Hofbräu im Königshof Essen — Restaurant in Essen

I had really high hopes for this due to other good reviews. Sadly I was disappointed.

Whoever is looking for authentic Bavarian food this place is NOT the one for you.

This review is from me, who actually grew up in Bavaria:

I’ve tried several meats (schnitzel, Haxe, sauerbraten) all which lacked severely in flavor. The texture of the meat was absolutely fine, haxe was even very juicy but BLAND oh my god it was tasteless basically.

The Rotkohl was extremely sweet, too sweet honestly so you can’t really eat more than one or two bites. It had no noticeable flavor besides SWEET. What a shame.

The Knödel were okay? The texture was a bit uhm weird. They also put some brown stuff on the Knödel, which had some sort of gritty texture? It didn’t really help the dish💀

The sauce that came with it was, again, lacking in flavor but also weirdly sour?

The potato salad is definitely not authentically Bavarian, no matter what the menu tries to tell you. I’ve never seen anything like it, lacking in flavor and yet weirdly sour. And not the level of sour that a south German potato salad is supposed to have - overpowering the whole dish.

Originally I wanted to try more and maybe even get dessert but after this disastrous experience i didn’t.

At least my cat liked the leftover haxe. Since it has no flavor it’s perfect for her sensitive stomach :)

ps: Lidl has better Bavarian potato salad and Edeka has better haxe for like 1/5 of the price LOL just get the stuff there. Rotkohl from a jar will also do better and if you just get refrigerated kloßteig at Edeka and some sort of sauce from knorr you got yourself a better product for a fraction of the cost 🥰

I feel sorry for anyone who has to work there honestly

Beer was good tho!

Edit: the owner responded to me and he doesn’t understand that sweet isn’t a seasoning 💀

I also didn’t say I was alone eating all but I did try everything. Not sure why this is a point of relevance?

And also he criticizes that I am from Bavaria but reviewed in English calling it “weird”. Why does German have to be my only language, Mr Becker?

Also you have a lot of English and American customers and I wanted to spare them from this disaster restaurant.

It’s sadly apparent that I care more about the customers than the owner.

Good luck and don’t fall...

The staff and the food was very good, however very careful with the prices. For example I ordered a „Schnitzel Wiener Art“ for 12,50€ as stated on the menu. The waiter then asked me to choose between French fries, fried potatoes and potato salad. I asked if these come with an additional charge and the waiter said no. My colleague was asked if he’d like a small side of salad (which is usually free in Germany, same with fries etc.). He said yes. After eating the food, which again was very tasty we asked for the bill. The waiter came and asked if we’d like to pay by card or cash. We said cash and were stated the amount without even receiving a bill. We had to ask for the bill specifically after we had paid. I did so because I paid suspiciously more than I had thought which I found weird. When we then got to see the bill I understood how I paid more than I thought. The side dishes we thought were free came at an additional charge! 2x fried potatoes for 2,50€ each + my colleagues small salad for 4,50€! After asking the waiter he explained that yes, fries are free, but fried potatoes and salads are not. However that is definitely not what was said while ordering. I specifically asked if these cost extra and the waiter just said no. He didn’t say only the fries are free. It’s such a shame because the food was really tasty. But this is unacceptable. And on a side note even if we knew these sides cost extra, the prices for them are ridiculous. 4,50 for a few pieces of lettuce and vegetables? Ouch!

In total the food was a 8/10, the general friendliness of the staff a 9/10, the atmosphere a 9/10 and the...

Lange überlegt ob wir die Bewertung schreiben oder nicht.

Grundsätzlich ist der Löwe echt okay. Das Bier schmeckt, Essen ist auch. Preise sind bestimmt seit unserem ersten Besuch und heute gestiegen aber wo sind sie das nicht.

Was jedoch gar nicht passt und keine Ahnung woran es liegt, da wir auch viel in der Gastronomie Essens unterwegs sind und solch Probleme nirgendwo haben: Wir und das Personal.

Das fing damit an das wir als Regelmäßige Gäste, kein Bier von einem Kellner mehr bestellen konnten weil sie, ohne Ankündigung, letzte Runde gemacht hätten. Wohlgemerkt haben 2 Nachbartische gerade noch jeweils 2 Maß bekommen. Also wäre sicher noch Zeit für ein kleines Bier gewesen.

Daraufhin bleiben wir längere Zeit mal weg und schauten uns woanders um. Was auch an der abfälligen Art lag, wie uns das mitgeteilt wurde. Der Kellner arbeitete aber auch nicht mehr lang dort.

Jetzt waren wir Ende letztes Jahr und Anfang dieses Jahr 2-3 mal da. Beim vorletzten Mal hat die Kellnerin uns sehr nett bedient. Und dann bei uns am Tisch über die unmögliche laute Gesellschaft richtig hart abgelästert. Die Kellnerin kannten wir gar nicht. Hinterlässt ein komisches Gefühl. Wer weiß was die dann über uns zu anderen sagt.

Und vor gut ner Woche wollten wir mal wieder vorbei schauen. Ein paar Bier und eine Brotzeit.

Kam nicht dazu. Wenn könnten wir uns, weil wir nur 2 Personen sind nur vorne links auf die Bank setzen. Ich fragte nach dem 2er Tisch rechts am Fenster. Nein. Nur die Bank. Der Kellner zuckte lustlos mit den Schultern.

Es scheint einfach nicht zu passen. Schade. Gibt ja noch genug andere Alternativen.

Die Bewertung wurde geschrieben weil es nur fair ist das auch der Besitzer mal weiß was in seinem Laden so passiert und wie mit Gästen die eigentlich oft und gerne kommen umgegangen wird. Es gab damals mal ein paar nette Kellnerinnen aber nach unseren Beobachtungen arbeiten die dort nicht mehr. Das jetzige Personal wirkt leider wenig...