The restaurants with the best goose in Upper Austria
The Grabmers are simply jack-of-all-trades, warm hosts and play the whole culinary keyboard: superb wines, home cooking, fine dining, a magical guest garden, cookbooks - it's all there.
Countless churches from Australia to Mexico are called "Mary of Good Counsel". One of them is located in the very small village of Gstaig in the Innviertel region and also gives its name in giant letters to the pub next to it. The name has been retained as a tradition, even though it now also reads "Forthuber in Gstaig". Doris and Christoph Forthuber ran the best restaurant in the region for six years in nearby Munderfing. He had learnt the ropes from Swiss chef Andreas Caminada, while she brought her passion for wine with her. The question of where to stay had been on their minds for some time. When an emissary of Hans Michael Piëch, who owns land and a stud farm in the region, as well as the aforementioned guesthouse, offered them the same, including seven rooms in two guesthouses, they accepted. The mixture of fine dining plus "classics" as an everyday offer remained. The offer is amazingly large with the two six-course menus "Hearty" or "Light as a feather". Braised cauliflower is harmoniously combined with purslane, pea cress, capers and hollandaise. There is always an excursion into the Asian genre, this time with crispy skin gyoza - the pocket sticks to a deep-fried disc of dough - with kohlrabi mousse and coconut foam. Excitingly good: salmon trout; the magnificent fish comes from Kapeller in Seekirchen and is cooked very delicately in a pot "in the herb sauna", served with lemon-mustard zabaglione and a well-measured hint of wild garlic. The wine list, which was centred on Austria at the relaunch, is to be gradually expanded. Beer culture is well positioned with Salzburg Augustiner on tap and Schnaitl from the bottle. Gstaig has a flag on the gastronomic map.
The charming inner courtyard with fig trees invites you to dream. When the kitchen serves classic and modern dishes accompanied by top wines and spirits, you know it's a dream.
If you want to experience and taste the Mühlviertel in all its facets, the Keplingerwirt is the ideal place to stop off. Grammeltascherl is a must, as are the excellent game dishes and the cardinal slices.
Good, clean, fair. If anyone plays the slow food triad perfectly, it's the Köglerhof. Great views, most of the produce comes from the farm's own organic farm. The goose dinner is reserved for one year.
The people of Linz and Mühlviertel reserve their roast goose weeks in advance. And when it's not goose season, guests are treated to game dishes, sometimes baked sweetbreads and good wines.
The delights awaiting guests here are as magical as Lake Attersee when it shimmers in the sun. Schnitzel is baked in clarified butter, while vegetarians can enjoy cauliflower in tempura batter.
No can do for Michaela Prem and her husband Kilian Angermeyer. In just a few years, the couple have made Das Attersee a favorite among gourmets, day trippers and party people.