Central Europe

From Görlitz with love

Located on the south-east corner of the Untermarkt (the lower market) historic area in the old town of Görlitz you will find Horschel restaurant within the Emmerich Hotel.

The hotel takes its name from a former resident of the building, Georg Emmerich; and the restaurant from his one-time lover, Benigna Horschel. We are told that their romantic drama caused a scandal in town, unmarried Benigna became pregnant with Emmerich’s child but the two did not marry, and shortly after Emmerich fled to Jerusalem ‘on pilgrimage’. Love letters between the two were discovered during a renovation of the building and we do love a restaurant with a tale to tell…

Outside is a terrace for watching the world go by but it was in the shade during our dinner time visit so we dined indoors but as you can see from below, the view from inside is as good as on the terrace. The pink building you can see is actually an old chemist with rooftop windows like sleekit eyes watching you eat!

Menu at Horschel

There was no English menu but with our basic German we were able to translate it ok.

What we ate and drank

We had a  few glasses of wine during our visit, including:

Oliver Zeter Pinot Noir 2021, Pfalz (€8.50) – A pleasant light red with leather and raspberry on the nose with more of a sour cherry, hibiscus and cranberry taste.

Weingut Mathis Riesling, Pfalz (€6.00) – the vintage wasn’t stated but it had a mild petroleum aroma and a sweet syrupy taste with a fair bit of acidity in the background as well.

Winzerhof Stift Tante Mitzi Gruner Veltliner, Niederösterreich (€5.00) – a fresh, floral, fruity green apple and pear aroma, with a juicy sweet apple taste and not as much acidity as we were expecting. It also had a pleasantly long finish so was our favourite of the three despite being the cheapest!

Should you want beer, they sell draught beer from Landskron and bottles from Sudost. Both breweries are located in Görlitz.

We started with Brot und Maldon butter (fresh bread served with salted Maldon butter from the UK, €3.50).

And Tagessupe (soup of the day, €6.90), which wasn’t translated word-for-word but I perked up when I heard the word ‘ingwer’ (ginger) so ordered it on that basis alone. It was a South-East Asian inspired soup, a bit like carrot and coriander but with ginger instead so a little bit spicy and topped with a garnish of sesame seeds and coriander.

Onto our mains, and the petersfischfilet mit Zitronen-Pfeffer-Sauce, Gemüse and Kartoffeln nach Art des Hauses (John Dory filet in a lemon-pepper sauce, vegetables and house-style potatoes, €20.90) had sold out so was substituted for salmon instead. This came with a lemon-pepper sauce, mixed vegetables and roast potatoes. It was a nicely frilled fillet of salmon and all the veggies were cooked perfectly.

 

I’m not normally one to order messy ribs in an upmarket restaurant but these were Ardbeg Smokey Spare Ribs mit Kartoffel-Wedges (Ardbeg smoked ribs with potato wedges, €24.90) and in all my time living in Scotland I don’t think I’ve ever come across that! It came with plenty of sauce, which did have a smoky flavour but if I hadn’t known I wouldn’t have assumed that Islay whisky was involved in the mix. The chips were fluffy and crisp, overall this was a pretty hefty portion. All of the desserts are a take on Italian tartufo, essentially ice cream in a ball shape with a sweet sauce or syrup. There were three available on our visit, all priced at €6 each.

First up, we had ‘Nocciola mit Haselnüssen‘ (Hazelnut ice cream with hazelnuts). A praline / Nutella type of taste with crunchy nut pieces and a sweet caramel sauce.

‘Fragola mit Erdbeeris und Baiser‘ (Strawberry with Strawberry ice cream and meringue). Strawberry ice cream covered in little meringue pieces with a strawberry syrup. Fragola is also the name of a Strawberry liqueur though I’m not sure if there was any used here as fragola also just means ‘strawberry’ in Italian. 

Both of the desserts were light and sweet after a heavy meal.

Verdict:

Horschel is a smart, modern restaurant in a great location with reasonable prices. Our server was friendly and helpful, and at the end of our meal he gave us each a complimentary glass of Italian pistachio liqueur! 

The menu had a good selection of German cuisine with added world flavours and dessert being clearly Italian-inspired. Probably our only gripe was actually the lack of choice when it came to pudding but overall, the food was delicious, and filling, and the wine was really good too. Relaxed and not too formal, we had a very enjoyable meal so would happily eat here again. Since returning home e have since discovered that they have a restaurant at the Hotel Sonne in Zittau, so that’s possibly next year’s summer holiday destination sorted. 😉

Toilets clean and looked after. No steps at entrance so seems to be disabled friendly.

Where is Horschel?

Horschel, Untermarkt 1, 02826 Görlitz

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