Speisekammer — Restaurant in Alameda

I swear, this is my favorite German restaurant in the bay area I'm never disappointed by the food and beer I get here My most recent meal was just fantastic! The food, the beer, the buck deer paintings and our waiter were amazing

PRETZEL ($2.50) Mygawd, this pretzel is amazing. It's so soft yet has just enough chew to be the best pretzel I've ever had. I would get this time and again when I come here

SPATZLE ($3.50) Honestly, a bit dry. Maybe we didn't get gravy or some type of sauce because we got it as a side? I'll pass on getting this next time

GEBEITZTER LACHS w/ TWO POTATO PANCAKES ($13.75 + $2) Thinly sliced House-Cured Gravlax with Capers, served with Dill Mustard Sauce *drooooool. I'll admit though, I have a soft spot for cured salmon but this was delicious! And with two pieces of their amazing potato pancakes? My goodness! Simply delicious. It's better than hash browns and who doesn't like hash browns?? One downside though is that there's no apple sauce served with this, probably because it's served with salmon?

VEAL WIENER SCHNITZEL VOM SCHWEIN (full size $18.50 + $2 for veal) Two Veal Cutlets, breaded & pan-fried served with roasted potatoes Normally get the pork cutlet version but we splurged $2 for the veal since we were getting the larger portion of wiener schnitzel (the smaller portion is cheaper). Veal definitely tastes stronger than the normal port cutlets. It was good but I prefer the pork. And to top off with all the carbs, this plate is served with roasted potatoes w/ bacon bits, yum!

REIDER Honigbier (Honey Beer), Austria Relatively dry, full bodied & unfiltered 7% ABV My new favorite beer. Freals. We were thinking meh, honey beer, must be sweet. Saw the 7% ABV and decided to give it a try. Not only was it NOT overly sweet, it was incredibly smooth and delicious. There's a hint of the consistency of honey and was quite complex. The waiter later told us that this beer came back due to high demand. Hah, I can see why!

HACKER-PSCHORR Munich Gold Lager Maltier than a pilsner with a crisp clean finish 5.5% ABV Tastes not as good as the Reider, lol. See, I'm biased towards that beer now. It was definitely not as malty as I had hoped but definitely tastes like a pilsner.

Did you know there's THREE HUGE ROOMS in addition to the outdoor seating in front? I got to experience the third room for the first time. Lots of interesting buck paintings, haha It was great. Our food was great. Our waiter was great. This is definitely one...

I was sat by the window in the cozy interior. Lots of tvs show sports games on the walls. A bit loud from everybody talking, and adequate service. The menu was oriented towards pork and potatoes.

I started with the pretzel and beer-cheese sauce and kleine nurnberger bratwurstchen, or little sausages on sauerkraut. The sausages came out in 6 with a side of Dijon mustard. They were sized as breakfast sausage. A snappy bite revealed a juicy, oniony interior. The sauerkraut was mildly acidic and sweet, and soft. The pretzel standard in tast, like others you've had before, but was enlargened and airy and pillowy. The chewy pretzel was dipped in a thin cheese sauce, and you should dip your sausages into it as well. The sauce was bittered by the beer, and tasted as if its cheese had been aged: pungent!

I ordered the jager schnitzel with spatzle, which was a pork cutlet covered in mushroom sauce on a bed of egg noodles. I got the small size, which I found to be great value and well portioned - not too much. The spatzle and the mushroom gravy were the real stars. Chewy, bity egg noodles were made into a variety of shapes and sizes, giving visual and textural interest. The schnitzel was thin, juicy, and remained crispy underneath the mushroom sauce - very "porky." The chunky mushroom sauce was like a gravy cooked with large cubed mushroom. The smaller variant, compared to the main, was one fewer cutlet and half the spatzle, and no side pickled salad. I believe this is the right choice, and it's a great value at half off the original's price. I borrowed my friend's salad which was an assortment of brined vegetables, including beets, carrots, and cucumber. The pickling was short as the vegetables were sweet and tart. The few and simple ingredients distinguished their own inherent flavors. The jager schnitzel dish was quite varied, and very good.

Good atmosphere and simple food to be found here. I'd recommend anything with the very substantial spatzle. If small is an...

My bf heard good things about this place so we went to check it out. Indoors it’s cute in an old school way and outdoors (which is what we chose) is fine. Nice plants to somewhat shield a completely charmless part of town. The tables are weirdly narrow and a little rickety, but they’re fine.

Service was very nice but super uneven. We had to ask for multiple things from people who were not our waiter because he disappeared for long amounts of time. But everyone was super nice!

The food- well this is not a well rounded review in that regard because we didn’t get a variety of things to try-both my bf and I were excited about the jagerschnitzel so we both got the same thing. The schnitzel itself was ok (we both got pork) though a little bland and floppy. The mushroom gravy tasted good! The spaetzle was a woeful disappointment. Just incredibly bland, though somehow too eggy as well, and just characterless. I love spaetzle. This was sad spaetzle in my opinion. We had to ask for salt and pepper, which the food desperately needed. The pepper was that awful preground tasteless stuff you find in greasy spoon diners. The food here is too expensive for such pathetic pepper. Give us a pepper grinder please! The good news is the side salad of pickled vegetables was awesome! Bright, vibrant, delicious. Definitely get that with your meal, for some needed flavor.

We also each enjoyed a beer and their little add-on tiny bottle of jagermeister. Ha. A nice way to take the edge off of a somewhat...