Finally I paid the Paulaner a visit, and was not disappointed: It might not be perfect (as in “straight out of Bavaria”), but it’s a very enjoyable, though pricy and upscale, Bavarian style restaurant. All in all it’s the best German/Bavarian restaurant I’ve been to in Taiwan - but then I am not trying many here, since the chinese food is too delicious anyway
It is quite easy to reach: Take the red line to Danshui (not to Beitou) and exit at Guandu Station. Leave at Exit 2, walk right, after a short walk turn left and walk uphill for a few hundred meters. There you cross the street, turn left towards the gas station, and at the gas station turn right again and then keep walking uphill. Voila, after a few minutes walking the Paulaner is at the right side. You can also just take the taxi at Guandu station, the drivers know the name “Paulaner” and will bill you NT$70.
The restaurant itself is pretty big. Some seating is available outside, which offers a nice view and a bit more of a Biergarten feeling. On a Sunday evening the place was very full, so better book a table (02-2891-7677). A lot of Taiwanese were there, but only very few foreigners. Funny enough, many of the Taiwanese seem to order the chinese dishes that they offer, and only add a German beer to that. Saupreisn, chinesische
The menu was much shorter than what is shown on the pictures in their Blog, maybe it was because it was a “holiday special”. No idea what holiday that is, maybe Sunday? Or it could be the seemingly all-year Taiwanese Christmas, since even in this restaurant (opened May this yaer, mind you!) there is the obligatory christmas decoration - only in one corner of the Men’s room, though.
The staff is very fast, friendly, and helpful.
We didn’t ask for any off-menu items, though I am sure there must be some (like White Sausage “Weisswurst”, or cold cuts and cheese platters. We ended up with Kässpatzen (cheese noodles), Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle), Obazda (a spread made from cheese, butter and spices), Würstel mit Sauerkraut (sausages), and Brezen (Pretzels). As desert we had Apfelstrudel mit Vanilleeis (apple cake with icecream).
The food was really good, with only minor deviations from the “original”: The Haxn seemed to be fried instead of grilled and came pre-cut, and the Nürnberger sausage was a bit bland. With the Obazda came only two small pieces of bread, which was just OK ( already getting a bit dry). The Brezn were good, but a little bit chewy.
Apart from these minor things everything was very enjoyable: The Kässpatzen were great, the Haxn tasted very good (with even the skin crunchy and edible), the Obazda was very delicious, and the Leberwurst (liver sausage) that came with the Brezn was very nicely spiced, as were the Käsekrainer (cheese sausage) and the Bratwurst from the sausage platter.
Hmmm… anything I forgot? Oh right, the beer
They serve a very nice dark beer, as well as a light beer they call “Helles”. The latter definitely is not a “Helles” as you would get as the standard beer in most of Bavaria, but instead seems to be a unfiltered (Naturtrüb) variety thereof. Great with me, though, since this is something I like a lot The Beers come children sized (0.3l), small (Halbe / 0.5l) or normal size (Mass / 1l) and are not exactly cheap (NT$225 for 0.5l, and NT$400 for 1l). Same price forthe very refreshing Radler by the way (half light beer, half sprite).
For Taiwanese standards it was not cheap, around NT$1500 per person including ~2l beer per person - but we enjoyed this evening a lot, so it was definitely worth it.
(The sausage platter is not shown here)