Hessen Haus has romance on tap

Hessen Haus’ slow-roasted schweinsaxe is the nummer eins pork dish in Iowa.

James Joyce wrote novels that were often incomprehensibly complex. He also wrote about aesthetics with precious simplicity. For example, he defined romance as that which transports one to another time or place. Joyce’s “Ulysses” is arguably the greatest homage ever paid to romance — and to pubs. 

I think Joyce would have loved Hessen Haus (HH). That pub on the old Rock Island Railroad tracks is a museum-quality incarnation of Bavarian bierhaus magic. Steins, boots, woodwork, 50 German taps, coats of arms, soccer flags, a bierhaus band, the Iowa Polka Hall of Fame, et cetera. All trappings are touchstones to the happy valleys of southern Germany sequestered by the Alps from the sterner parts of Der Vaterland.

HH marked 20 years of service to Des Moines in October. It was modeled after as famous a tavern as the world knows — Hofbräuhaus in Munich. That place was celebrated by the great Romantic Thomas Wolff and most every other beer-drinking expatriate American writer of the early 20th century. It opened as a brewery in the 16th century and as a pub in 1828. No other restaurant or bar in Des Moines transports one to another time and place so realistically. 

Of course, the beer is a big part of that. In an era when “craft” beers are the hot, new thing, and Iowa brews them as well as any place, the legacy beers of Germany are disappearing from local taps. Not here. HH taps German pilsners, lagers, doppelbacks, kölschs, witbiers, dunkels, heffenweisens, bocks, ciders, lambics and seasonal beers like the märzens that mark the beginning of Oktoberfest and drew me back to the magic last month. HH’s menu even translates German beer lingo into modern American English — pilsners are like Miller Lite and lagers like Bud Heavy, etc.

HH is taken for granted by Des Moines food snobs, but out-of-towners flock here, for very good reasons beyond beer and the authentic trappings. This is absolutely one of our city’s great kitchens. It is run by Sergio Cerrilio, who has been there all 20 years and should be on every short list of our best chefs. 

Stroganoff is a superstar of its genre, served on housemade spaetzles.

His slow roasted schweinsaxe is the nummer eins pork dish in Iowa. Many people besides myself think so. It’s a large pig shank slow roasted and served with superb sauerkraut. HH makes simple dishes like spaetzles, pretzels, pickled cabbage and apple crisp into “best-I-ever-had” revelations. 

Their schnitzels include veal, chicken and pork offerings. The latter are de facto, topnotch breaded pork tenderloins. Their stroganoff is a superstar of its genre, served on housemade spaetzles, not typical wide noodles. It comes with four protein choices, but I have never gotten beyond the brisket burnt ends option, which are crisp and tender and happily married to the sour cream sauce. 

A great German bierhaus needs great wurst, and HH makes two with pork and one with beef. They also make their own curry sauce for their currywurst, which is the most popular street food in Germany, particularly well paired with late night drinking. 

Sauerbraten here is marinated 72 hours and slow roasted. It is served with red wine gravy, a potato pancake and slow roasted carrots. Their meatloaf is made with ground beef and pork, Black Forest ham and bacon, then topped with curry and served with three sides. Pork chops are smoked. 

Perhaps the best thing about Hessen Haus is your bottom line. Nothing on the menu costs more than $20, and portions are huge. Most items are several dollars less than $20. Prost! ♦

Jim Duncan is a food writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.