For lunch today we have a special treat planned. And in order to get there we have to find the historic Mädler Passage off the Central Square. It is not that difficult to find as we expected as the name is right on top of the huge entrance and there are also lots of people entering and exiting. This is the last completely preserved historic shopping arcade covered by an end-to-end glass roof with lots of high end stores, offices and cultural establishments. And also restaurants which is why we are here.
Our goal is relatively close to the entrance, the famous Auerbachs Keller. It is the second oldest restaurant in Leipzig and one of the major claims to fame is that it appears in Goethe’s play Faust as the first place Mephistopheles takes Faust during their travels. We are here however for the good food like Roast Wild Boar which sounds cool. And there are lots of other interesting choices for us, yummy.
We are not sure initially if there would be place for us as there are quite a few people entering the cellar (Keller=cellar) but we should not have been worried. it is a huge restaurant and soon we are seated and it is time to order.
We start with drinks and order some very good non-alcoholic beer and a Leipziger Allasch, a regional alcoholic drink of 38% alcohol, quite good but strong.
And then we get the food which is quite special and good, we especially like the specialty Roast Wild Boar but the roulade is also quite exquisite.
While waiting for the dessert we walk through the dining hall taking in the many paintings of Faust and Mephistopheles on the walls, of course the restaurant would lean in into the myth.
There is also a small museum with silver objects that might or might not have been used here as it is not clear from the info.
They also have a Mephisto (Mephistopheles) Torte but today we order the other Leipzig food specialty the “Leipziger Quarkkeulchen mit Apfelflan”. It is a traditional Saxon dessert made from a dough of cooked potatoes, quark, and flour and served in this case with applesauce. And it is very very good.
Exiting we take in the two statues guarding the entrance to the subterranean Auerbachs Keller, both are based again on Goethe’s Faust and represent scenes from the play.
And then we explore the arcade a bit more entering in a few stores and window shopping in a few other before making our way home while buying some additional traditional sweets for the breakfast tomorrow.
