Review: Karl Biesl

**Non-Halal**

Updated 3 November 2011

This restaurant is closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Edited 10 May 2010: Added link of A Lil Fat Monkey


A few weeks back, I got an SMS by Pure Glutton inviting me for a review hosted by Karl's Biesl. I told her I ate at Karl's Biesl just the week before and the food was just so-so. I told her perhaps I had ordered the wrong thing so I decided to join her and a group of floggers for this review. Needless to mention, I have to say one ought to judge a restaurant by its signature dishes and restaurants should educate their staff on what to recommend to patrons heh!

The restaurant is rather big but yet cosy with the woody interior. Little did we know that there is a very nice mezzanine floor above, perfect for private functions.

At the start of our lunch, we were told Karl is the name of the owner, Karl Rathswohl and beisl means a bistro, beer house or a casual dining place. I searched the net for more info and stumbled upon this link and the explanation really summed up what Karl's Beisl is!!!

The word Beisl (or Beisel) is probably Jewish. It oroginates from the word Bajiss, which means house. Beisls, which evolved in the 18th Century are inns offering local specialities. The style of a Beisl is like trattoria in Italy or Kneipe in Germany.


The characteristics of a Beisl are the followings: measuring beverages, panelled walls, hooks for clothes on the wall, mobile partition walls, wooden tables, checked tablecloth, choice of food and beverages displayed on blackboard, spice rack on the table and marking the frequenters' tables. You can choose among Viennese specialities such as Tafelspitz (braised beef garnished with chips, chives sauce, spinache, horseradish and apple puree), Vanillierostbraten (roasted meat with garlic) and Schnitzel (fried meat). Besides the meat dishes soups are also very popular. The choice of beverages consits mainly of ales and porters and in most of the Beisls one can buy also the so called mixed beer (ale mixed with porter). As a dessert we recommend you the famouse apple strudel.


A stratum of Beisls developed in the past few years, which matches the quality restaurants. These inns offer their services at a higher quality. That means that they take aim at affluent Viennese citizens and tourists. Visiting such kind of an inn can equal a gastronomic trip.


Ref: Vienna Hotel Online

As it was a very hot day, we were offered Franziskaner weiss beer, a German beer. It was indeed very smooth and a great cooling agent. This is available on the tap here. Oh thank you to Ciki to model for us :p

OK, let's get straight on to the food served to us. We tried a Spinach Salad that came with red peppers and pork bacon strips (RM18). The baby spinach are from Australia which is sweet and crunchy. We loved the light cream based dressing which has just the right amount! I hate overly drenched salad. If you look close enough, you'll see cubes that resemble chu yau char (deep fried lard) but chu yau char they are not! LOL they're actually roasted potatoes which are crisp on the outside.



A Cold Platter (RM38 for 1 portion or RM70 for 2) was quickly cleaned up. Not surprising when it has serrano ham, chorizo, roasted pork belly, olives, cheeses, roasted red peppers, gherkins, sun dried tomatoes and baguette. The cheeses were superb especially the blue cheese (which I don't like cos it stinks :p) according to FatBoyBakes, Ciki and the Lil' Fat Monkey.



Then we have 2 types of soup - Cream of Forest Mushroom (RM18) and Cream of Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper (RM15). The mushroom soup is robust and not rich at all with cream but the red pepper soup is a real winner. It was the group favourite as the flavour was quite unexpected, ermmm where it looked a bit like laksa soup but the taste was refreshing with a light rosemary fragrance. My advice is try not to stick to the usual mushroom soup!



The mains started to arrive once we were done with the starters. The first was half a portion of Roasted Suckling Pig (whole at RM199 and half at RM110). This piglet have very crispy skin and a whole lot of succulent meat as compared to the fatty Chinese style's.

It's so delish that FBB couldn't resist gnawing on the whole thigh. Since I sat next to him, I could hear the crispy skin crackle under each bite.



The Roasted Suckling Pig served with steamed Cabbage (or you can opt for sauerkraut) and mashed potatoes. We have steamed cabbage and wow it has bits of pork bacon in there that made the cabbage very flavourful indeed. The mash was the creamy kind and not goey at all despite looking like one, perfect!



When the Farmer's Platter (RM95 standard portion 3 to 4 persons; big portion 6 to 8 person RM130) arrived, I can see everyone's eyes lit up. Can't help it when the plate is filled with Roasted Pork Knuckles, Pork Belly, Kasseler Ham, Bratwurst, Frankfurter Sausage and this platter is served with Steamed Cabbage/Sauerkraut. I personally like the bratwurst and sausage here. It was then revealed to us that they make their own sausages as they owned a smoke house!



Next, Double Rib Pork Chop (RM50) was served. It's such a huge serving! The chop is very thick and lean which made it a bit tough to chew on. I would love to have a little bit of fat on a chop.



Of all dishes, this Pork Wiener Schnitzel (RM38) is my favourite! Served with one of the best potato salad around (not just cos this is an invited review ok but it's really my honest opinion). The meat were flatted, seasoned and coated with flour, eggs and breadcrumbs before deep fried. The outside is crisp but the inside is ooooh soooo tender! This schnitzel was so good that Ciki and FBB just burst out singing My Favourite Thing (click to watch the video and listen to the song) from The Sound of Music (one of my fave movie that I've watched countless times). If you go to FBB's post, you'll understand why (pssst check the lyrics!).



A final meaty plate of Black Pepper Spare Ribs with Garlic Butter Rice With Pickled Veggies (RM60) came by which we were up to the brim. We savoured the tender ribs slowly. The fork tender ribs have juicy meat and not laden with sauce, the black pepper is not over powering at all.



Don't worry if you're not a babitarian (pork eater), you can opt for this Seafood Spaghetti With White Wine Sauce (RM30). A crowd winner even amongst the babitarian! The white wine brought out the sweetness of the seafood. There are huge prawns, scallops and mussels in there, value for money indeed.



Thank goodness the mains stopped here and out came the desserts. We have a Palatschinken (RM18) which is crepes with apricot jam served with a scoop of rum & raisin ice cream.



And of course a must have is Calvados Apple Strudel (RM20), a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria. This strudel is a rolled layered pastry heavily stuffed with pieces of apples cooked in sugar and cinnamon with raisins. Since I liked cinnamon, this is absolutely lovely but if you don't you might find the cinnamon overpowering.



Karl's Biesl is located at Solaris Mon't Kiara or rather known as SohoKL which the host explained it meant Solaris Hot Spot! It's just besides Häagen-Dazs. I would like to thank Pure Glutton and her friend, the host, chef and staff of Karl's Biesl for the lovely afternoon.

Check what my fellow floggers have to say about this review:
Cumi dan Ciki
Kampung Boy City Gal
PureGlutton
My Story
Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Memoirs of a Chocoholic
a lil' fat monkey (new)


Karl's Beisl
Lot K-OG 13 & 14, SOHO KL
No. 2, Jalan Solaris,
Solaris Mon't Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 6204 0628
Operation Hours 12 noon till late daily
Lunch: 12 noon - 3 pm
Dinner: 6:30pm - 10.30pm (last order)
Bar Food: till midnight
Click here for map