When in Manila, there surely aren’t a lot of German restaurants around. I was about to say ‘none‘ but a quick search in Google proved me wrong. However, even so with their existence, nothing outstanding really comes to mind!
…But then came Brotzeit® German Beir Bar & Restaurant.Â
“Brotzeit”  is seemingly a Bavarian expression which literally means “bread time” (given how ‘brot’ is German for bread and ‘zeit’ for time) but in its whole sense, means that it refers to comfort food paired with good beer. I’m not much for beer really, but the thought had me sold. It wouldn’t hurt to try it out, right? 😉 Besides, some of my friends do say that there are a lot of good German beers; so I might as well take them for their word.
Brotzeit was first set up in Singapore in 2006, conceptualized by a group of Germans and Austrians who were in Singapore at the time since they wanted to bring the Bavarian experience to Asia. Over the years, it worked its way into other countries such as Thailand, Mainland China, Beijing, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and now–the Philippines. It’s first branch (and 10th in the world) is now therefore located at the Ground Floor – Street Level of Edsa Shangri-La Mall.
Honestly, I foolishly thought that I would be greeted with such a stiff and dark atmosphere (pardon me!) but I was surprised to see such a laid-back, contemporary setting.
As you can see from the photos below, the restaurant area was filled with German-inspired wood benches and seats, and across the end of the room was a long wooden bar counter.
There was also this signature mural inside that shows the history and development of the German beer culture! Other than this, there’s also an al fresco area with a mix of high chairs and normal ones.
To kickstart the evening, we started to order for our drinks, or in the German language: getranke. Oooh, get ready for a mouthful of words that are veeeery hard to pronounce.
BIER (Beer)
The best thing about their beer? They’re all premium and imported from Germany: brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516, 100% natural and made with pure spring water.
Currently, they offer four beers on draught and several German beer specialties packed in bottles, all served in their appropriate glasses.
For Jonas, he decided to try their Original Munchner Lager (Paulaner)Â and he liked it, which was surprising because–believe me, he’s quite picky with his beer. So hearing this, I took a sip myself and true enough, it tasted good and clear! (This has 4.9% alcoholic content).
However for me, I decided to take the easy way (I apologize, to the Brotzeit way) and so I picked their Sparkling Apple Juice ( Apfelschorle) and boy, was it strong! I made Jonas taste it and our dialogue went like this:
Jonas: …so, what’s wrong?
Aileen: It’s so strong!
Jonas: Uh, yeah. And that’s what real apple juice should taste like.
Aileen: …you’re right. I guess I’ve been living for far too long in artificial and diluted ones.
But it was a good kind of strong–it just simply surprised me when I took a first sip! True enough, this is a 100% apple juice that’s imported from Germany even.
They also have other juices, like Lemonade, Orange Juice, Ginger Ale, and more!
VORSPEISE (Appetizer)
What is great about Brotzeit is that you could expect all their dishes to be served in large and sharing portions; so celebrating a Bavarian feast with family and friends could surely be a grand one!
For our visit here, we had the opportunity to try their recommended dishes; so for a start, we had their Bacon Spread (Griebenschmalz P290) which is a rustic Bavarian spread that is made out of crunchy bacon, apples, and onions served with sliced German bread. This was a good treat, but if you’re a bacon lover, beware! You shouldn’t keep your hopes too high up because this wasn’t too bacon-y.
For our other set, we tried the Crispy Chicken Salad (Backhendlsalat P295 Small/P495 Regular) which is a mixed salad with crispy chicken fillet, potato salad, semi-dried tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, and pumpkin seed oil that are all tossed with homemade dressing. This could definitely stand alone as a meal for someone!
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