Kogel 3 — Restaurant in Leibnitz

An adventurous and breathtaking journey on an extremely narrow road leads up to the Kogel 3 restaurant in southern Styria just before the Slovenian border. The view is certainly unique during the day, which I was unfortunately not granted to see and evaluate. The interior is tasteful and kept simple but noble. The staff is friendly attentive and shows humor. To give a final and fair evaluation is with scheduled and regularly changing chefs with a one-time visit - in a cheerful group and on top of that at Corona times - at the beginning of 2022 certainly not achievable with a visit, yet I would like to try. Since we had booked a menu with a fixed beverage selection, my evaluation is limited to this. There was an amuse-gueule in the form of a tuna tartare, which was very subtly seasoned, with a piece of rye bread. Unfortunately, the waiters were not very pro-active in taking the appetizer selection, so that many of my fellow guests, through ignorance, neglected to explicitly order the liver dumpling soup (very low-sodium flavored) or even a side salad (which I deliberately chose not to have). The beef tartare was well done in terms of craftsmanship and appearance. I looked in vain for a separate egg yolk or one that stood out from the tartare, as well as fresh pepper and salt from the shaker to adjust. Taste-wise it was - you guessed it - very fine, almost timid, seasoned, so to speak "á la nature". The liver dumpling soup consisted of a subtly salted beef bone broth which was provided with an insert of crunchy root vegetables and the eponymous liver dumplings. The dumplings - along with the sumptuous caper of beef tartare - were the most characterfully flavored components of the evening's menu. The main course was simple and unerringly selectable. As is generally known, you can never go wrong with a schnitzel in Austria. The term "Kalbswienerschnitzel" in the composition "Surf & Turf", which was my choice, unfortunately led to a misunderstanding. It was a meat plantlet on a potato puree garnished with two slices of truffle. My next-door eater had opted for a schnitzel, which fortunately came with a slice of lemon. I could use this only too well for my breaded and deep-fried squid, since it lacked any acidity, as well as the classic mayonnaise/sauce. To quote a well-known Bavarian top chef: There was a lack of speed. "In love" was the chef in any case apparently not, because everything was generally very restrained salted and spiced. Tastes are - fortunately - different, for me personally it was simply too "sparse" tasted. To my relief, from shortly after the beef tartare, before the soup or for most before the main course, salt and pepper were on the tables, so that I could at least season this both. The quality of the products was absolutely top: freshness and recognizably best choice. Nevertheless, I must clarify here once, just because you distribute two neat slices of truffle over a dish, it does not make it - at least to my taste and understanding - a world-class dish. I am an absolute mushroom lover, truffle has never been able to inspire me. It's kind of like garnishing a chicken egg cooked any which way with a teaspoon of sturgeon caviar and expecting to be judged a cooking genius in return. I couldn't get excited about a dessert because, according to our table waiter, there was only a sweet selection and/or coffee to choose from and I'm more of a cheese dessert type. If I had to sum it up, I would say: the chef acting at this time is tender with salt and absolutely sparing with any spice to the ingredients and leaves everything to its natural flavor, similar to the classic Japanese cuisine. I enjoyed the evening at Kogel 3, but I would not actively go there a second time. It was good, but just that, not outstanding or impressive and inspiring to colorful memory and rapture. For this simply lacked outstanding flavor peaks, corners and edges, with which all good cuisines play contrary and mutually supportive in taste. Therefore,...

We had a reservation for two people and only wanted to spend the time enjoying the view with some drinks after reading many positive reviews.

I won't be back myself though hence the waiter at the entrance looked at me wrongly when asking him if having drinks would be allowed in the lounge. He was not pleased with us not consuming something to eat.

I myself work in the field of gastronomy and I could tell that his behaviour was not kind towards us at all. I did not think much about it and proceeded to follow him. He seated us into the lounge and we patiently waited for somebody to come by and notice us.

I almost felt a glimpse of racism to be honest and that is not fair nor expected from this kind of etablisment.

After requesting the drinking menu I was looked at with a side eye which baffled me even more. He just told us to order anything out of interest or memory without giving us the chance to look at their menu. If I had known that then I wouldn't put my effort by travelling this far up the hills. But here we were as guests, yet being emotionally rejected. What a hassle.

We almost thought about leaving because of this disrespectful behaviour.

Luckily a young waiter looked out after us with the friendliest demeanor ever. He saved our evening and made our stay a little bit more enjoying.

One star for the young fellow waiter, and one for the amazing view. I...

5 Punkte nur für das Ambiente!

Als wir das Gelände des 2017 eröffneten Wirtshauses betraten, war ein anerkennendes "Wow!" das erste, was uns in den Sinn kam. Wenn Geld und Geschmack zusammen kommen, entstehen außergewöhnlich schöne (Gast-)Häuser. Kein geringerer als Red Bull Boß Dietrich Mateschitz, der mit dem Restaurant Ikarus im Hangar 7 in Salzburg ein weltberühmtes Restaurant-Konzept geschaffen hat, ist der Besitzer des Kogel 3. Ein ehemaliger Buschenschank auf dem Koglberg in Kaindorf mit atemberaubender Lage und Aussicht wurde authentisch renoviert und ausgebaut. Architektonisch ist die Verbindung von Tradition, Moderne und der umgebenden Natur auf beeindruckende Weise gelungen. Im Falstaff wird das Kogel 3 als "Ein Wirtshaus für die Hiesigen, die Weitgereisten, die Luftigen und die Bodenständigen, die Lauten und die Leisen." beschrieben. Damit ist der neue Hotspot in der Südsteiermark sehr treffend charakterisiert. Das ehemalige Buschenschank-Gebäude mit Wintergarten, modernem Anbau und herrlicher Weingarten-Terrasse sind perfekt aufeinander abgestimmt. Bis hierhin: Pure Begeisterung und ehrfürchtiges Staunen. Der Service und die Begrüßung durch die Pächterin erschien für unseren Geschmack etwas zu aufgesetzt. Unsere Bestellung wurde schnell und freundlich- routiniert aufgenommen. Wir erhielten eine Räucherfisch-Terrine mit Tomatendeckel als Gruß aus der Küche. Als der Kellner den gelungenen Hummercappuccino mit -Biskuit servierte, zeigten sich erste Schwächen im Service: er ließ das Geschirr des Amuse Gueule auf dem Tisch stehen. Nachdem wir die überfreundliche Chefin darauf hingewiesen hatten, wurden wir im weiteren Verlauf des Abends von Ihr nicht mehr beachtet.... Der Hauptgang waren Variationen des regionalen Sulmtaler Hähnchens: Pochierte Galantine im Safranmantel und der Klassiker Backhendl. Beide waren gut zubereitete Gerichte. Das saftig zarte Backhendl wurde knusprig paniert und entbeint serviert. Die Gemüsebeilage zur Galantine war extrem hart und mangelhaft gegart. Die Preise und die Qualität der Gerichte entsprachen ordentlicher steierische Wirtshausküche, die mit dem Ambiente des außergewöhnlichen Gebäudes nicht mithalten konnte. Auch die Preisgestaltung war für uns nicht nachvollziehbar: Während für das aromatische Hummersüppchen mit dem raffinierten Hummerbiskuit unglaubliche 6,90Euro berechnet wurde, erschien der einfache Endivien-Kartoffel- Beilagensalat zu meinem Backhendl mit unverständlichen 5,90Euro auf der Rechnung. Fazit: Sehenswerte Location mit guter Regionalküche, unprofessionellem Service und einer aufgesetzten Herzlichkeit, die sich nach einer berechtigten Kritik...