"Wunderbar"- A new contender for the tri-state's best German food.

Wunderbar is Northern Kentucky's newest German themed restaurant. Located on the newly renovated 12th Street, Wunderbar offers a hole in the wall feel, with old country charm. The restaurant itself has only been open since April of 2012, and has already gained some reputation for quality German/American cuisine, and their use of local meats and produce.

Location

The restaurant is exceptionally easy to find. For anyone not in Covington, head East off of the 12th St. Exit of I75. You can't miss it, just up the road on your left, a white two story building complete with German and American flags blowing in the wind. Wunderbar doesn't have a parking lot so you have to find one of the limited spots on 12th St in front of the building, or on Lee street. The revamping to 12th Street has definitely made this a much more comfortable place to park and walk around, after all this is not the high rent district of Covington. Don't let that deter you though, Wunderbar is a German diamond in the slowly improving rough.

Justin's Review

I had heard a couple rumors about how good Wunderbar's food was, and being of German descent, I figured this would be a perfect place to put my genes to good use; especially since this is our first ever review. My Grandma (from Germany) was one hell of a cook, just say I was raised spoiled on the potential greatness of German home cooking, something that is often butchered in hokie lederhosen filled imitation joints. Caugh Caugh.... Hofbrauhaus.

Anyway, I was itching to see what all the fuss was about. Walking in the German flag trimmed door, you immediately see what your in for. Picnic tables for seating, or the bar. All the beers scratched in chalk above the bar, and the menu on the chalkboard behind the bar as well. This is gonna be good. The bartender (not wearing lederhosen thank God) jumps right up and tells us to order whenever and he'll bring it out. Some Covington locals stare opaquely at the "new guys." I set my camera down and got to it.

To drink, beer of course. I was a little befuddled looking through the chalk beer menu above the bar, fantastic selection but random in order. I saw the Brooklyn Pilsner, yes please.

Next, on to the food. The menu isn't huge, which I like. It offers simple home made meats, produce, bread, and mustards of varying varieties. One of my laughable favorites was a fiery sausage known appropriately I'm sure as the "Feuer Wurst;" leave political correctness at the door.

I skipped over the sausages however and went to the old classics. I settled on Liverwurst and Sulze (head cheese), which came with a home made pretzel bread roll, 4 slices of home made rye, pickled veggies (green beans, cauliflower, and pickles), and to finish a sample of the black pepper, and horseradish mustards.

In short, it was awesome. The liverwurst was well solidified, I like mine sliceable and not so much a spread like you get at some places. It was sweet, with great liver flavor, and not over minerally... if that's a word. The head cheese was decent. The bartender said it was their first batch. It didn't have much pork flavor, and some of their meat was in too large of chunks, but overall a good head cheese if you're into that sort of eating. The breads, all home made, are dynamite; the mustards as well, especially the black pepper. The pickled veggies were well, pickled veggies. I was surprised a bit by the pickled green beans which were quite spicy and crunchy, a good mix. Overall, a good experience, good food, and for once a solid representation of real old country cooking.

Rico and I did agree to split a pretzel after our meal even though we were both stuffed. It was of course home made and fantastic, at least what we could eat since it was also twice the size of my face. Their cream cheese dipping sauce was also fantastic for the pretzel, mild cheese flavor and super light; also home made.

The Damage Tally: All that and splitting the pretzel ran me only $20! I know right? I would have paid 30+ at the Hof.

In summation it was very good. Not great or life changing, but very good. I will be back.

Justin.


Rico's Review

Wunderbar!

Since Schwebler (who really calls him Justin?) covered most of the atmosphere I'll make it quick. Here's a shot of the bar/menu and I think it describes the place very well.

The menu was just written on the wall and you walked up to the bar, ordered, and then they brought you your food. Simple... but instantly gets you involved with everyone there. Makes you feel welcomed.

 

Now for the food, I had a brisket sandwich with sour kraut, Swiss cheese all on a pretzel roll. I could try and sit here and dissect what was wrong with it but that would be a waste because it was delicious! The homemade pretzel roll held together the perfectly tender brisket. The sour kraut is one of the only menu items not homemade and I must say it was some of the best kraut I've ever had. The Swiss cheese oozed off the sandwich and balanced out the strong kraut beautifully. Oh did I forget to mention that they topped off the heaven between two pretzel rolls with bacon? Because they did.

My side dish was very interesting though, kale chips. I've never had these or even heard of them before so I was really nervous. The best way to describe them is "Hot Fries." I swear they tasted exactly like the gas station snack.

Even though I was beyond full Schwebs made me split a pretzel with him. Little did we know that we ordered "the mother ship" of all pretzels. It put every ballpark salty snack to shame. The dip it was paired with had to be made from the same out of this world genius because I had never had such a creamy cheese dip.

 

Total cost for my meal $17 and trust me, I couldn't eat another bite and I wanted to!

 

Now if you've skipped to the bottom of the blog for a summary here it is:

Small restaurant/bar with amazing atmosphere and even better food. I not only recommend it I say grab all your friends and fill the place up and gorge until you can't walk.

 

Rico

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the first edition of Eating Cincinnati! Glad to see Rico is feeling better. Be sure to check in weekly to see our next eatery adventure, and remember to follow our blog and our Twitter account @EatingCini for daily updates and food stop suggestions!