Ahhh... gotta love Summer in Bavaria. Beer, and #SCHTIICK!! Fish. beautifully grilled Saibling, on a Stick, tender, moist and feeding Mr. and Mr. Carastian. Washed down with a beer - perfect Sunday.

Little C gets a gourmet makeover on on old favorite! Yes, the fish sticks were prepared food - but seriously, got to give them credit for elevating a kid's dish to this. The mashed potatoes were definitely homemade and amazing. Little C felt very grownup eating this dish. ;*)

Open up and say, "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! WHY IS THIS GRILL SO DAMN HOT?!?!?!" A classic staple of Bavarian Biergartens, a locally sourced Saibling. Perhaps a bit under seasoned but still tasty. You always enjoy your first '#SCHTIICK!!! fish' of the season!

Love how the restaurant gives credit to the fishermen... this beauty was caught by the crew of the Sea Dragon and delivered very tastily to our table. A firm fish, complimented well by the sweet onion but could honestly have done without the tomato or avocado. Still a big winner!

Mrs. C opted for their signature dished as recommended by our waitress and was glad she did. What a lovely piece of fish... cooked perfectly and with a light and amazing nut crust. It was lovingly stuffed with sweet fresh crabmeat and then topped with this cute little lobster tail. Such a great dish... easy to see how they've built the menu around it.

The fish came with a spicy sriracha lemongrass and kafir lime vegetable broth and jasmine rice. I personally love that the fish was locally caught and credit was given to the fisherman. The broth gave a nice little tang to the dish, but still found it a bit sad that this beautiful fish was kind of 'lost' in the broth. And of course kudos are due to Mr. C for eating gluten free (for once.. ha ha ha).

From gutting, filleting the fish, to making a fish fonds base, the beurre blanc to making vegetable julienne. Fun prepping, educational AND TASTY

And lastly a little nibbit of sea bass with vegetable compote. All 3 were so different, and so tasty. WHAT'S NEXT?!!!!

Of course opting for the wine pairing (2012 Soave Classico, Pieropan for this one), course one was a treat for the senses - a slightly powerful curry that was almost on the brink of overriding the delicate fish, but managed to pull back just in time. The bitter pickles added the perfect texture to the dish. Wonderful first course! Would you believe that the chef creates 4 new menus every month? A vegetarian, fish, normal and signature chef menu. Ambitious and very caring. He knows what he's doing, folks.

What a treat... a scrumptious and tender slice of sea bass with a yummy crispy skin hat which was amazing with a 2011 Chardonnay, Nössing, Vienna. Forget anything you know about what a chardonnay should taste like, as this beauty had a rich mineral body with barely a hint of oak to be found. Could have drank a whole carafe! I'd also like to add that the fermented garlic was a real taste treat (and fun texture crunch!) in itself. This is it for today, fellow FS'rs... but the second menu and dessert will follow soon!

Now on to the birthday boy's dinner - Mr. C chose the 'Esszimmer Menu' with wine pairing. And to kick it off (after we had the same amuse bouche shown earlier in my menu) we have a local indigenous trout (Saibling) with peanut foam, peanut mousse, trout terrine, parsley mousse, endive mousse and trout caviar. The poached trout had an sensuous buttery mouthfeel while the terrine was really light and the peanut was a surprising compliment, with hints of fennel - lovely. Served with a 2012 Macabeo-Chardonney, Bodegas Castano, Yecla which was perfectly devoid of oak.

Back on track - and on to course #7 from the Alpenrose in Grainbach. The chef took over the place 10 years ago from his Oma (who at age 92 still makes the most awesome cakes and pies) and turned this traditional restaurant into a playground of the new, updating old favorites in exciting new ways. His entry into the gala dinner here shows that playfulness - a semi-deconstructed borsch with bits of crispy veal tongue (sounds yucky but was AMAZING), a dollop of cream, a perfectly poached piece of this rare skrei cod covered with chocolate shavings and a cute little pickle on the side to bring it all back down to earth. Perfection.

We are officially ruined to order fish anywhere ever again. This filet was cooked so perfectly, it's beyond comprehension. So soft and tender with this crunchy SKIN that was to die for! Throw in that creamy ricotta, foam and chanterelles... absolute heaven.

Ahhhh... T'is that season once again... Fish... Stuffed with fragrant herbs and lemon and then... Carefully impaled on a#SCHTIICK!!! and grilled. Moist, succulent wonderful

Two ways? Yes, please! Fantastic dish - loved the wasabi ice cream and beautiful mix of tuna carpaccio and tuna tartar. The sesame sprinkles were a really nice touch.

wafer thin sliced beautiful raw fish, with a view drips of EVOO and lemon and some sprouts for the looks. All made a la minute for the guests at dinner. Boy oh boy - rarely had a buffet that good.

Having the honor to invite a client to a nice Bavarian evening.. Hofbräuhaus (Platzl) is out of the picture (As I might have had to gnaw my wrists open) so.. go to refined , high quality Bavarian - Spatenhaus. delicate, thinly sliced red beets with good EVOO are the bed for wonderful "trout" (Saibling - part of the trout family just better imho) fillet, smoked and nicely pairing with the fresh horseradish and lambs salad. LOVELY!

Beautiful with a crispy skin and perfectly flaky flesh. It went extremely well with the cauliflower puree and the caper, but the caper 'jus' was a bit too salty and throw the dish off.

Course 1 is a superb rendition of smoked trout terrine - arriving at the table to pleasantly surprise as the crayfish, popcorn and basil sprouts were not in the description but AMAZING. Excellent start to the evening!

Mrs. Carastians go to item at this Restaurant. they changed the dish slightly with rice now being Tomato rice instead of the Coconut rice. It was good - yet made the missus complain a little;-) fish was tender and crusted nicely, carrots were cooked a pointe and with a nice ginger note

Loved these pickled little gems - just wish the plate was a bit bigger!

Mrs. C was intrigued by the "steinpliz carpaccio" description and this dish did not disappoint. A lovely pile of crisp and moist sea bass covered beautiful slivers of SUPER fresh harvested porcini mushrooms (a little too fresh for some of our dinner companions... as a forest critter was spotted!) with a spicy compote of tomato adding just the right kick to the dish. You may notice the dish is 'posing' for the camera, as @Cesar was paparazzi'ing it from behind (cue song: "Cesa - Cesarazzi")

Solid dish for a Bavarian curry, but compared to any of the curry countries - disturbing. The noodles were not very impressive either, which was surprising quality coming out of the Dinzler cafe in Irschenberg. They usually do amazing food.

The fish was well cooked and tasty, as well as the lobster sauce but those delicious looking hash browns were too salty to choke down. Sad! Would have been a very fine dish.