Marchegg is a strange little place near the border with Slovakia, mostly famous for its colony of storks and a natural reserve with beavers in it. It’s very small, provincial and boring, and it takes almost 45 minutes to reach from the nearest train station, yet every couple of years I like to visit it. In spring, there are often serious floods there, and on sunny autumn days, the forest has beautiful colors – both scenarios great for taking pictures.
Today was certainly not a good day for photography: no sun and hardly any leaves left. Besides, my camera has finally decided to die after more than 10 years of loyal service. Well, it actually works, but only when I take the flash card out. With the card inside, it refuses even to switch on. Which is equivalent to dying, I suppose.
At least I found a goose. If I recall it correctly, Nagl-Hager was once considered one of the best restaurants in the area, with stickers on the door announcing various awards. Then it closed for a while and now reopened again – possibly with new owners and definitely without the stickers. Despite friendly service, the restaurant is not especially inviting. The lights inside are too bright, making it look like a cafeteria. The decorations on the walls range from typical village stuff to modern abstract paintings, creating an unbalanced and cheap atmosphere.
But their goose is better than average. It was precooked, of course, but not very long ago, so the meat under the crunchy skin tasted almost fresh. I’ve encountered just a few tough bits as well as three or four annoying small bones, but otherwise the bird had the right combination of crunchiness, fat and good meat taste. The cabbage was good, too: neither overcooked nor undercooked and without any unnecessary “creative” attributes. The dumpling, on the other hand, was flat and dry, resembling a baked potato, but no taste is better than bad taste, I guess.
Overall, for the first goose of the season, it was a rather positive experience.
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