Kernbergschänke — Restaurant in Jena

My aunt had recommended this place highly. Great food, good service, so loved by guests that you need reservations! What could go wrong?

When the four of us went it may have just been a bad day. So take the following with the grain of salt and other spices and herbs which seemed to be lacking in most of the food.

The menu had a good selection of rustic dishes, some of them local. I'm familiar with them and love them. Naturally local food comes in a lot of variations. I like them all. As long as food is cooked properly and made with decent ingredients it'll be yummy to me no matter the particulars of the individual recipe.

When we went, one waitress had to serve 30+ customers all by herself. I felt sorry for her. The vast majority of the tables were reserved in advance. Why would her boss not hire some help when he knows the house is going to be full? She also felt bad for us having to wait 1h and 40minutes for our order to come. Still no problem in good company if the food turns out to be good and after such a long wait almost any food would have been good.

Was it good? •The salads were fresh and had a good variety of leaves and vegetables. •The Brussel sprouts and potatoes were overboiled to tastelessness, mushy and missing ingredients from the menu. Where were you Quark? •The Schnitzel was very very dry. The mushrooms on top were undercooked and missing any kind of herb or spice and even salt seemed to be absent. •The Rostbraetchen was acceptable but not very typical for Thuringia and way below any streetside vendor's Rostbraetl's taste. It seemed to have less than half the juicyness but was still miles above the Schnitzel in that regard. The onions on top were undercooked chewy and were missing salt. •The Grützwurst and Sauerkraut were good. Only the accompanying boiled potatoes were tasting bitter, similar to green potatoes. (which shouldn't be eaten btw.) •Tea, apple juice and beer were good.

I don't know what went on in the kitchen that day. Maybe it was similarly understaffed. Maybe their normal cook was sick. Maybe their supplier had issues.

I hope they get back to the shape earlier reviews described and then I'll be giving them another try. Until...

Liebe Betreiber, Rezensionen sind in der Regel nicht böse gemeint, sondern zum Wachrütteln...

Fangen wir mit dem Positiven an: Euer Lokal ist gemütlich, urig, man kann gut sitzen und die Billardtische sind auch in einem (fast) guten Zustand, wenn man darüber hinwegsieht, dass die Kugelfänge aus dem Leim gehen.

Was nicht geht - daher der eine Stern: -1,5 Stunden oder länger aufs Essen zu warten; -anderes Essen zu bekommen, als das was bestellt wurde; -so lange aufs Essen zu warten, dass es inzwischen dunkel wurde und man bei der schwachen Beleuchtung draußen nichts mehr sieht; -verbrannte Bratkartoffeln, zu Tode frittierte Schnitzel, viel zuviel Salz und Dinge durcheinanderzumischen, die da nicht hingehören, z.B. Pilze vom einen Gericht unter das Rührei des anderen zu mischen. -Bier mit zu wenig Kohlensäure vom Fass zu zapfen -Toiletten in einem desolaten und keimigen Zustand vorzufinden (ihr öffnet um 18 Uhr, um 20 Uhr sah es bereits aus wie Sau, sowohl bei den Männern als auch bei den Frauen!)

Ich bin mir des Personalproblems in der Gastronomie bewusst; aber dann muss ich bei einem ansatzweise gut besuchten Geschäft gegensteuern, sei es über ein verkürztes Angebot, sei es über reduzierte Plätze oder vieles anderes mehr.

Wir kommen sicher wieder, aber hoffentlich dann unter...

Excellent food, we have eaten here many times. Great billiards, we always combine the two pleasures . The service can be slow, they get overwhelmed at peak times, so leave enough time if you eat before the billiards starts. Very polite...