A traditional Alsace eating house

Four of us traveled to Alsace for a weekend’s dining, what better place to start than one of the most traditional dining establishments in Strasbourg?

Chez Yvonne S’Burjerstuwel is a cosy little place right near the cathedral. Daniel and David visited before quite by chance a couple of years ago, and so impressed were we by the quality of traditional food on offer that we thought a second visit was in order.

The menu is simple enough, filled with Alsace treats that should keep anyone satisfied and stuffed. We started off with some snails, presskopf and some foie gras. Their snails are the best we’ve had in Alsace, served out of their shells in a pitted plate filled with bubbling butter, Riesling and garlic. The are quite delicious. Jeff seemed very satisfied with his presskopf, which was served in a jar of reasonable size and kept him going for a while. The goose foie gras terrine was excellent.

We then moved onto the main courses, which included the main reason David wanted to re-visit. On the previous visit the waiter described a dish called Maennerstolz as a “Good sausage, big sausage, good sausage for men!”. Upon our return from the trip we discovered that said sausage can be up to a metre long and translates as ‘man’s pride’. How could we refuse?

[image image_id=”2355″] This time, we didn’t. The owner of the establishment came up to me as I was gawping at the sausage and said “It is a good job you are not a woman if your mouth falls open every time you see a big sausage.” The sausage itself was really good, very meaty and smokey. Dan and Jeff both chose huge slices of suckling pig and Daniel went for a traditional coq au Riesling. [image image_id=”2244″]The meat in this was sadly a little dry and tough and was the least successful dish we ordered.

The desserts are quite formulaic. The Granite of vendanges tardives Gewurztraminer was delicious and pleasingly vinous. There was an option of mixed sorbet swimming in eau de vie which was both refreshing and pleasingly alcoholic. Good as it was, skip the creme brulée, it is just too much like every other creme brulée.

The wine list was quite short, but there were a few gems worth picking out. The Andre Ostertag wines are very good. They have some great Marc Kreydenweiss eau de vie with which to end your meal.

This is a great place for large portions of traditional food. Don’t go if you are afraid of meat, or suggestive comments from your serving staff. It is quite the bargain for traditional food of this quality.

Contact details and menu on the Chez Yvonne website.