Munich Haus
13 Center St., Chicopee, 549-8788
Hours: Sun.-Mon. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Tue.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Entrées: $9.50-$26.75
Munich Haus usually draws an older clientele for its elegantly prepared traditional German specialties and its excellent lineup of hard-to-find German beers. Bavarian classics like schnitzel, spaetzle and sauerbraten as well as Continental creations like escargot “Café de Paris” and broiled rack of lamb “a la Provence” are served by young women in aproned frocks in a series of dining rooms outfitted with dark beams, stuffed boars, year-round Christmas decorations and elaborate cuckoo clocks.
But on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. all summer long, a younger crowd turns out for an all-you-can-eat sausage cookout on the front patio. The $9.50 “German Night” prix fixe buffet entitles you to as many links of pfaelzer, Nuernberger, chicken bratwurst, kielbasa and knockwurst as you can manage to wash down with a frosty mug of Spaten Optimator or Erdinger Weissbier.
A grill is set up right on the deck next to a buffet line of accompanying cold sides like German potato salad, sliced cucumbers in a light vinaigrette, and a mayonnaise-dressed pasta salad. If it’s too hot outside you can carry your loaded plate inside and enjoy your cookout in air-conditioned comfort. But if you do, you’ll miss the curb-side view of the street life at Chicopee’s main intersection.
Sausage-making is a specialty at Munich Haus. Owner Hubert Gottschlicht was the executive chef at the Student Prince in Springfield for 18 years and chef Norm Boucher was specially trained in the craft.
Several of the sausages are made in-house, including the chicken bratwurst, a lean skinny link seasoned with rosemary, and the Neurnberger, a long, thin breakfast-type sausage laced with sage. These smaller styles are vulnerable to overcooking on the grill, I discovered, but the shorter, fatter knockwurst and kielbasa were satisfyingly charred on the outside while still juicy inside.
The regular menu is always available if sausage isn’t for you. Whatever you order, each table receives a complimentary hors d’oeuvre of homemade, thick-cut potato chips served with a creamy ranch dipping sauce. I also enjoyed a special appetizer of fried sauerkraut balls, which enclose melted cheese and bits of ham along with the cabbage in a thick, breaded crust. The potato pancakes were a bit greasy and soggy, though.
A dizzying array of schnitzel options dominates the entrée choices. The classic Weiner schnitzel is a thinly pounded veal cutlet breaded and pan-fried, but Munich Haus also offers nine other variations with different rich sauces or toppings on a golden fried pork cutlet. A schnitzel sampler plate makes it possible to taste three of them: Paprika is a savory, dark gravy, Rohm is a mildly tangy cream sauce, and Jaeger is a mushroom demi-glace with unfortunate metallic overtones. The sauces were a touch heavy for the light cutlets but their intense flavors nonetheless improved a side of doughy spaetzle tossed with butter and breadcrumbs that were desperately lacking salt.
Spaetzle (a dumpling formed by extruding a soft wheat dough through the holes of a colander into boiling water) is also offered as a vegetarian entrée bathed in a rich cheese sauce with cherry tomatoes. It was rather one-noted as a main course and I found it difficult to finish even a quarter of the massive portion, but I would have enjoyed it as a side dish.
Even if you don’t indulge in multiple trips to the sausage grill, I doubt anyone who eats at Munich Haus leaves feeling hungry.
