Zum Kaiser

It's easy to forget well-established restaurants in the frenzy to keep up with the new. But Brisbane's oldest restaurant, Zum Kaiser, within the Brisbane German Club, is an astonishing 130 years old this year, which means it more than warrants a visit.

The club house and restaurant moved to its current premises in 1890 after the original Manning Street venue in East Brisbane was destroyed by fire. By all accounts, the old clubhouse was a grand affair, with a ballroom, skittle alley and concert hall. The "new" club might not be not quite as flash, but it is still a significant Vulture Street landmark.

Entry is through a beer garden and a portal inscribed "Brisbane Deutscher Turn Verein" – literally, "Brisbane German gymnastics club" – beneath a German flag. There's a desk where you sign on to become a member ($5).

Then, averting your eyes as you pass the pokie machines and lurid pub carpet, you enter a space that you might imagine hasn't changed much since it was established.

There's dark panelling, horned animal heads on the walls, beamed ceilings and pools of wintry sunlight diffused by lace curtains. Front and centre is the bar, and to the left a high-ceilinged eating "hall", where lederhosen-clad one-man-band Andrew Olszanowski (something of a legend in these parts) sings tunes as diverse as Love Shack and Gangnam Style on Friday and Saturday nights.

To the right there's a smaller, more sedate dining room, where tables are set with starched white cloths and small vases of fake flowers.

Still too early for lunch, we settle at the bar with a beer from an astounding list including a dozen on tap – from a light, malty Fischer Helles to a treacly Kostritzer Schwarzbier. Then there are beers by the bottle. Lots and lots and lots of beer.

In winter, you might be lucky enough to be greeted by a warming spicy aroma of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon coming from a curl of steam at the bar, where gluhwein, hot spiced red wine, simmers away. Or warm your cockles with a glass from an extensive schnapps menu.

We were pretty much the only customers in the bar until, out of nowhere on the dot of noon, appeared a sudden and substantial queue in front of the food servery.

Now, let's cut to the chase. It would be foolish to approach German food with false expectations – the truth is, it's rarely pretty or light and it doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is.

At Zum Kaiser, mains come with "mashed potatoes" and gravy not "mash and jus", and the salad is the bog-standard garden variety. What it is, is hearty and flavoursome, and I'd suggest cancelling all afternoon plans that don't involve a couch and a remote control afterwards.

The chicken schnitzel is fantastically big. The meat is covered in golden crumbs and fried until crunchy while staying moist inside. It is served on a bed of mashed potato (natch!) with some pleasingly al dente vegetables, a little pile of very good sauerkraut and a pool of smoked beer gravy.

The pork knuckle is even more hefty – the tender, brownish meat moist beneath a good amount of glazed, salty crackling. A sign outside advertises it as "Brisbane's best pork knuckle". I'm not sure who there is to challenge that claim, but it was pretty good. It also comes with mashed potato, sauerkraut and vegetables.

For dessert, there's a cake cabinet, and in a moment of recklessness, we indulge in slices of cookies-and-cream cheesecake and pecan pie, both served with aerated canned cream. They look a lot better than they taste and frankly I wouldn't bother. A nice bit of strudel on the other hand? I would never say "nein".