Try saying that three times fast… “Hotel Hasen in Herrenberg“. Meh, it’s probably not that hard to do. I like alliteration, though.
When Bill and I lived in Germany the first time, we settled in a town a bit south of the pleasant city of Herrenberg. Consequently, we’d often drive down the main drag in Herrenberg and notice the large four star hotel on the hill. I kept thinking I’d like to stop in for dinner sometime, but we never managed to do it during our first Germany tour together.
Fast forward five years after we PCS’d. It was October 2014. We had just visited Colmar, France, and had some time to kill before it was time to pick up our dogs from the dog pension. We stopped at the Hotel Hasen for lunch. I remember being impressed by the food and service. We now live in a town a bit west of Herrenberg, probably about the same distance away as we did during out first tour. We still spend a lot of time in Herrenberg. Last night, I asked Bill if he’d like to go back to the restaurant at Hotel Hasen and have dinner. He agreed.
The front of the hotel. There is limited parking out front and more in the back. There is also a city parking area next to the hotel’s parking.
During the warmer months, Hotel Hasen has a biergarten. We decided to eat out there last night. They were doing a brisk business, with most of the tables occupied and a few people enjoying drinks on the outdoor patio furniture near the inside bar. An elegant older lady in plain clothes invited us to sit at a table near the wait station, where I could easily observe beer and wine being poured and dishes coming from the kitchen. They were pumping them out at an impressive pace last night.
Bill checks out the menu. His was in French. Mine was in German. Apparently, they also had English menus.
We settled on hefeweizens.
The food at the Hasen Hotel is very German and a bit heavy. They have salads and vegetarian dishes, but a lot of the food is big on meat, spaetzle, potatoes, and rice. I happen to like that well enough, though I wasn’t wanting anything super filling last night, since it was a warm outside. Many of the dishes on the menu are available in a smaller size and a slightly lower price.
I settled on zander filet, which was fried (but could have also been baked). It came with a light white wine cream sauce and an interested vegetable garnish. There was a thin slice of rutabaga topped with a layer of mashed potatoes, with cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and carrots arranged somewhat artfully around the rutabaga and potatoes. My dish also came with a large bowl of “dry rice”.
Bill had deer goulash, which he pronounced very good. It came with baked apples and spaetzle. He couldn’t finish the whole thing.
Dry rice… yes, it was cooked, but there was nothing else to it.
I had another beer after dinner and Bill had a double espresso. There were some excellent looking desserts passing us that I probably would have enjoyed. However, our waitress, though very professional, seemed a bit over it and I decided I didn’t need the calories. The bill came to about 53 euros.
The word “Hasen” means rabbit in German. The Hotel Hasen does indeed have a couple of rabbit ambassadors living on the grounds. We ventured over to see them after we finished dinner. They live in a little hutch next to what looks like a play area for little kids. The play area appeared to need some cleaning up; the equipment looked like it was covered in dirt caused by rain. It was otherwise in good repair.
Hotel Hasen’s bunnies!
Don’t feed the rabbits!
Overall, we enjoyed a pleasant evening at Hotel Hasen’s biergarten. It was a nice night to go out to dinner. I think we could go back when the weather is a little cooler. On the other hand, there are other restaurants in Herrenberg I haven’t tried yet. So who knows?