After having heard good things about a new(ish) German eatery, our clan descended upon the unsuspecting victi... er.. restaurant for dinner on Saturday evening. I'd never had authentic Bavarian cuisine, and was looking forward to something different than our usual.While first walking in, I notice they'd changed up the decor quite a bit from the old Wildwood pub that used to be there - a bit brighter, and airier, with a nice lit up tree, albeit fake, right in the middle of the restaurant. What I did note as well, was the rather unenthused person leading me to our table. Not a good first impression, and to be honest, she didn't seem to fit in the restaurant either, compared to the wait staff.
I sat down, hoping for better from the menu, and found quite a large variety of items, but one thing stood out - the Franzl's Mixed Grill. This platter includes Kassler Pork Loin, House Made Bratwurst, Cured Pork Belly, Carved Prime Rib, Schweinshaxen, Sauerkraut, Spätzle, Fresh Shredded Horseradish, German Fried Potatoes, Potato Dumplings, and some braised apple cabbage underneath. Figuring he wanted something different, my brother went with the braised bison short ribs, and added a couple of appetizers; the Bavarian stuffed wings, and venison corn dogs.
The wings and corn dogs came out first - and HOLY BIG WINGS BATMAN! These things were HUGE! I know they're stuffed, but what the heck did they stick in there? a whole cow? Anyways, yeah... these sure didn't look like wings. The pretzel breading made them pretty crispy, but I was not all too thrilled at the hot sauce slathering the wings, as it pretty much tasted like Frank's Red Hot. They could have avoided that and let us use and taste the mustard it came with. 
The corn dogs on the other hand were tiny - bite sized, but very good. I'm not a huge fan of the batter, as it was very similar to pretty much any run of the mill fish and chips place, and I'd expected more for $14. That thought was interrupted by the arrival of the mixed grill.
Impressive isn't the right word for how much meat you get on this thing. I'm sure vegetarians would get sick looking at this, but all of us were ready to dig right in. Other tables did stare at our quite large skillet of meats though, I figure with envy, when they received their tiny little salads.
I found the pork belly very flavourful, if super salty. I started to use small bits of it as my flavouring agent, while digging into the rest of it. The Schweinshaxen, for those who haven't had it, is essentially a roasted pork knuckle - tasting very much of a less salty ham, and delicious! The bratwurst was decent, pork loin a little dry for me, but tasty, while we all agreed the spatzle could have been better, but the potato dumplings and fried potatoes were excellent as starches went. The prime rib was decently tender, but really lacked a gravy to knock it out of the park.
My brother's Bison short ribs was also shared with everyone, and while he thought it was one of the best he'd had, I thought it lacked a bit of flavour, even with the bacon. We threw in the towel quite quickly, as we'd wanted to save room for dessert as well, and boxed up much of it to go. I wasn't really up for much more, so my family ordered 3 to share amongst the 4 of us, including an apple strudel, a lemon curd with berry salad, and a white chocolate berry jam jar.
I didn't expect this to happen, but the desserts all outshone the meal itself. While I'm not a fan of yogurts, the white chocolate berry jam jar reminded me a bit of that, with more sweetness and a better overall balance, while the apple strudel was nicely done, fresh, and a bit tart. The star of the show however was the lemon curd and berry salad. The berry salad itself was a mixture of fruit marinaded in a raspberry vinaigrette, and the fresh lemon curd was nice and sour. I guess not for the sweet tooth, but it tasted incredibly light, and refreshing after such a heavy meal.
Overall, while Wurst wasn't the best, it wasn't the worst!Taste: 8.0 - Good, but not amazingly so.
Presentation: 8.5 - nothing fancy, but I don't think it was meant to be.
Ambiance: 9.5 - light and airy, with interesting decor. Not sure about the cuckoo clocks, but the oompa loompa band coming up from the bar was great!
Service: 8.0 - only marred by the greeter, the wait staff was better.
Prices: $20-$30 for entrees, $38/person for the big giant meat platter (min 2 people)
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