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There are those nights when you just want something noodle-y, warm, tender to the bite, and satisfying. Mmm... pasta sounds good. Oh, but how about mac and cheese? Oh totally! Where can I get a great mac and cheese?
Well, they do a good bowl of truffle-dressed mac at The Big Smoke. There’s a dependable bowl of elbow macaroni with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese at Element Fresh. You can even get really comfortable, cower from the world, and have the carbonara-sauced penne delivered to you by Gung Ho! Pizza. But if you want to try can't-miss comfort and cheese that fits on a fork -- and something a little different -- here's something else for you to dig your tines into: Taps' Spätzle.
Spätzle goes down good with some German beer and sausage.
In the toasty depths of Luga's Villa, is the German bar and grill called Taps. The menu has all kinds of sausage and schnitzel to wash down with beers on tap. A few of the tables even have their own taps, which is the next best thing to an IV drip pumping lager into you directly. But this isn’t about beer, schnitzel, or sausage... we’re here for the Spätzle.
What is Spätzle? Spätzle is bits of dough (basically, just flour, eggs, and salt) dropped into boiling water and cooked until they rise to the surface. The Chinese version of this toothsome dish is served simply in a soup -- geda tang (疙瘩汤). The Germans take it up a few notches though -- their's is a thick, brick of a meal, coming at you gooey, cheesy, hearty, and definitely filling. If you like the chew of pasta or a gnocchi, you’ll have to hone in your carb fetish on the Spätzle.
Behold: Der Spätzle.
Taps has three Spätzle to choose from, the vegetarian vegetable noodle casserole (52rmb), the mushroom and ham specked German noodle casserole (65rmb), and the one we ordered without a second thought -- the German noodle stew (68rmb) -- Spätzle slathered within a brown cream and fragrant mushroom sauce topped with peppery pan-fried pork filets. Not quite sure why the menu calls it a "stew" really, as it seems nothing like a stew. More like a silky dream of cheese coating every nibble-sized dumpling. Spätzle slips off the fork and in between the lips then loves your palate with a lascivious melt of cheddar while you chew.
Mmmm. Creamy.
Mounted atop the bed of diabolically delicious Spätzle are three bronzed, slightly crisped pork filets crowned by a golden, crunchy haystack of sweet potato. This casserole is big enough to share and you should -- everyone should try this. Then there’s room for the Taps' schnitzel and that’s a whole different plate of pleasure.
Taps' Spätzle comes in three varieties but the one pictured here is the "German noodle stew" for 68rmb. Here's the restaurant address.
