Thanks to our good friends at WDW for Grown-ups for this great review of the Bratwurst at Sommerfest, the counter-service location in Epcot’s Germany pavilion!
Apparently, many people don’t care for sauerkraut.
I get this impression because in the short time I was eating outside of Sommerfest, several families passed on eating there because the food came with kraut. This is a shame, because they missed out on a great meal for no reason.
Statements of fact: 1. Sommerfest has pretty good food, even if you don’t like sauerkraut; and 2. You can avoid the kraut. Let’s proceed…
Sommerfest Mural
Eats
Germany’s Sommerfest is located next to the entrance to the table-service location, Biergarten. According to their current menu, Sommerfest has two “entrees:” you can either get a bratwurst, or a frankfurter (both of which come with sauerkraut — FYI).
Sommerfest Menu
Whether you go with kraut or kraut-less, the brat is definitely worth trying. I’ve had a few strong-tasting brats that I didn’t much care for in the past, but Sommerfest has it right. If anything the taste may have been a bit too subtle, but I really enjoyed it. In fact, this may be one of my new favorite counter-service meals!
Sommerfest Bratwurst with Sauerkraut
The roll, interestingly, comes on the plate next to the sausage, but of course I ate it like a hot dog.
...but this is how you'll eat it.
The key to enjoying your bratwurst, however, is the condiments. I highly recommend you go with the brown, spicy mustard. I found that the mustard compliments the subtly rich taste of the sausage perfectly. Throw in a bite of sauerkraut on the side and you have a very nice combination of tastes.
For dessert I chose the apple strudel. It comes with a vanilla sauce that is quite tasty, and the whole thing is covered in powdered sugar.
Apple Strudel
Given that it had apples, a crust, powdered sugar, and a vanilla sauce I figured it was a can’t-miss proposition. Unfortunately while I enjoyed all the tastes individually, the whole was less than the sum of its parts. The apples were quite tart and overpowered everything else; and I would say the powdered sugar and the vanilla sauce are an either-or proposition.
I would still say it was a good dessert, but it wasn’t the masterpiece I was expecting based on the ingredients.
Sommerfest Apple Strudel Close-Up
I wish I had gone with one of the soft pretzels. They were listed under “desserts,” which gave me pause, and I wanted to try the strudel, so I passed on the pretzel. By the time I decided I wanted to go back, a huge line had formed so I went without.
This brings up one of the downsides of Sommerfest. There is fairly limited seating, which can be a problem when the park is busy. While you can easily pull off eating your brat standing as long as you put it in the roll, the strudel would have been impossible without a table.
This meal would obviously be great with a beer (it was a little early for me to start drinking, or I would have had one for ya).
Overall
In the end, the need for a little extra seating doesn’t overcome all the other strong points. While sauerkraut may scare off some picky eaters, you can easily avoid it and the remaining dish should be acceptable to just about anyone unless you absolutely hate sausage. I can heartily recommend you give Sommerfest a try…even if you don’t care for sauerkraut.
Have you sampled the sausage or sauerkraut at Sommerfest? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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AJ – Too early to start drinking?! For shame! They do open at 11! 🙂 Anyway, the brats are good, but that scent of sauerkraut wafting through the air is what really makes the Germany pavilion what it is, love it or hate it!
Thanks for the great summary.
If you want to eat a real good Apple Strudel, you need to go to Austria, especially Vienna. There I had the best Apple Strudel ever.
Ha – I happen to love sauerkraut but am not a huge fan of brats. How’s the frankfurter? Worth it, or just a regular ol’ hot dog?
I love sauerkraut but it’s silly for people to skip the restaurant because it has sauerkraut. Rule #1 with Disney dining is they will try their best to cater to you. Ask for no sauerkraut and you’re fine.
That being said, I really like the sauerkraut at Sommerfest and Biergarten!
Terrific review of Sommerfest and their bratwurst. Being in Wisconsin, I am all too familiar with our US brats, with the most popular being much more heavily seasoned than the ones you get over in Hamburg.
The brats here are authentic and delicious! When we go over “non” F&W times of the year, we do a mini F&W tour including a margarita, a brat and beer, and a shawarama platter over at Morocco!
Great review, we love Sommerfest (and sauerkraut)! A great place to grab a quick meal.
I guess sauerkraut is one of those foods you either love or hate. My wife won’t even clear the dishes when I have it and yet I love it. I especially like the Bavarian style with caraway seeds in it.
Interesting review. My husband lived in Germany until age 7 and fondly remembers many of the various foods we enjoyed at the Biergarten last year. He was particularly fond of the apple strudel, as he finds most American versions way too sweet. In fact, what the reviewer thought was a flaw was the strong point for my husband: the taste of real, tart apples. We will probably try Sommerfest this year for at least a strudel and coffee break–although our son is with the reviewer on one thing: he’ll take the pretzel. But Germany is our favorite adult beverage stop!
Got a pretzel there back in April — thought it was terribly dry . . . I was very disappointed. No amount of spicy mustard could have saved it.
The food highlight of Germany for me right now is a caramel oatmeal raisin cookie from next door!
I agree! I had a (kraut-less) brat there on a recent trip and enjoyed it with the spicy mustard! The bread was a bit dry, but still ok. Sorry you didn’t like the strudel. It’s one of our go-to desserts in World Showcase. But I’m liking the sound of that cookie that Dale mentioned!
I grew up in Germany and still don’t like kraut, so I always order it without kraut, never had an issue getting it this way…
One of our favorite places to eat!
Love this place and agree with the lack of seating! We usually take our food over to Italy where there’s always tables. Sure its a little weird to enjoy German food in Italy, but hey, its still beautiful!
The Bavarian Cheese cake is my most favorite treat!!!! SO YUMMY!!!!!!!! If they had moore seating this place would always be swamped!!!!
We try to eat at Sommerfest each year. The bratwurst is mild and so is the sauerkraut. The kraut is not as tart as you would typically find. I love the apple strudel. They used to serve it warm with the vanilla sauce warm. It was much tastier than the cold version they serve now. Overall, it is a good value for lunch.
Is it possible to use a QS-Credit (Dining Plan) at Sommerfest?
P.S.
I´m from Germany and I don´t like sauerkraut…:-)
Went back in May and got the pretzel and it was, like another reviewer said, very dry. You can get much better pretzels at your local mall. Also, there was no spicy mustard! They “mustard” just ran out when we got there, so I had to use French’s. Believe me, it’s NOT even remotely like German mustard and I didn’t like it on the pretzel. I wouldn’t have even dared to put it on a bratwurst!
One of the best, snappiest hot dogs ever. Loved it! Pretzels are hit and miss because you never know when they are fresh. When you get a fresh one there is nothing better! Now I’m hungry!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ate here for the first time last weekend. Both of us got the brat with kraut (hey I made a rhyme!). It was really good! Especially paired with the Guldens mustard. I had never had kraut before (grew up with it in the house but refused to eat it because, well, I’m picky and it smelled funny as my mom cooked it – lol). I was pleasantly surprised, I liked it! The brat was perfectly spiced and tasted great with the roll they give you. In fact, the roll was a bit too much and I had to stop eating it and focus on the brat. I’d definitely go back, next time to try the frankfurter.
Oh, and we were surprised by the tables and chairs outside of it too. In October there were none when we went, not sure if that’s because the food and wine festival was goin on or what. But it was nice having the tables and chairs there.
I wish I was there right now eating that!!! I just came back from Disney! I revolve everyday around eating this thing we call a Brautwurst! No kidding! I’m German and proud of it! I wish someone could magically snap their hands and make 10 of them appear in front of me!!!