I don't know why but I had not been back to one of my old haunts in months. I had stopped in from time to time to get sausages at the deli, but I had not stopped in the restaurant in a while. On Sunday, one of my chef friends and I decided to explore non-Korean restaurants in the Itaewon area. My friend, Ulbee, works at a Korean restaurant so she wasn't in the mood to drink soju and have Korean food. Thank goodness because neither was I. Our first stop that evening was at Chef Meili's Austrian restaurant in Itaewon.
Chef Meili is known for his sausages and his Vienner Schnitzel and his gluhwein. I have indulged in his restaurant many times in the past (especially during the holiday seasons). I don't know why but his food reminds of my holidays back home.
Sure enough as soon as I stepped in, the chef, Christian Meilinger, was there to greet me. He is a big, boisterous guy and he said, "wow, it's a surprise to see you." We talked a bit and I sat with my friend. The restaurant at 7pm was a bit empty. There was only one other table sitting and I was wondering if the restaurant had lost some of the magic that made it popular.
The atmosphere was quaint and so was the wine. It had a bit of tannin and a dark cherry finish. It was chilled slightly so it was very drinkable.
Oh, we started with a soup. It was a pork broth soup that had pork meatballs flavored with sauerkraut. It had some celery and carrots floating in the broth as well.
I thought it was fine, but Ulbee said that it was too salty. This started a conversation about if foreign food was too salty or not.
Soup at Chef Meili |
Chef Meili's in Itaewon |
Chef Meili’s
Telephone: 794-7024
Location: Next to Gecko’s Terrace, across from the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Days: Closed Mondays
Sausage Platter at Chef Meili |