Tasty German Food and Pastries

Restaurant:
Fork & Spoon
651 Interstate 35 Business
New Braunfels, TX
830-626-3999

Open
Monday - Tuesday 7am - 3pm
Wednesday - Friday 7am - 3pm, 5-10pm
Saturday - Sunday 8am - 3pm, 5-10 pm
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Atmosphere 4.5/5
Overall 4.7/5

Hello! Val here! We had noticed this place, and the attached bakery a couple months ago, on one of our trips to Tobacco Haus, however they were always closed on the nights we would go by there, because we tended to get there late. However a nice person we met at Tobacco Haus (Toby of Toby West's Auto Repair) encouraged us to make a point of trying it.

She said:
Today we decided to go out to dinner with our daughter, Goggles, and I remembered the suggestion. We went in, and were sat down right away. The interior was rather charming, much like New Braunfels itself, it had a mixture of old world feel and new construction, natural polished wood and corrugated metal.

Our waiter Roger was energetic, enthusiastic and very funny. He was happy to explain, with some amused sarcasm, anything on the menu. Really, we had a lot of fun chatting with him, and he was always quick to make sure we had everything we needed. The drinks were refilled promptly, and Uwe, the owner, was also ready to jump in and help out.

People like Uwe are why we do what we do here at "...and that is what he/she said" - people who work hard, create a business doing what they love, and share their dreams with the community. He is very knowledgeable as a person and as a chef, and his son works with him as a talented chef himself.

Jaeger Schnitzel

I had the Jaeger Schnitzel, which tends to be the first meal I order at any German Restaurant. It was very tasty, it came with steak fries and a brown gravy with onions, chopped pieces of bacon and mushrooms in it. It was a thinner sauce than the gravy-like sauce I see at many places, but that meant it soaked into the steak fries well, which was rather tasty. At first I was unsure of the sauce, as on its own it tasted different, but once tasted on the meat, it complimented the crispy breading and the tender pork quite nicely. A very balanced flavor with just enough salt to not need any, nor to taste overly salty. The only thing that would make it better would be to have some delicious German fried potatoes with onions, and I think next time I will order the golden Yukon roasted potatoes and see how that tastes.

Goggles here:

Curry wurst

I had the Curry Wurst -
It was very very tasty. Or as I put it at the time, OMNOMNOMNOM
The serving size was good - 2 pieces of bratwurst, they were cooked well without being dried out, and the sauce was excellent. The sauce was a dark golden curry sauce, that was savory and slightly spicy, with a nice warm feeling in my tummy. Very tasty.
The steak fries were lightly salted and very good when dipped in the sauce.





Okay... last time I hand the keyboard to a teenager (sigh)

Pumpkin Turtle cheesecake

This is Val again...
I wanted dessert, as I had been sitting across from the bakery counter throughout the meal. I tried the Pumpkin turtle cheesecake. Thomas got the bienenstich, and Uwe also brought us some of his cream cheese mandarin orange cake and his punch cake (his personal favorite) to try.

I loved the pumpkin turtle cheesecake. It had a softer, creamer texture than I expected from a cheesecake, almost like mousse. It was delicious and had a good balance between the spices, sweetness and the pumpkin, and the caramel and pecan topping complimented it nicely. The cheesecake was more expensive than the other desserts, but it was a very large slice. I would say it is definitely a dessert worth splitting with someone special.

 I thought the bienenstich was a bit dry, but I have never had it before, so I would not know what to compare it to. The almond topping was excellent with a carmelized flavor, and Thomas and Goggles seemed to like it.

mandarin cake on the left, punch cake on the right

I thought the mandarin cake was light and tasty, with an interesting blend of flavors.

I have to agree with Uwe's assessment though. The punch cake is incredible, and I wish I had ordered a cup of coffee to go along with it. It was a wonderful mix of flavors, with vanilla and chocolate and marzipan and some type of alcohol, but I am not sure what. It made me want to sit outside with a cup of coffee and a fine cigar, and I plan on doing so some Saturday afternoon.

Uwe mentioned that the mandarin and the punch cake are much lower in sugar than the other cakes, that I believe he said it would take 43 pieces of punch cake to equal one piece of the Italian cake's sugar content. I thought that was interesting, because both of these cakes were sweet, but without the sinful richness of the other cakes. If you want a smaller dessert that won't leave you feeling guilty about over indulging, I would recommend one of these.











Overall we found the food and the company to be delightful, and it's location makes it the perfect place to have dinner or brunch before heading to the Tobacco Haus for a cigar. We will definitely be returning.

Old World  charm with a Texas twist.

He Said:

We've been looking for a good place near the Tobacco Haus to grab dinner on our occasional night out and were interested in The Fork and Spoon/Theis Bakery for awhile. They were just closed fairly early.

Like Val said, we met Toby having cigars and he let us know his friend Uwe was going to be open later. We were popping up to New Braunfels to do some research for one of her Architectural reports and stopped in here for dinner.

I have to be careful at dining establishments to avoid beef or seafood exposures. They have a varied menu and follow great food hygiene. Robert (our waiter) was ready with information about the dishes and was very entertaining. My glass never got empty and he was conversational without being intrusive.

Speaking of the menu: it was a great mix of some fusion dishes and Old World cuisine. I got the vienna schnitzel to contrast the jaeger schnitzel Val was having and the curry wurst Goggles got.

Vienna schnitzel

Thomas and the bienenstich

This schnitzel is schnitzel at its purest. Just a quick squeeze of lemon and the pork steak.

The crust was just crisp enough and kept the pork moist. Uwe's balance of spices were masterful. The only thing that would have made this better would have been some German fried potatoes instead of steak fries. However, even the fries were well done: very crispy without being over cooked.

This plate came with a salad of greens with croutons and a great Bleu Cheese dressing.

After enjoying our main dish, dessert was in order. All the cakes, pies, and pastries were sitting there beckoning us to eat them. So, after getting the lowdown on everything, I decided to get the bienenstich. Two layer of firm cake with a toasty almond topping separated by whipped cream.

To be honest, it was different at first. But, after a few bites I was hooked. Taking a bite of everyone else's dessert settled it, come here at least for the bakery. Uwe sent us samples of a couple of his desserts to try. This man knows his baking!

As I paid the bill I nearly got some cheese or bacon rolls that were over at the bakery side of the restaurant. But decided I needed to save something for next time.

Goggles really liked the cheesecake

We got a chance to chat with out Host and he is truly a great guy. He came to Texas from Germany and loves his community. He has worked hard to get where he is and still loves his job. Another reason to try and eat local.