Dining Out - Bavarian Bier Cafe Parramatta (and another meetup with Rustle)

By now many of you have seen posts from the other attendees and seen just how much fun was being had at this meetup, with yet another bunch of awesome steemians that I hadn't met before. If you haven't, there'll be a bunch of links at the end of the post.

I decided that since I'd likely be drinking (well I am heading to a German drinking venue...) that it would be best for me to catch public transport. I was tempted to spend the morning taking the long way there and experiencing the ferry ride from the city to Parramatta, but ended up deciding that the extra hour would be better spent at home resting. Pity since it was such a lovely day, but I'm glad I didn't as I discovered on the way that my battery pack was flat, so I didn't have the amount of phone power that I'd expected. It was with about 20% battery left that I arrived, early as expected, to take a couple of exterior shots and even an interior.

^{As you approach from Church St, you really can't tell that it's anything more than a church}

^{Unless you've got good eyes and can read the blue signs that is. The re-purposed St Andrews buildings make for a wonderful and different drinking environment}

^{There's plenty of outside table space for a nice sunny day, and the roads aren't really that busy so there isn't much noise from them. And I didn't notice at the time, but I captured @bearone and hubby in this photo before I'd met them}

You enter the venue through the old church doors and foyer, where they have a reception desk and are welcomed to this wonderful view:

^{An excellent bar area with all the glasses hanging above it, large round fake candle chandeliers, huge open space, and stained glass windows}

I'm not sure if I remember having a drink or 2 in a space quite like this ever before, and certainly not with it made up with bench seating and long tables (plenty of booths around the sides that could seat 4-6 people as well, but I'm quite happy that we were right out in the middle and next to the bar.
Speaking of the bar, once @bearone and her hubby had arrived we discussed drinks and decided that it would be wise to get a tower of beer to start and see who turned up and what they wanted. @stabilowl arrived before the tower had, so we got an extra glass for him and we were underway.

^{Spatan Lager - Failing at making a decision ourselves we asked our waiter what he'd drink and went with that. It was a good choice, even if a cheeky cocky decided to get in there before any of us could have a go at it!}

After more people had arrived there was also a tower of cider ordered. I quite enjoyed the Good Pickin's last time around and I still think it's a decent cider. That the cider's tower was finished first also probably says something about it too!

Before we got onto the food (and for those here for the food, there is food coming), some of us had our arms twisted into doing shots. A bit disappointed that they were our of butterscotch schnapps, but the pink lady was nice, if quite sweet. If Arly tries to strong-arm you into doing shots, just roll with it, because it was fun

^{They bring them out on a long paddle with a cowbell being rung along the way. Quite the presentation, and the lack of spillage shows a steady hand}

With the alcohol had and everyone chatting with each other, it was rumbly tummy time, and @phamished and I discussed the menu, eventually doing our best to convince the table that it would be a good idea to share a few platters rather than trying to get single orders from everyone, especially when a few of us were already eyeing off the platters 'for one', and knowing that 'for one' in German food doesn't translate to for one to us! I'm quite used to getting 2 or 3 meals from a single serve. We initially were looking at:

• The Munich Brewer's Platter (designed for 2) and boasting Crackling Pork Belly , Pork Knuckle, Haus Sausages, Schnitzel, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage, Bier Jus, Mashed Potatoes, and Apple Compote;

^{So much crackling and almost all of it perfect and crunchy. A pile of sausages and a couple of lightly coloured schnitzels}

• The Bavarian Tasting Platter (Designed for 1) which was similar to the Munich Brewer's, but without the Pork Knuckle;

^{It looks so small down there, but it certainly was tasty and the collection of sausages hiding under the greenery}

• The Sausage Tasting Platter (Designed for 1) which contained 5 styles of sausage (Wagyu Beef & Cheddar, Giant Thuringer, Cheese Kransky, Frankfurter, Pepper & Garlic Kielbasa) along with sides of Mash, Sauerkraut, and Bier Jus.

The waiter being the awesome guy that he was didn't think that was enough food for the 9 of us, so suggested we upgrade the sausage platter to the one designed for 2. It changes the sausages to Pork Maple & Bacon, Hot Link, Chicken & Coriander, Pepper & Garlic Kielbasa, and the Extra Long Frankfurter, and adding Potato Salad, Red Cabbage, BBQ Sauce, and Mustard to the sides.

^{So much sausage. All of it was delicious, even if we sometimes couldn't work out which sausage was which from the list we had.}

There was much discussions going on all around the food and drinks, with @quochuy discussing witness related things, and @chrisdavidphoto talking crypto and how his experience with being hacked has gone. It's a little surprising how easily it happened, and how little things you don't think about like keeping your registration email might give someone a point of attack. Various people discussed Diablo at a few points, though I have a feeling not much discussion happened asides from saying Diablo to get the other players attention since a few of us play, though not all on the same platform. I think @travelgirl and I were on PC, and @bearone and hubby were on console. Not sure if there were other players that I'm forgetting.

^{clockwise from left: @chrisdavidphoto (well, fringe and hands), @ohboy, @phamished, @bearone, hubby, @stabilowl, @travelgirl, @quochuy, @rustle)}

From all their posts and comments, everyone had a great time and enjoyed what was a nice sunny day out even though it's early May. Quite a contrast from the last meetup I organised back in early March when it was cold, wet and miserable day out! I look forward to many more meetups with some or all of these people in the future. I know that Arly's certainly been bitten by the meetup bug!

If you are looking for a place for a nice meal and some drinks, I certainly recommend getting to the Bavarian Bier Cafe, as the food was all really good, with about the only negative being that the lowest bit of the pork belly was a little dry. Still tasty, and giving it some jus helped greatly too.

@BearOne's sneak peak
@Phamished's post
@quochuy's post
@BearOne's actual post
@travelgirl's post

Last 10 Dining Out Posts

Marrickville Pork Roll
Coffee Club
Pizza @ Christies
Horsham Sports and Community Club
Submarine Cafe
Lang Suan
The Angry Dwarf
Fratelli Famous @ The Bavarian
Paragon Hotel
At Thai

^{Upgoats made by the talented @ryivhnn}