smoked Hungarian sausage in the middle was visually elegant, and enigmatic. We spent a large portion of the meal guessing the technique for fitting a sausage so tightly into a pork loin.
Dining at King Ludwig's is like eating dinner at somebody else's grandparents'. You watch your language, smile and say, "Delicious!" even when you are full up to the vomit point. There are no surprises. There is meat, potato, and cabbage always, which is comforting, like reading Jane Austen after a terrible relationship. There is order, and everybody knows all the words to the songs. It is nostalgia for an abstraction of memory, a history I do not possess.
King Ludwig's Tyrol Restaurant
8501 Fifth Ave NE, 524-3100. Tues-Thurs & Sun 4 pm-9 pm; Fri-Sat 4 pm-11 pm. $$
Price Scale (per entrée)
$ = $10 and under; $$ = $10-$20; $$$ = $20 and up
