Welcome to the Club: Schnitzel Is Always on the Menu at This Eclectic Austrian Grotto

It wouldn’t be your first, second or even 15th guess, but one of the most charming dining experiences in the state is hidden inside a former Dominican Catholic school just beyond the Adelaide Park Lands. Even more incredible is the fact that this dining experience takes place at Adelaide’s Austrian Club.

A sign with the word “kellerstuberl” (cellar room) hangs above the narrow doorway leading to the club’s intimate underground dining room. Sybille, a volunteer, ushers guests inside, past wood-panelled walls, long tables, booth seating upholstered in tapestry and wooden chairs carved with hearts – decor that evokes a traditional Austrian home.

Every week, those in the know file in for schnitzel, comradery and conversation fuelled by schnapps, which is served on tasting paddles complete with a little bicycle bell. Austrian folk music adds to the atmosphere.

Unsurprisingly, a bar serving predominantly old-school South Australian wine, Austrian ale and spirits draws a crowd. Kirschwasser (cherry schnapps) and mulled wine warm the cockles, while Gosser beer flows all year long.

Club president Herbert “Herbie” Reiter rings the bell as he plonks a round of shots on the red-and-white chequered tablecloth.

“The underground dining area you’re sitting in used to be the school’s bicycle shed,” he says. “The Austrian Club bought it in 1970 and slowly renovated it. Now it’s a very cosy cellar.”

Mounted deer antlers, trophies, antique treasures, stuffed toys, goblets and historical photographs perch on every available surface. “Everything in here has been donated or collected along the way,” says Reiter. “Everything has a story. In the corner, you see a shot of the 2000 Austrian Olympic team. They were based in Adelaide while they trained ahead of the Games. We were their drivers while they were here.”

Vice-president Heinz Fuchs takes a seat at our table. Fuchs was born in Austria and came to Australia as a young electrician when he was 19. As for Reiter, his parents arrived in Australia in 1954, and he was born a year later.

“I’ve been coming to the club since I was 12,” he says. “Back when I was a folk dancer.”

The Austrian Club was established in Adelaide in 1957, and while numbers dwindle as members age, regular events keep spirits high. The calendar is packed: fruhschoppen (a traditional Sunday family fun day featuring Reiter’s band, the Jägermeister Trio), bauernschmaus (a traditional farmers’ lunch), live music nights on the first Friday of every month, schuhplattler abend (an evening of folk dancing), and the Austrian National Day festival on October 26.

If someone is Austrian, chances are this lot knows them. “One of our committee members looked after Arnold Schwarzenegger as a baby,” Fuchs says. “And I was in the army with him.”

Plates piled with Vienna-style schnitzels and sausages, fried potatoes, and mayo-smothered potato salad emerge from a kitchen manned by cooks Claudia and Gabi.

“The menu changes every week [but] it always includes schnitzel,” Swiss-born Claudia says. “We sometimes do goulash. Next week we’ll have pork knuckle with sauerkraut, though I haven’t put it on the menu yet because once it’s on the menu, it books out.”

Claudia, Gabi and the other volunteers are always there to meet their guests needs, whether it's with it’s a sneaky chocolate or an extra hug.

“We try to do something special and different for the people here,” says Claudia. “At other places, you eat your meal and then you leave. Here, we like to talk to people, and when they come more than once, we know them by name and we know a bit about their history. We might be the only people they talk to in the whole week, and they really look forward to that. When you come here, you’re not just a number, you’re a person. That’s what we aim for.”

The Austrian Club
11–17 Torrens Road, Ovingham
(08) 8269 1736

Hours
Fri 6pm–11pm

austrianclubsa.com